What Should Be In a Team?

Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishment toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results. ~ Andrew Carnegie

A team is a group of people who have a common goal or task to accomplish. The inception through dissolution of a team should be focused, purposeful, and supported by either the organization, or larger society. For a team to function well, three aspects are critical: goals, clear decision-making agreement, and the right players (Levi, 2017).

Goals
As an organization's goals fluctuate so do the goals and needs of each team. Organizations must beware generating teams without clear, or clearly stated goals, because the team will be unable to use their time effectively. Goals can be set by the organization prior to team creation, perhaps by a legal, social, or business item change, or a leader's vision. Goals can also be set within the team, but even that much clarity must be explicit so the team can act with confidence and autonomy.

Ultimate Decision-Making Authority
When a team is developed, they often will develop internal decision-making strategies during the norming phase. However, prior to team creation, there must be some clearly communicated and shared understanding of the ultimate role of the team. Are they developing a policy? Recommending a short list of solutions? Implementing one already-decided-upon-solution? Where is the boundary between the freedom, actions, and responsibilities the individual, the team, the manager, and the larger organization all have? It may not matter which level of decision-making autonomy teams have, and may matter much more that the level is clearly communicated when the team is first formed.

The Right Teammates
As team members are selected, organizations often benefit by analyzing the stakeholders needed for appropriate team representation. Within a company, this could mean finance, shipping, and product managers being included with engineers to make relevant decisions. Within a smaller organization, this could mean having a numbers person serve a treasurer, while a person with neat handwriting or fast and accurate typing skills serves as secretary.

The right teammates will include a diverse representation of organizational or cultural perspectives; personality, communication, or conflict style types; knowledge, skills, and abilities; genders; giftedness; neurodiversity; and generations.

As you lead a team, make sure to clearly identify the goals and purposes of this team: How will they know they've succeeded? Ultimate decision-making authority: Who has it? And who are the right teammates for the job: Do we have enough perspectives?

References

Levi, D. (2017). Group dynamics for teams. SAGE Publications, Inc.