COLLABORATIVE Systems
Team Building

High performance teams are organized and effective in doing work while providing an environment where all of the members influence what the task is and how the task gets done. Most organized work groups, focused on accomplishing a task, do not justify a high level of team effort. The group or team is simply multiple people accepting the authority and direction of a designated leader to accomplish a common task. Other times, a task is complex and the values of the individuals are challenged and everyone's brain must be fully engaged. A high level of team effort is then required.

COLLABORATIVE Systems believes that team building can be a lot of fun and enables groups to learn how to become more  participative, organized, and effective.

What is team building?

The words "team" and "team building" are among the most ambiguous terms used in organizations. To accomplish any task by a large group of people, some level of team building has to take place or the task will not get done. All groups of people working on a task operate on a continuum between autocratic leadership and shared participative leadership. The continuum is not between organization and chaos, but is an indication of the level at which the group's participants are provided with an environment where they are able to influence what the team's task is and how the task gets done. Most teams work on the old cultural norm of checking your feelings at the door. Feelings as a source of information or as a decision-making mechanism have been undervalued. Artificial attempts to violate this norm in the name of team building are usually futile and often destructive. Yet when team members are allowed to bring all of themselves to the team's task, including their feelings, their performance is optimized.

A team generally consist of four to twelve (4-12) people that are working together to accomplish a shared aim. This may be the whole organization or more often it is a cross-functional grouping with a clearly defined mission. The term "management team" is often an oxymoron as the people in this grouping have no intention of sharing an aim or developing a high level of trust.  The IT team sometimes fits this same definition.   The Team Handbook 2nd Edition (a standard for Quality teams) offers many processes and suggestions for working together more effectively and building trust.  

This is team development and it does not have to be perfect or fully successful to be helpful.  

 Gibb, Jack R. Trust: A New View of Personal and Organizational Development : Los Angeles: The Guild of Tutors Press, 1978. is out of print, but you can often find copies of it using the above link.  A 1991 article , which I often refer to and find very helpful, on Trust from the MATC resource book on teams and groups is offered here.

Rick Maurer has a couple of new books out that you may find helpful when working with groups and organizations: Beyond the Wall of Resistance: Unconventional Strategies That Build Support for Change and Feedback Toolkit :16 Tools for Better Communication in the Workplace.  He also offers workshops and consulting.

Thomas A. Kayser has writen a book, Mining Group Gold : How to Cash in on the Collaborative Brain Power of a Group, which can be very helpful when working with a Quality team.  The foreword is offered here.