Organizing Groups and Teams

Organizing Groups and Teams within Organizations (chapter 5)
A reflection from the reading of Bolman and Deal (2008) on organizing groups and teams helped me think and answer the following:  Why is it important to organize teams in an organization?  What does it take to have a successful team? What should we look for when we need to create one?

A successful group or team helps an organization advance its mission, vision and goals.  It’s important to have successful teams as it can raise the performance of individuals or it can diminish the well-intended and motivated spirits of those around them (Bolman & Deal, 2008).   Individuals should know what their role and responsibilities are so that they may understand how their contribution will affect the group.  A well put together team is motivated, uses creativity, is driven, and should have such a high level of trust and reliance among each other that it should be visible from the outside in, much like when the basketball team the Miami Heat plays.  The level of interconnectedness along with reframing makes them extraordinarily exceptional as a team.  A team should be a structure where members can express their ideas or views without fears of retribution and where members together reach a consensus.   In a poorly constructed team, there can be dissention in the group, feelings of isolation, individuals with unmatched skillsets, lack of trust and morale, all which can bring a project to a halt or fulfill below average expectations.  Essentially, the structure involves understanding what needs to be done, identifying who will be in charge, what or who needs to be coordinated and taking time to analyze the skillsets of staff to determine what responsibilities can be assigned in order to build a cohesive team.  Teams can be basic or complex.  Basic structures have “clearly defined roles, elementary forms of interdependence and coordination by plan or command; complex structures have flexible roles, a give-and-take, organized using lateral dealings and communal feedback" (Bolman & Deal, 2008, p. 102). The structure of a group can be defined by the group and can be either tight or loose.  What is important is that the team be able to adapt to the situation.  The reporting structure or hierarchy and flow of information can vary; it can be from top-down, be shared, circular or networked.  In circular and networked, communication is much simpler where groups or individuals may communicate with each other with fewer restrictions.  This is a preference over the one boss, dual or simple hierarchy arrangement.   Circular and networked allows the teams to interact easily and transfer information to each other, instead of waiting for information to flow to/from the top and waiting long periods for a decision to made.  Although, the nature of business may influence the structure, for example, in healthcare you may need a more top down approach because it involves patient safety.  Size matters, if the structure of a team is too large it becomes unmanageable, if so, then additional team leaders should be added to help alleviate oversight.

According to Katzenbach and Smith (as cited in Bolman and Deal, 2008), there are six characteristics of high-quality teams:

·         Shape purpose in response to a demand or an opportunity placed in their path by higher management

·         Translate common purpose into specific, measurable performance goals

·         Teams are manageable in size

·         Teams develop the right mix of expertise; and

·         Develop a common commitment to working relationships. (p. 111-112)

While skillsets are mentioned as an identifying factor to build a team by Bolman and Deal (2008), Kevin O’Connor, who is co-founder of Doubleclick and founder of FindtheBest, presents several ways to build a team (2012).  Interestingly, there is one that stands out; he believes that smarts is what matters most and when you hire someone this is what you should look for instead of focusing on skills; because skills can be taught.  While his argument makes sense and there is a preference to believe this, one must also weigh the type of project to be undertaken because the project may not allow enough time to train numerous people.  In an emergency such as the 9/11 terrorists attacks,  staff could not be effective without having been fully trained with the skills necessary to combat such a dangerous situation, otherwise they would bring demise to themselves and those around them.  Besides, being smart does not translate to being astute or having common sense.  In a video interview, Schuler states the most important skill as a manager is the ability to just hire great people and understand that you are not giving up control; as well as having the support of the board to help develop your team (Schurenberg & Schuler, 2013).  Take a moment to view Schuler and Schurenberg’s video: 

The Most Important Skills is Knowing How to Build A Team  

There are self-managed teams that tend to produce better results and higher morale than those working under top-down management but the issue is getting the group started (Bolman & Deal, 2008).  These groups manage themselves assign jobs to members, plan and schedule work, make decisions on production and services, and take action to remedy problems (Bolman & Deal, 2008).  This level of independence instills in employees that they are an important part of the process and creates a sense of ownership.  This type of group is inspired but can also be driven to make decisions with incentives.  Bolman and Deal (2008) used Saturn’s example, if the corporation met performance objectives, employees were rewarded with $10,000.00.  This may work when all employees benefit across the board, which may be contrary to some top down organizations where those at the top reap high paid bonuses.  There are a lot of factors that fall into developing a great team and structure.  A key significance is learning to identify who is on staff, what can they offer as far as skills and experience, where to allocate them where you can extra the best of them,  build a structure that works and learn when it needs to be changed.   In essence, what we want is great people on successful teams that help create and adapt to structure; where both the organization and teams united to find purpose in what they do while allowing them to produce services or products that will help advance the organization.

References:

Bolman, L. and Deal, T. (2008).  Reframing organizations.  San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

O’Connor, Kevin. (2012, August 12).  9 ways great companies organize their team for success. Retrieved from http://www.fastcompany.com/3000584/9-ways-great- companies-organize-their-teams-success

Schurenberg, E. & Schuler, B.(2013, December 4).  The most important skill is knowing how to build a team. Inc. Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.inc.com/eric-schurenberg/barry-schuler-skills-to-have-going-from-startup-to-growth-phase.html