Page 187 - Just Promoted A 12 Month Road Map for Success in Your New Leadership Role

172 Just Promoted!

there efficient mechanisms to share knowledge? What is the trust level? Will
people disclose important information to others who need to know?
One of the key teamwork variables is the ability to effectively and produc-
tively deal with differences and conflict. Is there a powerful norm of conflict
avoidance, or are differences put on the table to be dealt with by candor, clear
communication, and respect? Another variable is feedback. When things go
wrong, how do people express their feelings? Do they attack, or do they
attempt to describe the problem and describe their feelings? Can they express
anger and yet maintain trust, communication, and mutual respect? Can they
use crisis to increase communication about behavior and feelings?
What is done to increase group cohesion? Are there shared events, like par-
ties, teams, and recreational activities? How do internal teams and commit-
tees work to increase group cohesion? Does teamwork in your organization
increase customer satisfaction? The Cancer Centers of America have built
their reputation on great patient-centered research, medicine, and equally
great patient-centered teamwork. This teamwork regularly occurs between
physicians, clinical specialists, and therapists in numerous functions, and
social workers who also consistently and compassionately interact with
patients and their loved ones.
Turnover hurts communication and cooperation. The time it takes a new
person to become an informal member of the group, which can be three
months or longer, is a time of reduced communication and information shar-
ing between the new person and the rest of the group. Excessive turnover affects
the performance and productivity of work teams and the overall organization.
Historically, Japanese management approaches point to the slow promo-
tion and lifetime employment in Japanese companies as a way to increase
internal communication and problem solving. Long-time employees build up
networks of contacts within the company that enable them to get things done
quickly and efficiently, albeit informally. Another excellent example of this
management concept is the U.S. Army, in which a first sergeant, with 10 to 20
years experience, can get just about anything accomplished through a personal
network of sergeants in supplies, administration, the motor pool, communi-
cations, planning, the mess hall, building maintenance, and housing. Con-
versely, when the sergeant doesn’t want to do something, he or she will go by
the book and cite regulations. It is a smart captain who tells the first sergeant
to “get it done.” A good officer knows better than to tell a good sergeant how
to do his or her job. “It will be done,” the motto of the U.S. Fifth Army Corps,
is no empty slogan for an army that runs on the savvy of its sergeants.