Forming and Supporting Good Teams

A great article by Philip Lay, of TCG Advisors in Under the Buzz on turning the mystery of teams into mastery. He suggests the work of Jon Katzenbach and Doug Smith in The Wisdom of Teams and Pat Lencioni's The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: (i) inattention to results, (ii) avoidance of accountability, (iii) lack of commitment, (iv) fear of conflict, and (v) absence of trust.

He expands upon Pat's five reasons for how teams fail with his own suggestions for team formation to develop a market development strategy. Here's the highlights (really, read the whole thing):

• First, the team selected needs to be a cross-functional one
• Second, it should ideally be composed of no more than five core team members
• Third, the choice of the team leader should depend more on the individual’s personality and tendency toward leadership in ambiguous situations, than to experience, subject matter knowledge, or rank
• Fourth, the team should share out the five main activities of its go-to-market planning assignment
• Fifth, the team should kick off its activities by defining the goal, timeframe, and detailed milestones and metrics
• Sixth, the team needs to define the purposes, format and frequency of team meetings
• Seventh, the team must develop a way of dividing itself into smaller units
• Eighth, the team needs to commit to communicating with other constituencies
• Ninth, it is important for the team to define ground rules and guidelines governing commitments
• Tenth, it is essential to kick-start the catalytic activity of validation with target customers (and partners) as quickly as possible

These suggestions should be considered for forming any team driving a significant project. He doesn't just recognize that teams are increasingly cross-functional, but suggests it with purpose. He suggests the right kind of leader fosters emergence rather than depending upon control. He suggests small project teams supported by healthy communication patterns.

Teamwork requires the right specialists being held accountable for the right activities -- with open communication as the right regulating force. Forming teams of specialists requires more than good communication within the group, but with other groups (including customers) to align the project. Such management practices are just beginning to be supported by tools that foster requisite communication and trust.