Two critical functions of team effectiveness are performance (task accomplishment) and development (team maintenance). Performance refers to the quality of the outcomes of the team’s work. Did the team accomplish its goals and objectives in a quality manner? Development refers to the cohesiveness of the team and the ability of the team members to satisfy their own needs while working effectively with other team members (Nadler, 1998).
While working on a project at a museum, my office constructed a collaborative team to accomplish the development of an indigenous space. The team members were highly motivated in completing the task and creating a presence in the traditional territory. Team members could not wait for it to be completed and to be shown to the nation and other stakeholder. Team members includes a cultural educator, construction manager, creative designer, project manager and traditional knowledge keeper. The team had experience in developing a previous museum space that was also successful and so this project would be building off the last experience. Characteristics in the group that created team excellence were (Larson & LaFasto, 1989) a clear and elevating goal, competent team members, unified commitment, collaborative climate, standard of excellence, external support and recognition as well as principled leadership. My role in the group was as a project manager which was to keep the team members on task and on budget. In the end we developed a beautiful space that attracted visitors from all over the world.
In my next project example, I will describe how Principled Leadership allowed my team to achieve an important task of preparing for an impending flood. Principled Leadership is effective team leadership that has been found to consistently relate to the team effectiveness (Zaccaro, Heinen, & Shuffler, 2009). Leadership has been described as the central driver of team effectiveness, influencing the team through four set of processes: cognitive, motivational, effective and coordination (Zaccaro et al., 2001). Recently my community was at risk of major infrastructure being damaged due to effects of flooding on the Fraser River. We were on a tight timeline to move and pack up an office building as well as sandbag infrastructure that could not be moved. In this case it was very important for me to get in and quickly direct staff, take care of logistical needs and have a future plan in place. I knew what needed to be done and due to my previous experience in emergency management I could see the team was looking to me for direction. There was no time to hesitate in taking on a leadership role.
I first clearly communicated to the staff the seriousness of the situation and the task at hand, who was needed to do what and in how much time there was ( an example of cognitive process). On site I directed staff on tasks to complete and was first and last on site. As soon as I saw someone standing with nothing to do I assigned them a new task. I knew from my training that these types of situations could be stressful and so in order to manage the situation it is best to keep employees working as well as busy (and example of an affective process). I also got in and equally got my hands dirty so that employees would see the pace of work that was needed (an example of motivational process). I set up an incident command post and based roles and responsibilities on technical expertise. For example the IT staff were assigned to remove the server and ensure all staff were set up to work from home. The construction staff were in charge of the electrical disconnection and so on (an example of a coordination process). In three days our team packed up an office of 25 (including heavy furniture), disconnected electrical, plumbing and data cables, sand bagged two buildings, removed all computers, printers and servers, relocated the server and set up all employees to work remotely. It was truly an amazing accomplishment by all and required all team members to know their role and do so effectively. In the end it was an excellent example of team work and ability to demonstrate our business resiliency. In an emergency situation things happen quickly. Team performance can be monitored by the outcome however there isn’t time to monitor team development or how cohesively the team is working. In the example I gave during the flood there were two employees not getting along and I had to be quite sharp with both of them and ask them to put their feelings aside and remind them we had an important task at hand. Do you think it is ok in times of emergency to use more aggressive tactics to get employees back on track? Can this lead to negative feelings/resentment or in this case was it an effective way to quickly get control of the situation and perhaps was actually managing the effectiveness of the team?
Larson, C.E., & LasFasto, F.M.J. (1989). Teamwork: What must go right/what can go wrong. Newbury Park, CA: SAGE.
Nadler, D.A. (1998) Executive team effectiveness: teamwork at the top. In D.A. Nadler & J.L. Spencer (Eds.), Executive teams (pp.21-39). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
Zaccaro, S.J., Heinen, B., & Shuffler, M. (2009). team leadership and team effectiveness. In E. Salas, G.F. Goodwin, & C.S. Burke (Eds.), Team effectiveness in complex organizations: Cross-disciplinary perspective and approaches (pp.81-111). New York: Taylor & Francis Group.
Zaccaro, S.J., Rittman, A.L., & Marks, M.A. (2001). Team leadership. Leadership Quarterly, 12, 451-483.