Being Effective in Teams, and with Teams of Teams is key.
The “workplace” and “work teams” are increasingly synonymous. Therefore, it is more important than even to understand how teaming in a work environment helps a person become a successful contributor.
Teams are complicated. This is because there are many factors, called “constructs” by expert researchers, that distinguish one team experience from others.
Terms or constructs like Commitment, Engagement, or Coherence have specific meanings, as do terms like Psychological Safety, Team Efficacy, and Team Norm Strength. There are many others, some overlap, others relate to multi-team system, and many relate to leadership at various levels of analysis or hierarchy.
What should you care?
Of course, someone might ask: “why should I care?”
Well, you should care because research shows that when teams score high in certain constructs they can be shown to also be good at certain things. Other teams who score high in other constructs, might be better at others things.
All teams are not equal. How team perform is not equal, and it’s not just about the members of the team. Often, its really about the team.
Teams are not equal in where they excel, because they are not equal in who they are, that is who the become, as a team. This is not only because they might have different members, it is also because they might also be described by how they focus their on developing different constructs.
How can you make your team better in the areas your team must contribute?
To answer this question, read on.