What are the characteristics of a highly effective team
What are the characteristics of a highly effective team xmlqg
Highly Effective Teams
In recent research of over 20, 000 professionals representing a diverse range of industries and organizational roles, 86 percent of the respondents indicated that effective teamwork is more critical to their collective success today than it was five years ago (John Wiley & Sons, Inc. , 2020). In fact, organizations that place a greater emphasis on teamwork see an increase in performance and productivity (Agarwal & Adjirackor, 2016). However, many organizations struggle with building highly effective teams. In order for a team to work at a highly effective level, it is crucial to learn what characteristics are required for teamwork, and what elements can be barriers.
Five Characteristics of Highly Effective Teams
In the best-selling book called The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Lencioni (2002) introduces five common characteristics that a team must have to become highly effective; in order of importance, these are trust, conflict, commitment, accountability, and results.
Trust facilitates team communication (Nir, 2013) because a team member feels at ease with one another (Chow et al. , 2005). If a team enjoys mutual trust, the members feel comfortable enough to share ideas, knowledge, and information; as a result, they can make better decisions and reduce miscommunication and mistakes, thus becoming highly effective.
Conflict is perhaps deemed a negative thing in general. However, as long as it is resolved effectively, it can become a major contribution to a team’s growth (Nir, 2013). Through conflict, team members face difficult conversations and eventually open their eyes to new ideas that can lead to better solutions.
A highly effective team commits to their decisions, actions, and clear, common purpose. When each member of a team is committed, it encourages collaboration while averting team schisms and silos (Myers et al. , 2015). Increasing commitment results in increased productivity and team strengthening.
In a highly effective team, each member holds accountability. Accountability refers to the willingness to confront peers about performance or behaviors that could jeopardize the team (Lencioni, 2002). When the characteristics of trust, conflict, and commitment already exist in a team, accountability can lead to increased synergy, a safe environment for experimentation and change, and more effective solutions.
As the fifth characteristic of a highly effective team, it is important to focus on achieving results because a team ultimately exists to complete its tasks and mission. A highly effective team stresses the importance of collective results over individual goals (Lencioni, 2002). If all members of a team focus on collective results, the organization can expect maximum performance from the team.
Barriers to Teamwork
Teamwork plays an important role when a team tries to reach goals and success. It is crucial to recognize there are barriers that must be eliminated to protect teamwork from becoming dysfunctional.
One of the barriers to teamwork is the absence of organizational culture supporting teamwork (Castka et al. , 2004). When an organization, especially the management group, does not promote such a culture, the employees might find it difficult to establish effective teamwork because they are not provided with enough support or resources to solve issues that arise within their team.
Teamwork cannot be well established when the knowledge and skills of the team are inadequate. There needs to be not only technical knowledge and skills but also soft skills such as conflict management skills, communication skills, and leadership skills (Castka et al. , 2004). Managers should always make sure that their teams are well equipped with enough knowledge and skills so that the members can help each other in order to reach their desired outcomes.
If team members tend to procrastinate, this characteristic must be eliminated. According to Nazeer and Jyothi (2017), procrastination burdens the responsibility of team members and ruins teamwork. Procrastination leaves tasks incomplete and gives team members unnecessary stress, obstructing the team’s advancement of its goals and objectives.
Conclusion
To work effectively as a team, it is critical to understand what characteristics are required and which elements can act as roadblocks to teamwork. A highly effective team shares five characteristics (trust, conflict, commitment, accountability, and results) to ultimately achieve their desired outcomes in the most efficient way possible. It is crucial to eliminate any adverse elements to teamwork, such as the absence of a culture supporting teamwork, inadequate knowledge and skills, and procrastination, because these barriers prevent teamwork from becoming highly efficient. If a team learns how to become effective, it can expect higher performance and productivity, which contributes to the whole organization’s success.
References
Agarwal, S. , & Adjirackor, T. (2016). Impact of Teamwork on Organizational Productivity in some selected Basic Schools in the Accra Metropolitan Assembly. European Journal of Business Economics and Accountancy, 4(6), 40–52.
Castka, P. , Bamber, C. J. , & Sharp, J. M. (2004). Benchmarking intangible assets: enhancing teamwork performance using self‐assessment. Benchmarking: An International Journal, 11(6), 571–583. https: //doi. org/10. 1108/14635770410566483
Chow, L. J. , Then, D. , & Skitmore, M. (2005). Characteristics of teamwork in Singapore construction projects. Journal of Construction Research, 6(1), 15–46. https: //doi. org/10. 1142/s1609945105000237
John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (2020). State of Teams. The Five Behaviors. https: //www. discprofile. com/CMS/media/doc/5b/State-of-Teams. pdf
Lencioni, P. (2002). The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable. Jossey-Bass.
Myers, G. , Cliff, C. , & Champoux, T. (2015). Teams That Work: The Six Characteristics of High Performing Teams. Createspace Independent Publishing Platform.
Nazeer, P. , & Jyothi, P. (2017). A Study on Procrastination at Workplace. International Journal of Recent Research in Commerce Economics and Management (IJRRCEM), 4(4), 401-408.
Nir, M. (2013). Building Highly Effective Teams. Van Haren Publishing.
Highly
Effective
Teams
In recent research of over 20, 000 professionals representing a diverse range of industries and organizational roles, 86 percent of the respondents indicated that
effective
teamwork
is more critical to their collective success
today
than it was five years ago (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
,
2020). In fact,
organizations
that place a greater emphasis on
teamwork
see
an increase in
performance
and
productivity
(Agarwal &
Adjirackor
, 2016).
However
,
many
organizations
struggle with building
highly
effective
teams
. In order for a
team
to work at a
highly
effective
level, it is crucial to learn what
characteristics
are required
for
teamwork
, and what elements can be barriers.
Five
Characteristics
of
Highly
Effective
Teams
In the best-selling book called The Five Dysfunctions of a
Team
,
Lencioni
(2002) introduces five common
characteristics
that a
team
must
have to
become
highly
effective
; in order of importance, these are
trust
,
conflict
,
commitment
,
accountability
, and results.
Trust facilitates
team
communication (
Nir
, 2013)
because
a
team
member
feels at
ease
with one another (Chow et al.
,
2005). If a
team
enjoys mutual
trust
, the
members
feel comfortable
enough
to share
ideas
,
knowledge
, and information; as a
result
, they can
make
better decisions and
reduce
miscommunication and mistakes,
thus
becoming
highly
effective.
Conflict is perhaps deemed a
negative
thing
in general
.
However
, as long as it
is resolved
effectively
, it can become a major contribution to a
team’s
growth (
Nir
, 2013). Through
conflict
,
team
members
face difficult conversations and
eventually
open their eyes to new
ideas
that can lead to better solutions.
A
highly
effective
team
commits to their decisions, actions, and
clear
, common purpose. When each
member
of a
team
is committed
, it encourages collaboration while averting
team
schisms and silos (Myers et al.
,
2015). Increasing
commitment
results
in increased
productivity
and
team
strengthening.
In a
highly
effective
team
, each
member
holds
accountability
.
Accountability
refers to the willingness to confront peers about
performance
or behaviors that could jeopardize the
team
(
Lencioni
, 2002). When the
characteristics
of
trust
,
conflict
, and
commitment
already exist in a
team
,
accountability
can lead to increased synergy, a safe environment for experimentation and
change
, and more
effective
solutions.
As the fifth
characteristic
of a
highly
effective
team
, it is
important
to focus on achieving
results
because
a
team
ultimately
exists to complete its tasks and mission. A
highly
effective
team
stresses
the importance of collective
results
over individual goals (
Lencioni
, 2002). If all
members
of a
team
focus on collective
results
, the
organization
can
expect
maximum
performance
from the team.
Barriers to
Teamwork
Teamwork
plays an
important
role when a
team
tries to reach goals and success. It is crucial to recognize there are barriers that
must
be eliminated
to protect
teamwork
from becoming dysfunctional.
One of the barriers to
teamwork
is the absence of organizational culture supporting
teamwork
(
Castka
et al.
,
2004). When an
organization
,
especially
the management group, does not promote such a culture, the employees might find it difficult to establish
effective
teamwork
because
they are not provided with
enough
support or resources to solve issues that arise within their team.
Teamwork cannot be
well
established when the
knowledge
and
skills
of the
team
are inadequate. There needs to be not
only
technical
knowledge
and
skills
but
also
soft
skills
such as
conflict
management
skills
, communication
skills
, and leadership
skills
(
Castka
et al.
,
2004). Managers should always
make
sure that their
teams
are
well equipped
with
enough
knowledge
and
skills
so
that the
members
can
help
each other in order to reach their desired outcomes.
If
team
members
tend to procrastinate, this
characteristic
must
be eliminated
. According to
Nazeer
and
Jyothi
(2017),
procrastination
burdens the responsibility of
team
members
and ruins
teamwork
.
Procrastination
leaves
tasks incomplete and gives
team
members
unnecessary
stress
, obstructing the
team’s
advancement of its goals and objectives.
Conclusion
To work
effectively
as a
team
, it is critical to understand what
characteristics
are required
and which elements can act as roadblocks to
teamwork
. A
highly
effective
team
shares five
characteristics
(trust
,
conflict
,
commitment
,
accountability
, and
results)
to
ultimately
achieve their desired outcomes in the most efficient way possible. It is crucial to eliminate any adverse elements to
teamwork
, such as the absence of a culture supporting
teamwork
, inadequate
knowledge
and
skills
, and
procrastination
,
because
these barriers
prevent
teamwork
from becoming
highly
efficient. If a
team
learns how to become
effective
, it can
expect
higher
performance
and
productivity
, which contributes to the whole
organization’s
success.
References
Agarwal, S.
,
&
Adjirackor
, T. (2016). Impact of
Teamwork
on Organizational
Productivity
in
some
selected Basic Schools in the Accra Metropolitan Assembly. European
Journal
of Business Economics and Accountancy, 4(6), 40–52.
Castka
, P.
,
Bamber
, C. J.
,
& Sharp, J. M. (2004). Benchmarking intangible assets: enhancing
teamwork
performance
using
self‐assessment
. Benchmarking: An International
Journal
, 11(6), 571–583.
https
: //
doi
.
org
/10. 1108/14635770410566483
Chow, L. J.
,
Then, D.
,
&
Skitmore
, M. (2005).
Characteristics
of
teamwork
in Singapore construction projects.
Journal
of Construction Research, 6(1), 15–46.
https
: //
doi
.
org
/10. 1142/s1609945105000237
John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (2020). State of
Teams
. The Five Behaviors.
https
: //
www
.
discprofile
.
com
/CMS/media/doc/5b/State-of-Teams.
pdf
Lencioni
, P. (2002). The Five Dysfunctions of a
Team
: A Leadership Fable.
Jossey-Bass
.
Myers, G.
,
Cliff, C.
,
&
Champoux
, T. (2015).
Teams
That Work: The Six
Characteristics
of High Performing
Teams
.
Createspace
Independent Publishing Platform.
Nazeer
, P.
,
&
Jyothi
, P. (2017). A Study on
Procrastination
at Workplace. International
Journal
of Recent Research in Commerce Economics and Management (
IJRRCEM
), 4(4), 401-408.
Nir
, M. (2013). Building
Highly
Effective
Teams
. Van
Haren
Publishing.