L10: High-performing Team Leadership

 

            Building an effective team raises both organizational and individual leadership issues. First leaders have to decide to form team or meeting, then put the right man into the right job.

 

            There are several processes to be established. It started at creating the team charter which consists of the purpose, member roles and responsibilities, ground rules and the communication protocol. Action plan allow the team to see the big picture of the project meanwhile work plan becomes a more specific elaboration of the action plan. The team’s performance is up to the ability of the team to deliver the results of its work. Team member should learn each other’s experience of being on the team. The talent can solve the problem, however, the talented people clash. We can improve the ability to work together smoothly by taking time to know each other’s current situation (Position and responsibility), Work experience, Expectations, Personality, and Cultural differences. After spending time together, we might experience conflict. We can classify the internal team conflict into four types; Analytical conflict, Task conflict, Interpersonal conflict, and Roles conflict.

 

            More and more professionals are using virtual teams to connect to and work with other around to globe. Today most team work is virtual, the virtual teams are teams whose member are geographically dispersed and rely primarily on technology for communication and to accomplish their work as a team. There are several advantages be provided by using virtual team such as lowering travel cost, reducing project schedules, improving efficiency, and so on. The virtual team needs to have more structure than a traditional team so the member should be trained and practice.

 

Question

1. How to Form a Team to High Performance?

            One of the first steps to take toward increasing team effectiveness is to pay attention to how the team is formed. You can head off most of the problems that beset teams during the formation stage by setting a clear direction, securing organizational support, building an enabling team structure, developing key relationships, and monitoring external factors.

 

            For members of a team to work effectively together, they need to have a shared understanding of why the team exists and what the team members are expected to accomplish. Team members should be able to state the team’s purpose in a simple, direct way and be able to communicate that purpose to all stakeholders in a consistent manner.

 

            Make special efforts to ensure that your organization supports the team you’re forming with adequate resources, organizational sponsorship, recognition of team member responsibility and team authority, a means of providing feedback on performance, and a team oriented reward system.

 

            The actual structure of the team also helps it to be successful. Designing a strong team defines, among other things, team member responsibilities (which team members will play what roles on the team) and determines what technical and interpersonal skills the team needs to accomplish its task.

 

            In addition to selecting the right team members and building internal processes, you will need to identify important stakeholders in and outside of the organization. The degree to which you need to develop these relationships depends upon your team’s tasks, but at the least your team should have some understanding of the necessity of building and maintaining solid relationships outside the team.

 

            The team you form will be subject to environmental factors inside and outside the organization. Identifying and maintaining an awareness of environmental influences, demands, and changes can help you build a team that can achieve a higher level of performance. The team you form won’t just react to change but maintains an awareness of change.

 

2. What is the first step for a team?

            The first step for a team will be to create a team charter or contract.

 

3. Teem members need to know each other. What is the short way to learning?

            The teem members can shorten the learning curve by discussing the following information at the first team meeting:

            1. Position and responsibilities.

            2. Team experiences.

            3. Expectations.

            4. Personality.

            5. Cultural differences.