Designing an effective team
New teams form all the time – those that flourish rarely do so by chance. A deliberately designed team is the best approach for success. But too often teams are just thrown together and fail to become effective, never really ‘taking off.’
If you have experienced or recognise any of the following then chances are team design and set-up is the issue:
- There is no clarity on who is or who isn’t a member of the team
- The team is so large in size that the team struggle to make decisions and reach consensus
- The team’s diversity isn’t representative of its customers
- The team is not clear about its purpose – why it exists and what it is supposed to do
- There is a high staff turnover – People are always leaving/joining this team
- Key skills are lacking to do the work at hand
- The team lacks synergy – working autonomously to individual targets and rewards
A team’s structure and composition can benefit from some careful thought, planning and organisational design. Research studies by Harvard Business School’s – Ruth Wageman support this view: “well-designed teams demonstrate more effectiveness than teams whose designs are flawed“.
Building successful teams
Unfortunately, while there is no one-size-fits-all optimal organisational structure or team blueprint, other studies do suggest that up to 70% of the factors contributing to a team’s effectiveness can be influenced by intentional team design (Dr. J. Peters, coaching teams – ICF Conference 2018) . Here is just some of the work we do to support this philosophy:
- Structures – review of organisational structures to determine if they are organised in a way that supports group and team working
- Direction – alignment of team purpose, goals and processes with organisational strategies
- Communications – Ensuring teams have the timely and relevant information they need about their activities and those of related teams and the wider organisation
- Authority and autonomy – Mapping key processes to ensure teams have the inputs and authority they need to make key decisions within identified boundaries and understand their contribution to decisions in the wider organisation.
The benefits of high performing teams
Our aim is to create purposeful teams, that have the abilities, processes and potency to carry out work that is meaningful and makes a positive impact (to both members and the organisation). When teams work well together, the benefits can be immense:
- Strategic fit – a better understanding for the team of its operating context, and fit and contribution to the organisation
- Faster set up – accelerating the process of forming a newly established team
- Increased efficiency – quicker development of a team’s work processes and routines
- Team identity – clarity about the teams purpose improving team cohesion and focus
- Role composition – greater team member role clarity avoiding role conflict and duplication of effort
- Stronger team alignment within and between teams
- Greater team effectiveness and higher team performance.
Contact teamGenie®’s experts to help you build an effective team that ensures stakeholders’ expectations are met/exceeded. We create a unique and tailored journey for each team.
