Home | Business News | Browse by Publication | I | Industrial Management

7 formulas for team success.

Article Excerpt
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

After you master engineering and an array of process improvement techniques, achieve some success, and receive promotions to management levels, the next challenge is coping with the people side of team leadership. For most team leaders, this means making a quick transition from the clarity of technology to the mystery of human behavior, emotions, and motivation. use the following seven formulas to reduce the mystery of interpersonal and group dynamics.

Halfway through the meeting with his project team leaders, Mike sighed quietly, leaned back, and folded his hands behind his head, dismayed by the ponderous pace of the meeting and at a loss for how to jumpstart the group and focus them on action. His well-trained facilitation skills were not working. In fact, he totally blanked on what to do.

Situations like this are part of the everyday life of team leaders. There are lots of reasons for blanking: fear of public speaking, the challenge of reading other people, thinking on your feet while trying to facilitate a multi-step process, and coping with team members who are very intelligent and therefore resistant or even arrogant.

In spite of the never-ending challenges of interpersonal and group dynamics, many team leaders and their teams achieve great results, making maximum use of individuals' talents and skills.

Team leaders can benefit from seven formulas that will allow them to maximize their natural talents and lead their team to success.

1. VALUE

How is a successful group dynamic achieved? To start, team leaders need to connect with team members. Team members won't say it, but what they really want to know is that the leader understands and values them. To reach out in this way, team leaders need to connect with people, demonstrating that they appreciate the team and are responsive to members' needs. Understandably, this can be difficult when team members come across as resistant, arrogant, or challenging.

Behavioral specialists have identified significant problems with defensiveness when teams are made up of very bright and highly educated people. Specifically, professor Chris Argyris from the Harvard Business School has said that bright professionals even seem to avoid learning, which can be a huge obstacle to the...

View this article FREE - Now for a Limited Time, try Goliath Business News
Free for 3 Days!