Team Management

• Think about strengths and weaknesses. Within a perfect team there is a balancing act between individuals who get on together and individuals who bring specific strengths to the team. For example, on a football team you need to have a goalkeeper, some defenders, midfielders and strikers. You also need a balance of players who are good in the wet and some in the dry; some who play well when you are winning and some who shine when you are in trouble; some passionate players and some who are calm and methodical.

• Think about the environment. In a car sales environment, for example, you might want people who are self motivated, use their initiative, take calculated risks and solve their own problems. If you are building a team to run a nuclear power station then you probably want a mix of methodical, exacting, analytical and risk-averse people.

• Take inspiration from other teams. Many famous teams are made up of complementary characters. Think about the Magnificent Seven (gunfighters in the film), Wallace and Gromit (man and dog in animation series), Laurel and Hardy (comedy duo), the Dirty Dozen (assassins in the film), Hillary and Tenzing (real-life conquerors of Mount Everest), and even the ‘A’ Team (fugitive heroes in TV series).

Recruit great people to accomplish great things.

2.2 Get the team performing quickly

There are a number of preliminary stages before a team can start performing properly. The stages can be summarized as forming, storming, norming and performing. These stages sometimes happen naturally, but it is far better to manage them from the outset.

1 Forming stage. Team members identify each other by name, role and history. In order to get this stage successfully completed as quickly as possible, hold a proper ‘forming’ meeting – get everyone to introduce themselves and share this information.

2 Storming stage. The stage where, confident they are meant to be here, people start to ‘jockey for position’ – to establish their credibility in the team. Some will try to push themselves forward

case study A manager asked me to run a teambuilding course for his part-time IT project team. The team had spent 11 months and many thousands of pounds but had achieved nothing at all. Over two days of teambuilding, the team members properly introduced themselves to each other for the first time; they did a couple of exercises that allowed them to ‘storm’; and they produced their own team charter. They went on to achieve more in the following six weeks than they had in the previous 11 months.

because they want power or influence; others will deliberately keep a low profile because they are shy, diffident or lacking in confidence. You need to set up activities that allow people to find their level of comfort – for example any of the teambuilding exercises you can find on websites such as www.businessballs.com.

3 Norming stage. This is when you start to establish the rules of behaviour between team members, and their relationships with you and people outside. The Norming phase can take quite a long time if left to happen naturally because the rules will be established by a combination of ‘trial and error’ and ‘custom and practice’. Take control by holding a team meeting to set up some formal ground rules. See Secret 2.5 for more details.

4 Performing stage. The team finally starts working effectively towards its goals. For example, a soccer team is performing when it is playing well – tackling, keeping possession, winning ground, supporting each other – even before it starts scoring goals.

Once you reach this stage you want to stay there! Follow the secrets in Chapters 3, 4, 5 & 6.

Don’t let your team go through the first three stages without intervention; make them happen quickly and successfully.

2.3 Create a team identity

Effective teams nearly always have a team name, whether its Manchester United (football team), Greenpeace (environmental action group), the Rajasthan Royals (cricket team) or even the Beatles (pop band)! Nearly all teams have a logo and a unique style or uniform. A team identity gives individuals a powerful sense of belonging.

Even if the team you run is scattered across several departments of your organization, you can give them a sense of shared identity, such as with a team name, team logo, team motto, team vision and even a team ‘strip’ or uniform. Hold a team meeting and propose the idea: people will probably like it and be happy to choose or vote for things.

• Team name. Keep it short and simple, for example The ‘Hey!’ Team rather than the Global Internal Corporate Communications Team. Go for something descriptive of the team’s role or style, e.g. The Paper Tigers for an archive team. Try to find something different or even unique. Whereas lots of organizations have a Quality Team, why not call it The DRiFTers, standing for Do it Right First Time? Alliterative or punning names are usually successful, e.g. the Rajasthan Royals or Coach and Courses for your training team. Also make sure the name is easy to pronounce and spell in the language your team uses – a good example of a ‘team’ that adopted an easier name identity is the British Royal Family, who changed their surname from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor in 1917.

• Team logo. A logo can be used to add distinction to your workplace, your paperwork and yourselves. You need to keep the logo simple so that it remains recognizable when reduced in size on memos or polo shirts. Ideally have one designed in primary colours so it can be easily replicated if you want to have it embroidered, painted or printed, or just have a black and white logo, so it can easily be photocopied. Often the simplest shapes make the strongest icons – consider, for example, the Red Cross and Red Crescent.

• Team ‘strip’. You can create a team identity with clothing and accessories, such as hats, polo shirts, badges, buttons, umbrellas, document bags, and so on. Items such as these are all relatively cheap, unisex and often more popular and fun than a top-to-toe uniform.

• Team motto. Take time to get the team together and challenge yourselves to come up with a good team motto. By ‘good’ you mean something that everyone will be proud to admit to! Keep it short and informative of the team ethos. Look at famous slogans for inspiration, such as Avis’s “We try Harder”, General Electric’s “Imagination at Work”; Barclays Bank’s “Fluid in Finance”, or the British SAS’s “Who Dares Wins”.

People like to be part of a team with a proper identity, so get them involved in creating that identity.

2.4 Create a team vision

A team is a group of people all trying to achieve one common objective, but the objective may change year on year. You need a bigger, aspirational ‘vision’ that encompasses but goes beyond the annual target.

• A vision is the glue that binds the team together as each individual strives to achieve his or her personal goals.

• A vision is what keeps you all focused on the ‘big picture’ when difficulties may otherwise seem insurmountable.

• A vision is the fuel that motivates your people to achieve something that is truly challenging.

Depending on the ethos of the organization and the function of the team, your vision might range from the mercenary (“We are going to kill the competition”), through supportive (“We will be customers’ supplier of choice”) to the uplifting (“We will eradicate starvation”)!

Here are some real examples of organizational visions:

• Google. “To organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.”

• Microsoft (in the 1980s). “A personal computer in every home running Microsoft software.”

• Volunteer Reading Help. “Confident children; literate for life.”

Note that visions are future aspirations, not current descriptions. To create a vision ask yourself:

• What do we really, really want to achieve?

• What would make us feel really, really successful?

• What do we want to remember about this team when we are old?

• What could we do that would make us feel proud?

• What would people remember us for?

• What would make people want to erect a statue in our honour?

As you can see, ‘people’ in the last two questions could mean the citizens of your country, your children and grandchildren, your shareholders or customers. It will depend on the type of job you and your team do; commercial, public sector and medical teams will doubtless have different approaches, leading to different team visions.

You can undertake this exercise in isolation or you can get your team involved. Personally I’d recommend the latter; this way the team members contribute to a vision that they can genuinely believe in and support; otherwise it is your vision and not necessarily theirs.

Once everyone shares the vision then the values of the team, acceptable behaviours, appropriate goals and an atmosphere of mutual support follow.

A shared vision means you are all facing the same way on the road to your goal.

2.5 Agree the ground rules

Ground rules should be set early to make it clear what behaviour is acceptable among members of the team, including you as the team leader. Depending on the circumstances, ground rules can also relate to other internal departments, customers, competitors, shareholders and so on.

It is better for your team to create the ground rules themselves rather than you imposing the rules upon them. This may seem counterintuitive – you are, after all, supposed to be the leader – but you can lead the team to produce their own rules. Here’s how to do it.

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