In this article, collaborators Katzenbach and Smith clearly define what constitutes a team, discuss four specific elements that make a team function, classify three types of teams, and outline the challenges each type of team faces. A team in name only is not necessarily a team. The discipline of teams outlines the differences between groups and teams through the lenses of personal and mutual accountability, team size and skill sets, and commitment to the purpose.
I found it difficult to finish this article, because the simple lessons and obvious truths presented in the article induced so many flashbacks to my recent career. The authors illustrate several factors that are at play in the formation of teams that might predetermine performance and applying that understanding can only serve to mitigate those challenges moving forward. Another moment of insight I took from this article was from Katzenbach and Smith’s classification of teams; Teams That Recommend Things, Teams That Make or Do Things, and Teams that Run Things. What I took from this classification was not a message of stay in your lane, but know that there are lanes, and know what lane you are in. Each type of team (or lane) has challenges and constraints and one must use that knowledge when approaching teams in other lanes as they operate symbiotically within the larger system of the organization.
LO2: Demonstrate the ability to assess complex organizational environments and achieve communication goals
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