Business as a team sport
Dear e-COACH,
We use a lot of teams in our organization. In theory this is a great idea. In practice, some of them don't function well at all. One team is stuck in differences of opinion and unable to move forward. How do I get them unstuck without taking away their authority? What can I do once a team is assembled to help them get going?
Dear Team Member,
I agree that while teams are a wonderful solution to a great many business challenges, they do not always function well. To look at the make up of a successful team, I'll use a question I have used in training sessions:
If a team is a collection of people, is a quiet group on an elevator a team? Why not?
When you find the answers to this question, you will have determined some of what makes a team successful.
The first problem is that the people in the elevator do not have a shared goal or purpose. This is essential, since without that they are all heading in different directions (floors) stemming from different agendas. Even if they had a common goal, (let's say they were stuck between floors and wanted to get out), so far there is no communication between them. Effective, careful communication is necessary, as that is what allows everyone to contribute ideas that lead to making decisions and solving problems.
In my opinion, a team also needs a leader. The leadership role can rotate, but there needs to be someone through whom information flows, who can facilitate a decision and who serves as an inspiration for the others to follow and get the job done. An effective leader / facilitator will ensure that there is an open, receptive atmosphere and that the team members respect each other's opinions and differences.
A winning team also needs the tools and skills to do the team's work. These might be intellectual (knowledge, intelligence), physical (information, equipment) or even emotional (maturity, control of self). At this point, for the purposes of getting out of the elevator, you have some semblance of a team that could now function well enough to plan its exit.
A business is more complex, so additional team components are needed. A constitution or set of rules is important for a well functioning business team. Covered could be things like: meeting times, locations, expectations of members, decision-making process (by consensus? by vote? by leader?), conflict resolution strategies (expect conflict), rules of participation and operation. This can be a simple or elaborate document, but the structure provided will ward off future problems.
It also helps if team members are there because they want to be; by that I mean that they have a genuine desire to work together on the goal and were not mandated to be on the team.
This brings me to my last point. Before you even assemble a team, it is wise to consider the balance of people in terms of personality styles and areas of professional expertise. Five introverted accountants or extroverted sales people may not provide you with a good mix of approaches or knowledge. (Sorry about the stereotyping.)
Even though I don't have enough information to make a diagnosis of your stuck team, I suspect the problem lies somewhere in conflict resolution or decision-making. I hope you can guide them in reaching their own solution by comparing the elements of their team to those I have described above. I commend you for being concerned about the team's authority and the functioning of your teams. You sound like the kind of person many of us would like to work with.
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