Introduction to Team-based Organizations

1 Introduction TO Team-based ORGANIZATIONS11 Introductionto team -basedOrganizationsHe makes tools (and does so within more than one technicaltradition), builds shelters, takes over natural refuges by ex-ploiting fire, and sallies out of them to hunt and gather hisfood. He does this in groups with a discipline that can sustaincomplicated operations; he therefore has some ability to exchangeideas by speech. The basic biological units of his hunting groupsprobably prefigure the nuclear family of man, being founded onthe institutions of the home base and a sexual differentiation ofactivity. There may even be some complexity of social organiza-tion in so far as fire-bearers and gatherers or old creatures whosememories made them the data banks of their societies could besupported by the labour of others. There has to be some socialorganization to permit the sharing of co-operatively obtainedfood, too. There is nothing to be usefully added to an accountsuch as this by pretending to say where exactly can be found aprehistorical point or dividing line at which such things hadcome to be, but subsequent human history is unimaginablewithout Roberts (1995).

2 The History of the , UK: Penguin, p. 18 The activity of a group of people working cooperatively to achieveshared goals via differentiation of roles and using elaboratesystems of communication is basic to our species. The currententhusiasm for team working in Organizations reflects a deeper,perhaps unconscious, recognition that this way of working offers2 Introduction TO Team-based ORGANIZATIONSthe promise of greater progress than can be achieved throughindividual endeavour or through mechanistic approaches to is the way we have always lived, loved and worked. Wehave raised our young in groups, hunted wildebeest, built ourcities and grown and harvested our crops, largely in groups with,as Roberts says, a discipline that can sustain the complicatedprocess of team live, work, and play in human society is to cooperate withothers. We express both our collective identity and our indi-viduality in groups and Organizations .

3 Our common experiencesof living and working together bind us with each other andwith our predecessors. Today we face new demands that makecooperative work in teams more vital and more challenging. Tomeet the pressures of the global marketplace, Organizations aremoving away from rigid, hierarchical structures to more organic,flexible forms. Teams are developing and marketing products,solving production problems, and creating corporate are experimenting with participation, high-commitmentorganizations, self-managing work teams, labour managementcooperation, and gain-sharing programmes. These innovations,though they have different backgrounds, all involve the explicituse of teams to accomplish central organizational tasks. The teamrather than the individual is increasingly considered the basicbuilding block of is spilling out across organizational and nationalboundaries. Many manufacturers form teams with suppliersto boost quality, reduce costs and assure continuous improve-ment.

4 International alliances are becoming the accepted way toparticipate in the global marketplace. American and Japaneseautomakers and other traditional competitors have developeda wide variety of cooperative strategies. Increasingly, peoplewith different organizational and national loyalties from diversecultural backgrounds and unequal status are asked to worktogether. And teams from commercial Organizations are linkingwith those from universities to develop exciting, useful andradical this book, we outline not so much how to build effectiveteams there are many books that address this issue butrather how to build Organizations that are structured aroundteams. This is because, in contrast with the wealth of adviceon teambuilding and teamworking, there is astonishingly littleguidance or advice to managers on how to build team -basedINTRODUCTION TO Team-based ORGANIZATIONS3organizations.

5 The overall challenge is to answer the question: howcan we build Organizations that ensure the effectiveness of work teamsand of their Organizations ? This book provides a synthesis of know-ledge about how to build Organizations that are Team-based ratherthan individually based , with a clear focus on the psychologicaland social processes and emerging relationships that can facilitateor obstruct successful teamwork across Organizations . The bookis based on evidence gathered by the authors over 20 years throughpractical management experience, research work in Organizations ,and consultancy experience across the public ( health care),manufacturing and service sectors in helping to introduce Team-based working (TBW).The book has six main sections describing the six main stagesof developing TBW in an organization . Chapters 2 7 follow acommon structure. The aims and activities of each of the stagesare described and then appropriate support materials and toolsare provided.

6 The CD accompanying this book provides thesematerials in a format in which they can be downloaded for useby managers and consultants intent on introducing TBW in The Six Stages of TBWThe six stages of TBW are:1 Deciding on TBW: understanding the value and benefitsof TBW and conducting an organizational review. Beforeintroducing TBW it is important to understand the existingstructure, culture and extent of team working in the organ-ization. This stage also involves developing a plan for theimplementation of support systems: this stage requires an examinationof support systems relevant to TBW such as training, rewardsystems, communication, and interteam relations, and makingplans to adapt or develop them for leader and team member selection: establishing criteria forteam leader and team member selection and implementingappropriate recruitment and selection processes. team leadertraining is important leading teams is very different fromother kinds of leadership so team leaders need to be equippedwith the necessary knowledge skills and TO Team-based ORGANIZATIONS4 developing effective teams: understanding and enabling the teamdevelopment process, which includes clarifying objectives,roles, communication processes and decision-making and sustaining team effectiveness: in this stage, teamsmust be coached to set criteria for the evaluation of teamperformance and to identify required changes to TBW.

7 The final stage involves evaluating thecontribution of TBW to the organization s effectiveness andmaking any necessary changes to ensure the continued andoptimal contribution of TBW to the six-stage model illustrated in Figure will be usedthroughout the book as a route map of the journey of introduc-ing TBW in your Introduction of TBW is a journey along which there arekey milestones. These are listed in Table along with someindication of the likely minimum time from the start date of theTBW change process by which each milestone could have six-stage model of TBWS tage 6 Evaluating TBWS tage 1 Deciding on TBW andorganizational reviewStage 2 Reviewing anddesigning supportsystemsStage 5 Reviewing andsustaining teameffectivenessStage 3 team leaderselection andtrainingStage 4 developing the teamINTRODUCTION TO Team-based ORGANIZATIONS5 Table milestones in the TBW processTarget activityTarget dateSenior management commitment1 monthTeam- based working goals agreed6 weeksImplementation steering group appointed6 weeksReviewing activity completed2 monthsNew team structure designed4 monthsSupport system review completed4 monthsTeam leader/member selection criteria agreed4 monthsInitial team leader training completed6 monthsTeam leader learning sets established7 monthsDevelopment plans in place7 monthsSupport

8 Systems changes completed9 monthsInitial team performance evaluations completed15 monthsEvaluation completed18 Managing Expectationsand TimescalesIntroducing TBW into an organization is not a quick fix . Theprocess of introducing TBW requires deep and wide-rangingchanges within the organization . Achieving these changes takestime and you should expect that their initial implementation willtake at least one year, and that ensuring that the changes arefirmlybedded down within the organization will take at least two requires a change of structure for example, changing theway people work with each other, share information and makedecisions and also a change of culture. In addition, working inteams requires different knowledge, skills and attitudes. Thatis why many different groups within the organization will beaffected by the team development process. Managers shouldtherefore plan to involve a considerable number of staff membersin this process, and not simply the top management does it mean to be the leader of this change process?

9 Itrequires that the leader has a thorough knowledge in advance ofthe contents of all the modules, and that he or she has studiedthe map of the journey very carefully before embarking on theprocess of introducing TBW. The leader should have the backingand the confidence of the top management team in the organiza-tion. The leader of the change process will have to manage and6 Introduction TO Team-based Organizations tolerate the conflict, resistance and pain associated with the intro-duction of such a major change within the organization . To achievethis, the leader needs to have a strongly held and positive visionof the value of the process. The leaders of the change should alsoconsider from where they will draw their support, and this shouldinclude the members of the top management the process of introducing TBW into the organizationwill be challenging and complex, it is important to keep a detailedlog of progress, both to monitor the process and to enable thechange manager or leader to communicate effectively about theprocess with the various groups which participate in the trainingsessions.

10 The more information that you record in this way, theeasier it will be for you to brief each of the groups which particip-ate in the training sessions. Communication is a key part of theprocess of introducing TBW and the more able you are to fullyinform those participating in training sessions as well as staffmembers throughout the organization about information gatheredand decisions made, the smoother will be the journey towardsthe full implementation of TBW. Moreover, should it be necessaryto involve new members of the senior management team , youwill be in a position to brief them adequately because you havekept a comprehensive and accurate log and checklist of informa-tion during the Failures of TBWAt this point it is useful for you to be alerted to the main failingsin attempts to introduce effective TBW in Organizations . Theseare outlined without tasksThe only point of having a team is to get a job done, a taskcompleted, a set of objectives met.