Page 166 - How America's Best Places to Work Inspire Extra Effort in Extraordinary Times

The Power of “We” to Magnify Engagement C153

2. Team members are willing to risk being open and honest with each
other.

3. The team has the authority and freedom to get things done with-
out interference.

4. Team members are accountable to each other for achieving results
and know they can depend on each other.

5. The team leader operates as a facilitator-coach instead of a com-
mand-and-control or doer type. The best team leaders set clear goals
and expectations, match players with tasks according to their talents,
give positive and corrective feedback when necessary, allow the team
to make decisions, and ask questions that stimulate learning and prob-
lem solving.

6. There is 100 percent agreement on ground rules for team behavior,
including having trust in each other about confidentiality of certain
information.

7. The team is not too big or too small. Though team size obviously
depends on the team’s task, we believe most task teams work best
when there are enough members to produce diversity of thought, but
not so many that the group becomes unmanageable. Team diversity,
as we have indicated in our discussions of multigenerational work-
forces, can be an obstacle to overcome but, as winning workplaces
have shown, can be turned into an advantage.

8. Team members are team players, have sufficient social skills, and
are willing to submerge their egos and restrain their needs for atten-
tion or independence.

9. The team has the necessary information, resources, and cross-unit
cooperation to get the job done right.