The role of teams is growing, spurred by globalization and the enabling factor of communications technology.
Given the importance of work teams, it is more than a bit remarkable how much our society's perspective is focused on the individual. We school our children as individuals. We hire, train and reward employees as individuals. Yet, we have great faith that individuals thrown into a team, with little thought given to composition, training or leadership, will be effective and successful. Science strongly suggests otherwise.
One of the most important things a team brings to a task is what its members think, the relevant information they carry in their heads. The ability to access and use this distributed expertise efficiently is one characteristic of successful teams.
Here are three considerations for building better teams:
1. An effective work group should be designed well from the start, bringing together people who can contribute to the right mix of knowledge, skills, tools and other resources necessary to succeed.
2. Face-to-face meetings, social interaction among members and a leader who establishes a good relationship with every worker help a team make the best use of its expertise and create a cohesive mission.
3. Generic teamwork skills such as setting goals, adapting to change, resolving conflict and providing feedback allow teams to learn from each challenge and continually improve their performance.
Source: The Science of Team Success, Scientific American Mind, June/July 2007
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