Developing an Effective Team

In effective collaborative relationships, all team members recognize that each individual brings valuable assets, knowledge, and skills to the team, says American Express's David House. They are willing to exchange information, examine issues, and work through conflicts that arise. They trust each other, looking toward the greater good of the team and organization rather than focusing on personal agendas, making unilateral decisions, or pulling power plays.¹³

Developing an effective team is an ongoing process. The characteristics of effective teams include the following:¹⁴

•	Clear sense of purpose. Team members clearly understand the task at hand, what is expected of them, and their role on the team.

•	Open and honest communication. The team culture encourages discussion and debate. Team members speak openly and honestly, without the threat of anger, resentment, or retribution. They listen to and value feedback from others. As a result, all team members participate.

•	Decision by consensus. All decisions are arrived at by consensus. No easy, quick votes are taken.

•	Creative thinking. Effective teams encourage original thinking, considering options beyond the usual.

•	Focused. Team members get to the core issues of the problem and stay focused on key issues.

Learning these team skills takes time and practice, so many companies now offer employees training in building their team skills. At Saturn, for example, every team member goes through a minimum of 92 hours of training in problem solving and people skills. Saturn teaches team members how to reach a consensus point they call "70 percent comfortable but 100 percent supportive." At that level of consensus, everybody supports the solution.¹⁵

Checklist: Developing an Effective Team

BUILD A SENSE OF FAIRNESS IN DECISION MAKING Encourage debate and disagreement without fear of reprisal. Allow members to communicate openly and honestly. Consider all proposals. Build consensus by allowing team members to examine, compare, and reconcile differences. Avoid quick votes. Keep everyone informed. Present all the facts.   SELECT TEAM MEMBERS WISELY Involve stakeholders. Limit size to no more than 12 to 15 members. Select members with a diversity of views. Select creative thinkers.   MAKE WORKING IN TEAMS A TOP MANAGEMENT PRIORITY Recognize and reward individual and group performance. Provide ample training opportunities for employees to develop interpersonal, decisionmaking, and problem-solving skills. Allow enough time for the team to develop and learn how to work together.   MANAGE CONFLICT CONSTRUCTIVELY Share leadership. Encourage equal participation. Discuss disagreements. Focus on the issues, not the people. Don’t let things get out of hand.   STAY ON TRACK Make sure everyone understands the team’s purpose. Communicate what is expected of team members. Don’t deviate from the core assignment. Develop and adhere to a schedule. Develop rules and obey norms.

Functioning effectively in teams requires many skills. However, none is more important than the ability to handle conflict–clashes over differences in ideas, opinions, goals, or procedures. Conflict can be both constructive and destructive to a team's effectiveness. Conflict is constructive if it increases the involvement of team members and results in the solution to a problem. Conflict is destructive if it diverts energy from more important issues, destroys the morale of teams or individual team members, or polarizes or divides the team.¹⁶

Conflict can arise for any number of reasons. Teams and individuals may believe they are competing for scarce or declining resources, such as money, information, and supplies. Team members may disagree about who is responsible for a specific task (usually the result of poorly defined responsibilities and job boundaries). Poor communication can lead to misunderstandings and misperceptions about other team members, and intentionally withholding information can undermine member trust. Basic differences in values, attitudes, and personalities may lead to arguments. Power struggles may result when one party questions the authority of another or when people or teams with limited authority attempt to increase their power or exert more influence. And conflict can also arise because individuals or teams are pursuing different goals.¹⁷

Effective teams know how to manage conflict so that it makes a positive contribution.¹⁸ The following measures can help team members successfully resolve conflict:

•	Proaction. Deal with minor conflict before it becomes major conflict.

•	Communication. Get those directly involved in the conflict to participate in resolving it.

•	Openness. Get feelings out in the open before dealing with the main issues.

•	Research. Seek factual reasons for the problem before seeking solutions.

•	Flexibility. Don't let anyone lock into a position before considering other solutions.

•	Fair play. Don't let anyone avoid a fair solution by hiding behind the rules.

•	Alliance. Get parties to fight together against an "outside force" instead of against each other.

Part of dealing with conflict is learning how to persuade other people to accept your point of view. In a business situation, reason usually prevails. However, you sometimes encounter people who react emotionally. When you face irrational resistance, try to remain calm and detached so that you can avoid destructive confrontations and present your position in a convincing manner.

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Express understanding. Most people are ashamed of reacting emotionally in business situations. Show that you sympathize. You might say, "I can understand that this change might be difficult, and if I were in your position, I might be reluctant myself." Help the other person relax and talk about his or her anxiety so that you have a chance to offer reassurance.19

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Make people aware of their resistance. When people are noncommittal and silent, they may be tuning you out without even knowing why. Continuing with your argument is futile. Deal directly with the resistance, without being accusing. You might say, "You seem cool to this idea. Have I made some faulty assumptions?" Such questions force people to face and define their resistance.20

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Evaluate others' objections fairly. Don't simply repeat yourself. Focus on what the other person is expressing, both the words and the feelings. Get the person to open up so that you can understand the basis for the resistance. Others' objections may raise legitimate points that you'll need to discuss, or they may reveal problems that you'll need to minimize.21

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Hold your arguments until the other person is ready for them. Getting your point across depends as much on the other person's frame of mind as it does on your arguments. You can't assume that a strong argument will speak for itself. By becoming more audience-centered, you will learn to address the other person's emotional needs first.

The whole purpose of developing a team that's effective is to get members to collaborate on necessary tasks. One of those tasks is communication. Team members must often work together on preparing messages.