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Creating great teams
In any given organisation, teamwork becomes instrumental in bringing about the desired results. Hence organisations are forever looking for cultivating teams whose members would complement each other.
A recent study published in a science journal suggests that successful teams have a diverse membership, not of race and gender, but of old and new blood. Furthermore, members in a successful team are strongly interconnected with each other.
Luis Amaral, associate professor of chemical and biological engineering and the author of the paper says that successful teams make effective use of experienced people who have not worked together before while the unsuccessful teams repeat the same collaborations over and over again. Sociologist Brian Uzzi, associate professor of management and organisations at the Kellogg School of Management, is also one of the paper’s authors.
Both Uzzi and Amaral agree that assembling a successful team depends on achieving the “bliss point” intersection between diversity and cohesion. Diversity represents new collaborations, while cohesion comes from repeat collaborations. New collaborations are necessary to get creative ideas flowing and breaking up the monotony. New team members can add zest and effectively build upon the experiences of the old team members. Repeat collaborations are only worthwhile if they yield successful results, help team members to learn from previous experiences, are receptive to new ideas and willing to improve operations.
Team diversity is an important feature of modern workplace today. In addition to welcoming new team members on board and understanding a diverse mix of attitudes, values and characteristics, there are many other issues that the leader needs to take into consideration. Mark McCrindle of The Australian Leadership Foundation, a social researcher and leadership expert, suggests some key issues for leaders which include understanding and leading the new generations, managing multi-generational teams, building teams in individualistic times, understanding leadership styles that work best today, conforming to the latest trends in the workplace, and training potential leaders.
Team cohesion also plays a vital role in achieving successful results. The primary requirement in building a strong synergistic unit is that there should be a high degree of interdependence and trust among team members. They should be clear about goals and be capable of establishing targets.
We can also learn a great deal about group cohesiveness from research in the field of Animal Biology. For instance, wild geese flying in a V-shape can teach us the following lessons:
— When each goose flaps its wings, it creates uplift for the birds following. By flying in a “V” formation the whole flock adds 71per cent more flying range than if each bird flew all by itself.
Lesson: People who share a common direction and a common goal can get where they are going quicker and easier because they are travelling on the thrust of one another.
— Whenever a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to fly alone and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the birds immediately in front.
Lesson: If we have as much sense as a goose, we will join formation with those who are headed where we want to go.
— When a lead goose gets tired, it rotates back into formation and another goose flies at the point position.
Lesson: It pays to take turns doing the hard tasks and sharing leadership — we make more progress as we depend on each other for help.
— The geese in formation honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.
Lesson: We need to make sure our honking from behind is encouraging — not something less helpful, annoying or demoralising.
Honeybees are also a perfect example of group cohesion in teamwork. On a warm hot day about half the bees in a hive stay inside beating their wings while the other half go out to gather pollen and nectar. Because of the beating wings, the temperature inside the hive is about 10 degrees cooler than outside. The bees rotate duties and the bees that cool the hive are the honey gatherers the next day.
However, not all bees go to work at exactly the same time. Some bees are more sensitive to high temperatures than others, so they start fanning slightly earlier or later than their neighbours. This variation keeps the nest within a comfortable temperature range and prevents the bees from getting tired by constantly switching back and forth between heating and cooling.
Team cohesion also increases when each team member is willing to contribute and come up with brand new ideas. The willingness to contribute is largely dependent on what motivates the team members. Motivation is quintessential for improving team performance. As a guide specialists in the field of leadership and motivation suggest these motivational strategies: aligning personal goals with team goals; believing in encouragement, respect, appreciation and gratitude; offering adequate compensation; treating people fairly and making tasks more challenging.
Behavioural scientists are still working to determine what exactly motivates a team. While effective teams can produce extraordinary results, studies have found that an estimated 50 per cent of self-directed work teams culminate in failure. Studies also show that effective teams frequently improve the quality of work life for the employees. An effective team is generally the one in which members are empowered to make decisions about how to get work done. This is a strong motivator that helps to create a satisfying and rewarding work environment. This type of a work environment further leads to lower absenteeism and turnover.
Studies prove that teamwork gives its members a sense of belongingness since s/he interacts with others on a regular basis. This works as a motivator. Team members identify with and feel pride in the work they are doing and come to rely on one another being there. Furthermore, at some companies, employees are evaluated based on their contribution to their team’s efforts.
The writer zanearts@excite.com is an information architect and a trainer
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