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THE FIVE CS OF TEAM PERFORMANCE
Albert Einstein once said: "What a person does on his own, without being stimulated by the thoughts and experiences of others, is even in the best of cases rather paltry and monotonous." Einstein was simply recognizing that producing great things-whether it be new products, services, internal processes-requires the collective efforts of a team. Leaders of highly successful companies understand that business is a team sport-and they work to build an organization comprised of effective work teams.
As we begin our study of teams and team performance, you might start by thinking about your previous team experiences. Think about each team: How did that team perform and how did that team affect you as a member of the team? While we might not think of it as a team, the first "team" that we were a part of is our family. In a family we learn whether we can trust other people, how to work (or not work) together, how to help one another, how to communicate, and how to solve problems. Our family team is not one that we can typically choose-it's a function of fate-but nevertheless it has a significant impact on how we think about working together in a group setting and how to function effectively in a team. As we age and go to school we begin to function in other types of teams: sports teams, debate teams, study-groups, musical groups, and so forth. From our experience in these teams, we also develop our attitudes about whether we like being on a team and whether we feel that being a part of a team will help us achieve our goals.
After our schooling (and oftentimes during our years in school) we begin to experience what it's like to be on a work team within an organization. Whether it's a team preparing fast-food, managing inventory, developing new products, or even hoping to cure cancer, we bring our experiences from the teams of our youth and they influence us as we become a part of these work teams. Unfortunately, in today's world, many people have not had particularly positive experiences on teams: their "family team" didn't function particularly well, their sports teams had poor coaching leading to low morale and losses, or their study-groups ended up producing a poor product (and a poor grade), making them leery of being part of a team. Indeed, much of the current research on Millennials suggests that they don't particularly enjoy being part of a team, and don't have many of the skills needed for effective teamwork.1 One of the interesting findings from our research is that while many organizations give lip service to the importance of teams, few spend time or resources to ensure the effective performance of their teams.2 The typical excuses we hear are:
- We don't have time to spend "working on our team." We've got more important work to do.
- Management doesn't reward good team performance. Individual performance is what matters.
- If we start looking at what is going on in our team, people will be uncomfortable. We don't believe a "touchy-feely" approach will lead to good outcomes for the team.
- Our team leaders don't really know how to develop an effective team, and we don't have the expertise internally to train them all. And outside consultants are too expensive.
The result of these types of attitudes is that little effort is generally made to improve team performance in today's organizations, and the efforts that are made are typically one-time training or other "band-aid" approaches to helping teams perform more effectively. The net result is that we have many dysfunctional teams today, and not much is being done to make them better.
Even though often little is done to improve teams, leaders are generally aware that team performance is important as much of today's work is team based; think of research teams, product development teams, production teams, sales and marketing teams, cross-functional problem-solving teams, and top management teams. One reason work is done more by teams now is that products and services have become increasingly complex, requiring a wide range of skills and technologies. No single person is capable of developing, manufacturing, and selling increasingly complex products, which means that teams of individuals with complementary knowledge must coordinate efficiently and effectively in order to be successful. This requires teamwork skills. A second reason teamwork skills are needed now more than in the past is that in a global economy, individuals must collaborate across cultural, organizational, and geographical boundaries to accomplish their goals. Hence, the need for cross-cultural, virtual, and alliance teams (teams that collaborate across organizational boundaries) has increased in recent years. Thus, high-performing companies in today's competitive landscape essentially require high-performing work teams. The two unavoidably go hand in hand.
High-performing teams are those with members whose skills, attitudes, and competencies enable them to achieve team goals. These team members set goals, make decisions, communicate, manage conflict, and solve problems in a supportive, trusting atmosphere in order to accomplish their objectives. Moreover, they are aware of their own strengths and weaknesses and have the ability to make changes when they need to improve their performance.
Thus, the primary purpose of this book is to give managers, team leaders, team members, and team consultants specific guidance on how to improve team performance. In particular, this book gives you "the essentials" of team building-those activities and actions that can help poorly performing or dysfunctional teams improve their performance. And for those who have adequately functioning teams, this book can help you transform them into great teams.
Determinants of High-Performing Teams: The Five Cs
Over the past several decades, as we have consulted with teams and conducted research on team performance, we have come to the conclusion that five factors-the Five Cs-must be understood and managed for teams to achieve superior performance (Figure 1.1):
Figure 1.1 The Five Cs of Team Performance
- Context for the team
- Composition of the team
- Competencies of the team
- Change management skills of the team
- Collaborative leadership style
We will describe each of these factors only briefly here. Future chapters are devoted to each one of the 5Cs.
Context for the Team
Team context refers to the organizational environment in which the team must work. Understanding context, and how it influences team performance, requires an understanding of the answers to the following two categories of questions:
- Is effective teamwork critical to accomplishing organizational goals? If so, are there measurable team performance goals around which we can organize a team?
- Do the following support teamwork in the organization?
- Senior management-Do they encourage teamwork?
- Reward systems-Is teamwork rewarded with financial or other rewards?
- Information systems-Do we have data on team performance that teams can access?
- Structure-Are teams organized in a way that allows the team to accomplish their goals?
- Culture-Do members of the organization value teamwork?
- Physical space-Are there spaces for teams to meet so they can accomplish their work effectively?
Experience has shown that teamwork skills are more important when the team must complete a complex task characterized by a high degree of interdependence between team members. Understanding the context-the nature of task interdependence required among team members in order to achieve a high level of performance-is a critical first step to building a successful team. For example, it's not enough just to train people on the importance of key team competencies, such as communication and problem solving, if they are not supported and reinforced by the specific context of the team. Low-interdependence teams need to be managed differently than high-interdependence teams.
Composition of the Team
The composition of the team concerns the skills and attitudes of each team member. You must to have the right people on the team to achieve the desired level of performance. To effectively manage the composition of the team, those staffing the team must answer the following questions:
- Do individual team members have the technical skills required to complete the task?
- Do they have the interpersonal and communication skills required to coordinate their work with others? (This is much more important for teams where task interdependence is high.)
- Are individual team members committed to the team and motivated to complete the task?
- Is the team the right size to complete the task successfully?
Teams saddled with members who are not motivated to accomplish the task or lack the skills to achieve team goals are doomed to failure from the outset. Team composition also refers to assembling a group of individuals with complementary skills. Effective teams use the diverse skills and abilities of each team member in a synergistic way to achieve high performance. The members of high-performing teams clearly understand their roles and...
