Managing Your Team Organizations
Sebastian Conde 11-1021
Managing Your Team Summary
What is an Effective Team?
Managers should apply three interrelated criteria in assessing overall team effectiveness: 1. Does the team’s output (e.g., decisions, products, services) meet the standards of those who have to use it? It is not enough that the team is pleased with its output or even that the output meets some objective performance measure. If the team’s output is unacceptable to those who have to use it, it is hard to argue that the team is effective. Moreover, the various constituencies who rely on the team’s output may focus on different performance standards (e.g., quantity, quality, innovativeness, timeliness). 2. Does the team experience contribute to the personal well-being and development of the members? Some teams operate in ways that frustrate the personal satisfaction of team members and thwart their development. Other teams provide their members with multiple opportunities to satisfy their individual needs and to continually stretch and develop. 3. Does the team experience enhance the capability of the members to work and learn together in the future? If the team functions in ways that lead members to distrust one another, the team will find it difficult to work together on future initiatives. For instance, team members will be less willing to share their expertise and information with one another if the team culture becomes one of unbridled competition in which individuals play out "hidden agendas." In contrast, over the life of an effective team, the members learn to anticipate one another’s moves and to respond appropriately to support those moves as they occur. They learn to revitalize and regenerate themselves (e.g., adapt their agenda and operating guidelines) in response to new demands placed on them by the organization or competitive environment.
Managing the Team’s Boundary
As the formal authority and the "nerve center" for their teams, managers are
Managing Your Team Summary
What is an Effective Team?
Managers should apply three interrelated criteria in assessing overall team effectiveness: 1. Does the team’s output (e.g., decisions, products, services) meet the standards of those who have to use it? It is not enough that the team is pleased with its output or even that the output meets some objective performance measure. If the team’s output is unacceptable to those who have to use it, it is hard to argue that the team is effective. Moreover, the various constituencies who rely on the team’s output may focus on different performance standards (e.g., quantity, quality, innovativeness, timeliness). 2. Does the team experience contribute to the personal well-being and development of the members? Some teams operate in ways that frustrate the personal satisfaction of team members and thwart their development. Other teams provide their members with multiple opportunities to satisfy their individual needs and to continually stretch and develop. 3. Does the team experience enhance the capability of the members to work and learn together in the future? If the team functions in ways that lead members to distrust one another, the team will find it difficult to work together on future initiatives. For instance, team members will be less willing to share their expertise and information with one another if the team culture becomes one of unbridled competition in which individuals play out "hidden agendas." In contrast, over the life of an effective team, the members learn to anticipate one another’s moves and to respond appropriately to support those moves as they occur. They learn to revitalize and regenerate themselves (e.g., adapt their agenda and operating guidelines) in response to new demands placed on them by the organization or competitive environment.
Managing the Team’s Boundary
As the formal authority and the "nerve center" for their teams, managers are