What Teams Need …. Also Makes Them Fail

The first generation that were raised on a diet of teamwork are now fully-entrenched into their careers. It is too easy to think how teams work will now benefit, and let’s hope that is true. 

The generations that fought in WWII and Vietnam also went through life experiences where learning to work together and to count on each other could mean the literal difference between life and death. They also knew something about teamwork. 

Perhaps the mantra about teams recognized by most people has to do with the development stages of teams: Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing. Having been a member or leader of countless teams over the years, it is easy to see this process at work as diverse humans come together to fulfill a task. Teamwork is not easy, and performing is not a state of bliss often achieved.

Circumstances are different today. Business leaders must also deal with being agile, showing transparency, more complex relationships, reduced employee loyalty, etc. Every activity we undertake begs to be compressed – who has time for storming anymore? Millennial predisposition or not, we remain human, and prone to human behaviors.

In 2017, we find ourselves with resources and capabilities we could only dream about not that long ago:

·     Spaces designed to facilitate collaboration

·     Technology-rich meeting rooms

·     Apps for recording, tracking progress, sharing, etc.

·     Communications that virtually eliminate distance

The promise of advancing design and technology is not always fulfilled in reality. Setting the table for a great meal and providing the cook with a gourmet kitchen doesn’t guaranty an amazing dinner. It may help make it possible, but ingredients, imagination, skill, and presentation are still going to be required for success. Tools change. People, not so much.

How to deal with the new mix? By understanding that the things that help teams succeed are also things that help them fail. Let’s get some insight from Eight Ways to Build Collaborative Teams from HBR.

“Although teams that are large, virtual, diverse, and composed of highly educated specialists are increasingly crucial with challenging projects, those same four characteristics make it hard for teams to get anything done. To put it another way, the qualities required for success are the same qualities that undermine success.”

Collaboration Conundrums:

1.    Large Size. Teams continue to grow in size and complexity (technology allows it). The larger the size of the team, the less natural cooperation takes place between members.

2.    Virtual Participation. Our technology allows people from around the world to be a part of the same project. While this adds cultural, technical, or business expertise, the more virtual a team is, the less collaboration there tends to be.

3.    Diversity. Diverse knowledge, backgrounds, education and perspectives often leads to insight and innovation. It also may mean people are not familiar with each other. The less people know each other, the less likely they are to freely share knowledge.

4.    High Education Levels. This can provide deep expertise into teams, leading to robust solutions. Research again shows that “the greater the proportion of highly educated specialists on a team, the more likely the team is to disintegrate into unproductive conflicts.”

The authors then provide us with eight factors that lead to success:

1.    Investing in signature relationship practices. Demonstrate ownerships commitment to collaboration through visible investments in facilities, technologies, training, etc. Executive investment into relationships throughout the organization is also key.

2.    Modeling collaborative behavior. Nothing speaks as loudly as seeing senior leaders model what they hope the organization will do. When execs visibly behave in ways that help teams succeed, they signal the value of such behavior.

3.    Creating a “gift culture”. Share when it is not required. Give the spotlight to another. Offer the gift of your time in mentoring. Make introductions that help others succeed. These behaviors invite others to share more openly – a secret to collaboration.

4.    Ensuring the requisite skills. Hire and promote not just on results, but on skills that foster collaboration. Invest into education in building relationships, communication, resolving conflicts, professional project management, etc.

5.    Supporting a strong sense of community. Many organizations go out of their way to build very strong social relationships, moving people around to build cross-functional, cross-regional, and cross-market relationships. Rah-rah does not build communities.

6.    Assigning leaders that are both task- and relationship-oriented. We used to look for one the other, or accept one and try to balance it. It doesn’t work. Success comes from leaders who can do both, focusing initially on tasks, and migrating to relationships.

7.    Building on heritage relationships. If the team is all strangers, it takes a long time to develop the trust required to collaborate. If everyone knows each other, members are pigeon-holed right away. A good mix seems to be that less than half know each other.

8.    Understanding role clarity and task. Collaboration improves when individual team member roles are clearly defined and well understood. When team members know what they are responsible for and is expected from them, friction is kept to a minimum.

Most of the ways collaboration is impeded in 2017 are similar issues that we have dealt with in times past. The fundamentals tend not to change. However, our technology has changed, along with expectations, the focus on speed, and leaner organizations. More teams have outside members, measurements may be more granular, and interactions with customers or suppliers may be more transparent.

Many of the factors involved in team collaboration are two-edged swords. Hiring all millennials is not going to resolve issues management needs to address. When carefully planned, investing into collaborative teams pays outstanding dividends.

Al Everett is a partner of MethodWhy, LLC. MethodWhy helps you find, nurture and keep more customers like your best customers. Al can be reached at [email protected], and you can learn more about MethodWhy at www.methodwhy.com.