Teams in the learning organization

Citation

Peters, J. (1999), "Teams in the learning organization", Team Performance Management, Vol. 5 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/tpm.1999.13505baa.001

Teams in the learning organization

Teams in the learning organization

There is a lot of talk about teamwork in the learning organization literature. But how do we know when a team is really working well? With acknowledgment to the ideas on system performance of Peter Vaill, of George Washington University, here are some tips on getting high performance from your organization's teams.

1. 1.

   Be clear on purpose. Team members should be able, separately, to produce very similar pictures and descriptions of why their team exists and what it is trying to do.

2. 2.

   Look for motivation levels. High-performance teams are always motivated, "in a groove", even if that can't easily be expressed by team members.

3. 3.

   Focus on tasks. Getting things done is the most important issue for a high-performing team.

4. 4.

   Expect rejection of outside ideas. High-performing teams feel a sense of their own superiority and may be strongly conservative. If a high-performing team rejects an idea ­ look at it very closely. They may well be right!

5. 5.

   Leadership is strong and clear, and leadership styles are consistent. People know where they are in a high-performance team.

6. 6.

   Set direction for tasks, not for the process of completing the task. A good team will figure out what works and will be inventive about so doing.

7. 7.

   Don't look for conformity. High-performing teams become "different" and non-conformist. Boundaries are maintained with the rest of the organization.

8. 8.

   Protect your high-performing teams. Because of their non-conformity, high-performing teams may be seen as troublemakers. High-performers are a paradox; they fulfil the organization's desire for high performance, but at the price of management and control.

9. 9.

   The whole is likely to be greater than the sum of its parts. High-performing teams may be composed of people who are not seen as "team players"; who have a difficult job fitting in to the organization.

10. 10.

    Trust your instinct. If a team seems like it is a high-performance unit, but you can't quite say why ­ it probably is. High-performance teams "gel" in a way that is difficult to explain.

John PetersActing EditorE-mail: jpeters@mcb.co.uk

Adapted from the forthcoming book, 500 Tips for the Learning Organization, by Abby Day, John Peters and Phil Race, Kogan Page, 1999.