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The team is dead... long live the virtual team
So, what is a team?
Most people agree that a team is somehow more than just a group of people. Borrowing from General Systems Theory, we believe that:
A team is a group of people where the whole is more than the sum of the parts.
In effect, as shown in Figure 1, there is an additional component in a team of two people as distinct from just two people.
Fig. 1 - A couple is a triple
The additional component is the relationship between the people - the "glue" of the team.
This intangible "glue" that binds the individuals into a whole, where the individual skills, knowledge and expertise of the team members seem to complement and enhance the performance of the whole group, has been studied, discussed, analysed and researched for years. Carl Larson and Frank LaFasto in their landmark study of excellent teams drawn from teams as diverse as the Mt Everest Expedition of 1985 to the Boeing 747 team, identified eight clear characteristics of high-performing teams:
- A clear, elevating goal;
- Results-driven structure;
- Competent team members;
- Unified commitment;
- Collaborative climate;
- Standards of excellence;
- External support and recognition; and
- Principled leadership.
In effect, these characteristics are required for the "glue" of a team to emerge and grow. As we'll discuss later, while all characteristics must be present for a really powerful team to form, the characteristic of Unified Commitment or "team spirit" is the key one in the changing nature of teams. Larson and LaFasto also argue that this characteristic is the key distinguishing feature between a group of people and a team of people. They cite Dr. Don Wukasch who, as a member of one of the teams studied, stated:
"Nothing was as important for me as being on that team…. It was a total commitment…"
In examining the dimension of Unified Commitment, Larson and LaFasto identify two key factors that, in our experience, marks a true team. They cite the willingness of team members to undertake extraordinary effort to assist the team in achieving its goals and they explore the complex relationship between the individual team member and the team itself:
There is a blurring of the boundaries between self and others - an increase in emotional commerce, an open exchange between self and others.
In our terms, this emotional commerce is the "glue" that enables the whole team to be more than the sum of the individuals in the team.
While Larsons and La Fasto’s model provides a powerful insight into building effective teams, we believe that the work of Dr Meredith Belbin on leadership roles is also critical in understanding teams. Belbin’s research showed that high-performing teams had a mix of people whose preferred leadership roles provide different but complimentary approaches to leadership of the team.
These roles are:
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Controlling the way in which a team moves forward towards the group objectives by proactive involvement of all team members and making the best use of team resources; |
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Shaping the way in which team effort is applied, directing attention, seeking to impose some shape or pattern on group discussion and on the outcome of group activities; |
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(1) Analysing problems in a practical manner; (2) evaluating ideas and suggestions so that the team is better placed to take balanced decisions; |
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Exploring and reporting on ideas, developments and resources outside the group; creating external contacts that may be useful to the team and conducting any subsequent negotiations; |
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(1) Turning concepts and plans into practical working procedures; (2) carrying out agreed plans systematically and efficiently; |
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Supporting members in their strengths (e.g. building on suggestions), understanding and supporting team members in their shortcomings, improving communications between members and fostering team spirit generally; |
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Advancing new ideas and strategies with special attention to major issues and looking for possible new approaches to the problems with which the group is confronted; |
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Providing technical direction in team work, directing purely on technical expertise; seeking to impose some shape or pattern on group discussion and on the outcome of group activities based on technical issues; |
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Ensuring that the team is protected as far as possible from mistakes of both commission and omission; actively searching for aspects of work which need a more than usual degree of attention; and maintaining a sense of urgency within the team. |
Our own experience supports Belbin’s belief that leadership is not primarily resident in one person but rather shifts between team members depending upon the particular situation or problem facing the team. In a well-designed and effective team, each team member provides a set of different team/leadership roles and for a team to be effective a mix of roles and leadership is required. In general, most people can undertake only two or three of the above roles effectively. For example, a person could provide the Chairperson, Team Worker and Resource Investigator roles while another could provide Implementer, Completer and Monitor-Evaluator roles.
What is conclusive is that a team without all these leadership roles available at various times of crisis would fall apart and would never be a high-performing team.
An effective mix of leadership roles is another critical part of the "glue" of great teams.