Page 24 - Principles of Catalyst Development

Introduction to Reservoir Management 5

able for completing a study. Teams should not be allowed to flounder in an
egalitarian Utopia that does not work.
Effective teams may strive for consensus, but the pressure of meeting
deadlines will require one team member to serve as team leader. Deadlines
cannot be met if a team cannot agree, and there are many areas where decisions
may have to be made that will not be by consensus. For this reason, teams should
have a team leader with the following characteristics:
4 Significant technical skills
4 Broad experience
Team leaders should have technical and monetary authority over the project. If
they are perceived as being without authority, they will be unable to fulfill their
function. On the other hand, team leaders must avoid authoritarian control or
they will weaken the team and wind up with a group.
According to Maddox [1988], teams and groups differ in the way they
behave. Group behavior exhibits the following characteristics:
+ "Members think they are grouped together for administrative purposes
only. Individuals work independently, sometimes at cross purposes."
4 "Members tend to focus on themselves because they are not sufficiently
involved in planning the unit's objectives. They approach their job simply
as hired hands."
By contrast, the characteristics of team behavior are the following:
4 "Members recognize their interdependence and understand both
personal and team goals are best accomplished with mutual support. Time
is not wasted straggling over territory or seeking personal gain at the
expense of others."
^ "Members feel a sense of ownership for their jobs and unit because they
are committed to goals they helped to establish."
Similar observations were made by Haldorsen and Damsleth [1993]:
4 "Members of a team should necessarily understand each other, respect
each other, act as a devil's advocate to each other, and keep each other
informed."
Haldorsen and Damsleth [1993] argue that each team member should have the
following focus:
4 Innovation and creation of value through the team approach