The Discipline of Teams Review
Jon R. Katzenbach and Douglas K. Smith are partners at McKinsey & Co., the famous management-consulting firm. This article was published in the March-April 1993 issue of the Harvard Business Review.
The authors report on their research into teamwork, in particular "to discover what differentiates various levels of team performance, where and how teams work best, and what top management can do to enhance their effectiveness." Katzenbach and Smith define "a team as a small number of people, with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, set of performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable." They discuss all the elements within this definition in detail. The authors then continue to classify teams in three ways: First, teams that recommend things, second, teams that make or do things, and, third, teams that run things. Each type of team face a characteristic set of challenges. The authors also believe that teams will become the primary unit of performance in high-performance organizations and that these teams will enhance existing structures without actually replacing them. The article is complemented with a useful short summary on approaches that are shared by many successful teams.
In this article the authors discuss teams, which they believe is a basic discipline. By discussing all the different elements of this discipline Katzenbach and Smith provide great insights and tools for better teamwork. The authors have written several good books on teamwork. Recommended to leaders, managers, team members, and MBA-students. The authors use simple US-English.
The Discipline of Teams Overview
The essence of a team is shared commitment. Without it, groups perform as individuals; with it, they become a unit of collective performance. The best teams invest a tremendous amount of time shaping a purpose and they translate their purpose into specific performance goals. Team members also pitch in and become accountable with and to their teammates. The fundamental distinction between teams and other forms of working groups turns on performance. A working group relies on the individual contributions of its members for group performance. But a team strives for something greater than its members could achieve individually. The authors identify three basic types of teams: teams that recommend things, teams that make or do things, and teams that run things. The key is knowing where in the organization real teams should be encouraged. Team potential exists anywhere hierarchy or organizational boundaries inhibit good performance.
Available at Amazon Check Price Now!
Related Products
- How to Run a Meeting (Harvard Business Review Classics)
- The Wisdom of Teams: Creating the High-Performance Organization (Collins Business Essentials)
- The Necessary Art of Persuasion (Harvard Business Review Classics)
- One More Time: How Do You Motivate Employees? (Harvard Business Review Classics)
- Managing Oneself (Harvard Business Review Classics)
Customer Reviews
*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Aug 23, 2010 16:32:05
No comments:
Post a Comment