Page 120 - Just Promoted A 12 Month Road Map for Success in Your New Leadership Role

Selecting, Building, and Developing Your Work Team 105

The teams that have consciously worked on making themselves strong tend
to be the backbone of their organization. They exhibit positive characteristics
and become the framework to build high achievement. They consistently out-
perform less focused, less energized work teams.

Common Characteristics of Well-Functioning Work Teams
An effective leader fosters a well-functioning work team. Characteristics
include the following:

1. The team understands and supports the organization’s vision, purpose,
strategies, and goals. If the team is formed early enough, it can work col-
laboratively to actually help create or provide important input into the
vision, strategies, and goals.
2. The team shares a small, focused, well-understood set of beliefs or values
about such topics as how the organization should work, quality, cus-
tomer service, and the organization’s role in the community or world.
3. The team is aware of, and works to improve, its process and/or how it
operates. This includes issues such as how decisions are made (generally
by consensus); communication (open, direct); leadership styles (collabo-
rative, situational); membership (flexible); and norms (shared).
4. Members listen well to each other and pull for each other.
5. Conflicts are managed constructively rather than stifled. People openly
express feelings and ideas. Win-win conflict resolution is a norm, and
both sides can accept the outcome.
6. Group decisions are often made through consensus, as opposed to a
majority vote or minority power plays. As necessary, those with author-
ity make tough decisions when consensus is not possible or a decision
needs to be made now!
7. Assignments and responsibilities are clear and accepted by members.
8. The team effectively manages influences from external forces such as
policies, regulations, procedures, politics, and constituents or customers.
9. The team gets results: high-quality products, in the shortest time frame
possible, requiring the fewest wasted resources. High-performing work
teams focus on results. Results are their constant target.

Team-Building Experiences
The purpose of team building is to develop a more effective work team to achieve
the organization’s vision and defined goals. In his practical book Working in
Teams, James Shonk identifies five factors that influence team effectiveness: