Teamwork may be dead, but long live “teams that work”

Teamwork may be dead, but long live “teams that work” “ HR will need to be a far more active member at Board level so that the organisations development is managed quickly, at the right time and efficiently with the right people ” Paul Bridle, Leadership Methodologist The traditional way we have developed teams may not be suitable in the future but that does not mean that we have seen the end of teams. It just means that the emphasis has moved and the dynamics are different. Traditionally it was seen as important to get teams to bond. It was important that the team was a balance, with the right mix of personalities and Dr Belbin’s ‘team roles’ was an important breakthrough to understand the attributes a team needs. Outward bound events and team building exercises were an important part of any organisations strategy for getting the best out of people. These were the days when organisations recruited people with the anticipation that people would stay in the job for a number of years. Retention was important and team building exercises were part of the strategy to keep people. The emphasis was on people getting to know each other on a personal level so that they can appreciate the value each brings to the team and what each individual needs to do to create the balance necessary for the business to work. However, the way business is developing and the mindset of the newer generations towards work, their career, management and their contribution to the job, is all changing the way we will see teams. There are a number of reasons for this. The younger generation are not looking for a job for life. They are looking for opportunities to be part of organisations for a few years, be part of developing the business in a specific area and, most of all, learning what they want to learn, develop skills, gain experience, have some exposure to something new and network with new people. Once they have been part of the process to a level where they either have nothing else to learn or have nothing else to contribute, they want to move on. The focus is different. A career is not a step-by-step process of working yourself up a ladder at a rate decided by someone else. It is not about learning at a pre-decided rate with the end result a position or title that demands respect. The new mindset sees a career as a series of jobs working with different groups of people, finding new challenges, discovering new approaches, working with different people and then starting again! What does this mean for companies? It means companies will need to re-think the way they plan their business and even structure their business. It probably means that lot more work will be project based and people in many cases may even be part of more than one team. People will work flexible hours and business leaders will need to think differently about how they put teams together. The new emphasis will be about building teams to achieve a level of business and then rebuilding the team that will achieve the next level of business. It will be more about the creation of “Teams that Work” and not about creating teamwork. The team that works is the one that comes together with a clear task, a clear timescale, and group of people that have the necessary skills, a common desire to make it happen and enough respect for each others skills to make it happen. The team will know they have a shelf life and are happy to make it happen for a specific period of time. Liking each other, bonding and even socializing are not part of the new team that works. What matters is the outcome of the task and what they gain in terms of knowledge, skills, experience, networking, exposure and recognition I the key. These people will want to walk away saying they made it happen and this is the added value they got from the experience. Business leaders face the challenge of learning a new way of planning their business and building teams that work. The role of HR is never going to be more important than it will be in this way of structuring business. However, HR will need to be a far more active member at Board level so that the process is managed quickly, at the right time and efficiently with the right people. Are “Teams that Work” a threat to business? Not at all. It is a massive opportunity to create a more dynamic workforce that is far more flexible, can cope better with change, can react quicker, is more outcome orientated and produces higher levels of productivity. The threat will more likely to be whether the leadership can cope. Has the style of leadership adapted enough? Paul Bridle – Leadership Methodologist www.paulbridle.com Paul Bridle voted 12th in The Top 30 Most Influential Leadership Gurus in the World 2007 >> Presented at the “Zukunft Personal” in Cologne Sept 9, 1:45-2:30 pm, Forum 6, Hall 5.2 by the German Speakers Association e.V.: www.germanspeakers.org <<