TITLE : TEAM PLAYERS AND TEAMWORK: THE NEW COMPETITIVE BUSINESS STRATEGY.

As we approach the twenty-first century, reducing the national debt and increasing productivity are critical if America is to remain competitive in the world economy. Debt reduction requires a political solution. But solutions to the productivity problem are to be found in working smarter, and that means better education, better training, and, above all, better management.

More and more companies are experiencing the payoff from teamwork as a management strategy for reducing costs, improving quality, and increasing output. Innovations such as self-managing work teams, quality circles, and statistical process control are being coupled with plain old-fashioned task forces, committees, and business teams. New, cooperative relationships are being forged with unions, customers, distributors, and suppliers.

As teamwork takes hold, the challenge facing public and private organizations is to make it all work. We need to know the dimensions of an effective team and how to translate those dimensions into a blueprint for action. More important, teamwork requires team players. We need to know what an effective team player is, how team players contribute to organizational success, what we can do about ineffective team players, what the roles of team players are as team leaders, and how organizations can create a culture that supports teamwork and team players. Team Players and Teamwork provides specific answers to these questions for people at all levels of the organization. Much of what has been written about teams has focused on the internal dynamics of effective teams. Dyer (1987), Likert (1961), and McGregor (1960), however, were helpful in increasing our understanding of the team as an entity. For the most part, they emphasized team process. More recently, a great deal of attention has been given to leadership. Bennis and Nanus (1985), Kouzes and Posner (1987), and Block (1987) have presented important and often inspirational pictures of corporate managers as leaders. Now our understanding of team process and leadership needs to be joined and expanded to include the concept of team player.

Although much is made of the importance of being a team player in business, we know little about it. For example, the phrase "he (or she) is a good team player" is widely used, but its meaning remains something of a mystery. When pressed to define a team player, business leaders typically comment, "It's someone who can be depended on to be a good soldier."

We need to go beyond sports and war metaphors not only because they are often sexist but also because the need for substance is acute. The use of teamwork as a business strategy is increasing dramatically as businesses begin to see the bottom-line value of team play. Teamwork is needed to develop complex new products and services to meet the varied needs of customers. And a new, more intricate form of teamwork is emerging that is cross-functional and multi- disciplinary. Thus it is becoming both more important and more difficult to be a successful team player. Today, for example, research scientists are required to work closely with team players in marketing, engineering, manufacturing, human resources, and regulatory affairs.

Background and Purpose of the Book

Team Players and Teamrork provides specific and practical help for people who want to know how to get more team play in their organizations. For the first time, there is a clear answer to the question "What is a team player?" In fact, that very question was the genesis of this book. It was asked by a manager of a client company in which I was working on ways to improve the performance appraisal system. I pointed out that, although management talked about teamwork throughout the year, it was rarely mentioned during the annual performance appraisal discussions. Somewhat frustrated, one manager asked, "What do we look for? What does a team player really do?" With that question began the journey that culminated in the writing of this book.

The data that form the basis of this book come from a survey of fifty-one companies. Managers and human resource professionals in a variety of industries completed a preliminary open-ended questionnaire. The result of this effort was a structured survey instrument that was mailed to the chief executive officers and vice presidents of human resources of the 100 top companies in the 1987 Fortune list of America's most admired corporations.

My research indicates that there are many ways in which a person can be a team player, and positive process is just one of them. I have conceptualized these skills and behaviors into four team-player styles that form the heart of Team Players and Teamwork. I have expanded the earlier work on teams by showing the many ways team players contribute to effective teamwork. And I have enlarged our understanding of leadership by outlining the specific approaches team players use to carry out key leadership functions. A team player can be both a leader and a member. In fact, during the course of a day, a person may occupy both roles as he or she moves from one team to another. But a person's team-player style will remain relatively constant even though the expectations placed on him or her will change as the role (leader or member) changes.

In the final analysis, this book is both inspirational and prescriptive. Above all, it should convince the reader of the value of team players and the many ways in which team players can benefit an organization. And it will help readers identify and assess team play when the time comes for performance appraisals. In addition, the book includes a guide for organizations that want to move toward a team-player culture.

Audiences

I wrote Team Players and Teamwork with practitioners in mind- leaders in the private, public, and nonprofit sectors who are looking for answers. I see the book as a resource guide on teamwork for people who are ready for something more than exhortation or a compilation of group exercises. Team Players and Teamwork is for people who see teamwork as a practical business strategy and want to know how to make it come alive in their organizations. I hope the book will convince readers that team players are critical to the success of the team.

This book is designed for a number of different audiences:

It will be invaluable to business and government leaders who want specific advice on how to change their organizations to increase the quality of teamwork and develop a culture that places a high value on team players. The book includes suggestions drawn from the experience of managers of successful corporations.

Middle managers and supervisors who want more team players in their organizations and who want to know what to look for in recruiting, evaluating, and promoting employees will find this book valuable. Team Players and Teamwork describes the specific behaviors that characterize team players.

Human resource planners and policy makers who want to change their performance appraisal, succession planning, and managerial assessment programs to emphasize teamwork and team players will find much useful advice here. My detailed descriptions of effective and ineffective team players provide the basis for designing successful human resource assessment and development programs.

Leaders of business teams, task forces, committees, quality circles, autonomous work groups, new product teams, project teams, and other similar teams will find Team Players and Teamwork a practical handbook. Leaders will find especially helpful the discussion of the role of the team playEr as team leader and the methodology for analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of a specific team.

Team members who want to become more effective team players and increase the effectiveness of their teams will find this book extremely useful. The many checklists, guidelines, and surveys provide the basis for a personal development effort. In addition, the book offers clear advice on increasing team effectiveness at each stage of team development.Developers of training programs will find the book a valuable resource for designing workshops in team effectiveness. The book includes an in-depth analysis of the dimensions of an effective team and the role of the team player. Students of organizational behavior and human resource development will find Team Players and Teamtork a valuable reference. The book acknowledges past contributions to our understanding of teams and adds an important new dimension: the concept of team players. As the business world adopts a teamwork strategy, students and those who plan careers in management will find useful insights here.

Overview of the Contents

Team Players and Teamwork begins with a description of the many ways team players are contributing to the success of organizations. Chapter One presents the practical, bottom-line results of teamwork across a variety of industries and occupations. I show how effective teamwork leads to increased productivity, more effective use of resources, cost reduction, improved quality, innovation, better customer service, and more rapid commercialization of products.

Chapter Two reviews our historical understanding of teams and concludes that a more.comprehensive approach is needed now for a world characterized by change and complexity. I provide an in-depth description of the twelve characteristics of an effective team and the role of a team player in bringing each characteristic to life. I discuss the ineffective team and describe "signs of trouble" that team leaders can use to detect problems within their teams.

In Chapter Three I depict the four team-player styles that form the heart of the book. Using examples from my consulting practice and other examples from my survey of fifty-one companies, I explain how positive teamwork results from effective team players. Each style description is buttressed by checklists of behaviors and adjectives that will help both leaders and members quickly identify their team-player styles.

Chapter Four begins with an assessment of the organizational costs of ineffective team players. I describe and offer examples of the negative features of each of the four team-player styles. The chapter concludes with guidelines for dealing with ineffective team players.

Because team leadership is critical to team success, I devote Chapter Five to team players as team leaders. I detail how each of the four team-player styles carries out five key leadership functions: planning, communication, risk taking, problem solving, and decision making. In each case I describe the consequences of ineffective leadership. I also provide team leaders with guidelines for personal development and ten successful team-building strategies.

Chapter Six focuses on the four stages of team development-forming, storming, norming, and performing-and how team players successfully adapt to each stage. I describe each stage and pinpoint the key concerns of each team-player style. For each stage and style I recommend actions that will help the team grow and develop into a mature, adaptable organization.

Chapter Seven provides team leaders with a methodology for analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of their teams. I discuss the consequences of having too many people with the same team-player style. I also describe the dangers inherent in a team that is missing one of the four styles. Several sample team profiles are presented as a self-study exeroise in team assessmept.

In Chapter Eight I offer a prescription to organizational leaders who want to develop a culture that encourages teamwork and values team players. Drawing on examples provided by our survey respondents, I describe a variety of methods used by successful organizations. Job assignments, promotional policies, performance appraisal, awards, and team recognition are among the many techniques outlined in this chapter.

The final chapter presents a series of challenges to leaders, managers, human resource professionals, and training specialists who see team players and teamwork as the centerpiece of a new competitive business strategy.

A resources section includes the Team-Development Survey and the Team-Player Survey. The Team-Development Survey helps a team assess its strengths and weaknesses in terms of the twelve characteristics of an effective team. The Team-Player Survey is an instrument that helps an individual identify his or her primary team player style.

Trenton, New Jersey Glenn M. Parker June 1990