WHY TEAMS DON’T WORK

WHY TEAMS DON’T WORK

Teams consistently underperform, despite the extra resources they have, because of problems with coordination, motivation, and competition. Team expert Professor J. Richard Hackman argues that while even the best leaders cannot guarantee that their teams will deliver results, they can increase the likelihood of their success by setting the following conditions:

Leaders must be ruthlessly clear about who is on the team and who is not. Sometimes this requires forcing ill-suited members off the team.

Leaders must articulate a clear direction to ensure members do not pursue different agendas. Members must know and agree on the work they are collaborating on.

When it comes to group processes, teams need guidance from expert coaches who can:

*Run launch meetings to orient team members with the tasks at hand.

*Help teams conduct midpoint reviews to determine what is working and what is not.

*Regularly reflect on finished work to identify successes and shortcomings and how members can make the best use of their experiences the next time around.

. To avoid complacency, leaders must assign “deviants,” or naysayers who challenge their teams’ desire for homogeneity.