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The purpose of this study was to take a fresh look at how well instruments commonly used to calibrate teamwork skills reflect the reality of today’s workplace. Given the number of teamwork skills instruments that have been available for many decades, the question was, why still are so many workplace teams not successful?

This practitioner exploration identified insights from a small group of experienced Indian managers on what makes a successful team. It compares these insights to the dimensions identified in one readily available practitioner-developed teamwork skills instrument and to those characteristics identified in the literature.

The match was less than perfect between the criteria these experienced managers used to predict team success and the combination of the dimensions in the literature and what the tool measured. Analysis indicated these managers felt that successful teams indeed required good communication among members (as identified in the literature), but they added the specificity that the element of communication characterized as effective listening was a key contributor to team success. Additionally, they did not just exhibit effective conflict resolution techniques (as identified in the literature), but also relied upon debate, discussion, flexibility, trust and cohesiveness. The findings also suggested the importance of understanding each other’s strengths and weaknesses and of giving credit, which were not included on the instrument used.

Given the growing importance of diverse international teams and the continued high failure rate of many teams, there is a need to take a fresh look at evaluating insights of successful team members using the additional lenses of culture, technology-enhanced communications and distributed work approaches. These insights should be compared to those skills that have been historically measured by instruments commonly used to calibrate teamwork skills and described in the literature. If the measuring tools are accurate, why do so many teams fail? If instruments are to be useful in guiding improvement of teamwork skills, they need to calibrate the specific skills that differentiate success from failure in today’s real world.