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How does a good
collaborating team shape up? How do its members act? What do
they do? Let’s look in on one.
A sales group in
one of our client’s company is composed of six people. Jack Gibb, one of
the key researchers and writers in the field of team
collaboration, says that there is magic in the number six, just
the right size for self-management without a manager. Gibb
says that such self-regulated groups tend to out-perform ones
headed by a traditional manager.
The group works in
trading company. They sell machine tools. There are a total of
thirty workers in the marketing department of this company.
Their initial meetings - after the group was formed - were once
a week for an hour or more. For the first 10 weeks they were in
the group training. Since this group was started by management,
a trainer was supplied to give guidance in the beginning.
The man who carries
the manager title is a well-balanced person and technically
proficient. He has no need for power, likes his job, likes
the people who work with him and likes himself. In the
group he acts like any other member, freely expressing his
opinion but never dominating. He goes along with the group
decision, even if it does not agree with his own.
He knows that even
if the decision is not the best one (by his standards), it will
probably work because the entire group is behind it. The only
time he intervenes is to clarify company policy or to point out
where a particular action might not fir in with other activities
of the shop. He makes use of his knowledge by being a source of
information.
One of the early
issues the team discusses is the high percentage of unsuccessful
quotations. It’s easy enough to find scapegoats in others,
however the group as a whole is comfortable enough to own a
sizeable share of the problem. On deeper self-examination they
agree that they lack order closing skills and that some members
of the group are better in that than others.
Solution: set up a
self-administered training program. They can run the initial
sessions themselves, using resources within the group. Later
they will need to invite an external trainer to conduct some
sessions and the Marketing Director has know-how they can use,
too.
In a few months
their order closing skills have improved, and they are able to
make some reductions in loss of sales.
In a later stage
the group gets together each morning for 10 or 15 minutes to
talk about selling techniques. They discuss pending quotations
that need attention, which projects should be concentrated upon,
and how they can help each other. They are a smoothly
functioning unit.
From management’s
view, the effectiveness of the members is substantially
improved, sales figures are better, absenteeism and tardiness is
negligible, and turnover is down substantially.
The view from
inside the group is equally rosy. Each member is self-driven to
do the job well where formerly management prods were needed to
keep things moving. The atmosphere feels relaxed, at ease, not
stressful. Members remark about how good they feel, and they
note that the incidence of colds and flu have dropped sharply.
What’s the bottom
line in all this? Organized, carefully nurtured, autonomous work
groups create more respect for co-workers. There is commitment
to the decisions they helped make; there is urgency behind the
execution of plans. There’s personal stake in seeing things
through. Hostility and stress are replaced by cooperation,
enthusiasm, and creativity. |
