Training in TEAMWORKING SKILLS: The Paradox of developing individualists with a Teamworking Mentality

Abstract

“There are four people who should be the hub of the wheel in my factory” said James Young. James is production director of a factory making fast‐moving knitwear, where the mix is always changing according to fashion and season. “The trouble is”, he continued, “that the organisation chart makes them look more like the four legs of a table. The structure doesn't say that they are a team but they have to be”. The four managers that he is referring to are the market forecaster, the production planner, the raw materials buyer and the distribution manager. “One cannot sneeze without the others being affected. And if they don't get it right, and can't see themselves as a team, then I know only too well what that does to my already‐narrow margins. Each of them needs to be very different, but what each must have is a teamworking mentality” …. “Our audit teams are constantly changing as an audit progresses”, said a senior partner of one of the big five accountancy firms. This presents problems both for the audit manager as to how best to lead and develop his team, and for the individual auditors who often experience problems slotting into the team. And that can affect our clients adversely too which of course is not good for our business”. A large air‐conditioning contractor finds similar problems with on‐site teams. He needs to retain labour flexibility. His clients don't always like the changes. His team managers have to be skilled not only in managing the team, but they must also be adept at relating to the client and ensuring that they get the resources they need from the organisation. The team members in turn must learn to slot quickly into the new team. “All our people need to learn the same teamworking language”, says the managing director”. “There's no time to invent new rules for each new team”. The 3M company in the USA brings over one hundred new products to the market every year. They do this by creating a large number of small ad hoc teams to develop ideas and test‐market them very quickly. Some individuals find themselves involved in a number of these “venture teams” simultaneously. A major pharmaceutical company in the UK alone has one hundred and forty “temporary task groups” working on a wide range of products and issues, “I've counted a number of key managers who are involved in as many as twelve of these group”, says Alan Ladd, the management development manager. “Money spent on improving the teamworking skills of those and other managers is quite simply a major investment in the future of our business. My problem is, how do I do it?”

Citation

HASTINGS, C. (1983), "Training in TEAMWORKING SKILLS: The Paradox of developing individualists with a Teamworking Mentality", Industrial and Commercial Training, Vol. 15 No. 3, pp. 86-89. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb003934