In this article, interviewer Diane Coutu draws out organizational psychologist Richard Hackman’s five conditions for the success and failure of teams based on his research of teams from around the world. Bottom line, forming a team is not a one size fits all solution to solving problems, or for producing greater results, contrary to the popular belief of companies and organizations everywhere.
Many of the examples in this article where teams tend to fail or overlook obvious flaws in their approach rings true for me in my workplace. I often find myself on teams that have been formed to achieve a goal or complete a special project where anyone with interest in the outcome will join the team or volunteer to assist. This problem speaks to Hackman’s point that teams need enabling structures. In spite of good intentions these teams are too large, include the wrong mix of skills, or have fuzzy, ill-assumed norms of conduct which hinder the pace and productivity of the team.
LO3: Address complex challenges by collaboratively leading teams across disciplines, distances and sectors.
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