There are two critical functions of team effectiveness: Performance, defined as “task accomplishment” and Development, defined as “team maintenance” (Northouse, 2019, pg. 369). Interestingly, as noted by Northouse, many characteristics Larson and LaFasto have identified of successful teams overlap with Hackman’s “enabling conditions” of a good team (as cited in Northouse, 2019, pg. 368).
Larson and LaFasto’s list eight “characteristics of team excellence” are (as cited in Northouse, 2019, pg. 368-372):
- Clear, elevating goal, which means having a “compelling purpose” (pg. 368)
- Results-driven structure, which means finding “the best structure for accomplishing … goals” (pg. 369)
- Competent team members means having “the right number and mix” of people (pg. 369)
- Unified commitment is a team that “has developed a sense of unity” (pg. 370)
- Collaborative climate is the ability to work together (pg. 370)
- Standards of excellence are the “norms of conduct” (pg. 370)
- External support and recognition includes having the necessary resources to accomplish the task and rewards when they are accomplished” (pg. 371)
- Principled leadership means having leaders that are assessed using the above criteria (pg. 372)
Hackman’s six “enabling conditions of group effectiveness” are (as cited in Northouse, 2019, pg. 369):
- Compelling purpose, which means having a “clear, elevating goal” (pg. 368)
- Right people, which means having “competent team members” (pg. 369)
- Real team, which means
- Clear norms of conduct, which means
- Supportive organizational context
- Team-focused coaching
Of these 14 conditions or characteristics of group effectiveness or team excellence, three I have experience with are: Compelling Purpose, Results-Driven Structure and Collaborative Climate. If a team has these three aspects, they have, there are, by definition, a Real Team. If a team has a collaborative climate, this means they also have Team-Focused Coaching.
First, an example for helping my team to have a Compelling purpose is my frequent reminder to them during meetings, when we are discussing technical and detailed explanations of ideas, that we have to keep refocusing on the goal of producing a new product that we are able to manufacture.
Next, an example for having a Results-driven structure is my monitoring of the team member to consistently record failures, experiments, negated ideas to drive the focus of our discussions. This eliminates repetition, revisiting failed ideas and focusing on the goal. Each team member is responsible for contributing knowledge or insight on previous jobs, whether profitable or unprofitable.
Lastly, I try to develop a Collaborative climate by doing three things within my business leadership context. First, talking one-on-one with team members when I have found their responses to colleagues being overly negative or done with a demeaning tone. Second, continually directing the conversation to ensure that each team member is heard equally. Thirdly, I try to affirm and encourage people that even though their ideas might have been rejected, I really appreciate their enthusiasm and energy.
Principled Leadership are four processes that influence team effectiveness. Zaccaro et al. (2001) note these are “cognitive, motivational, affective, and coordination” (as cited in Northouse, 2019, pg. 371). The Cognitive process means a leader has clarity to define “the problems confronting the team” (Northouse, 2019, pg. 371). The Motivational process means setting high team standards. The Affective process means the leader enables the team to navigate difficult circumstances. The Coordination process means the leader evaluates strengths of individual members and assigns roles based on these.
In my team setting, the Cognitive process shows itself in marketing planning meetings. For instance, in a meeting where the goal is to establish which marketing method is most effective among four types, website, direct mail, magazine and trade shows, my role is to supply financial data for each strategy, marketing data from competitors, the complexities of each and the difficulty and skill required to execute each option. We discuss this information the team is able to determine which methods to use.
Question
Zaccaro et al.’s Affective process is not something I would immediately think of as being important to team effectiveness. Overcoming adversity, however, is one of life’s important challenges. Is there a specific instance you can think of where a leader either helped or hindered the team in navigating difficult circumstances?
Reference
Northouse, P. G. (2019). Leadership: Theory and practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.