This article argues that many large-scale business and project management challenges cannot rely on traditionally stable teams to get work done at the level of efficiency and innovation that modern business demands. That they require the development of ad hoc teams with members from multiple disciplines and business sectors with specialized expertise in order to meet these challenges and identify emerging opportunities. Edmondson proposes a team building, project management and leadership method called “teaming,” wherein teams are flexible to grow and contract based on project needs. Moreover, Edmondson purports that this modern evolution in teamwork is a necessary reality for companies to recognize and adopt if they plan to remain competitive and relevant.
I truly support the idea of Teaming theory. It builds on traditional project management, teamwork and team building principles with the infusion of global, fast paced, specialized needs and niche expertise. It also acknowledges that chaos can exist and emerge during the process. In the environment where I work, Teaming is somewhat implied by the nature of the work, except that we are a traditional stable team environment, built on routine, rinse-and-repeat practices in an effort to maintain a semblance of scalability and efficiency. Our attempts to partner with freelance and temporary workers with great abilities often results in the conflicts described by Edmondson which arise from difference in values, norms, jargon and expertise. I believe in order for my department to evolve to “dream team”-like Teaming, leadership would need to reshape a culture which can better embrace failure and build psychological safety. Leadership would need to closely re-evaluate the skill sets of our team members individual abilities to update and adapt as needs arise, rather than to hold ground on personal preferences and resist team and personal evolutions in working style.
LO 3: Address complex challenges by collaboratively leading teams across disciplines, distances and sectors.
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