Tweet

Kickstarting a Brand New Team

Written by: Ian Cook

Article Overview: Especially for a project team or cross-functional task force, there is great downline benefit from addressing, right at the beginning, group process fundamentals such as purpose, leadership, members' agendas, and team operating guidelines (norms).

Kickstarting a Brand New Team

Do you remember the last time you attended the initial meeting of a new task force or project team at work? No one could agree on the goals. A couple of people complained about all their other work demands. Someone was pushing a personal agenda to become the team “leader.” After a couple of hours of struggle, with the “team’s” wheels totally spinning, you began to ask yourself why you were here.

In high performance organizations with project-oriented environments, ad hoc teams are becoming the norm. Examples are companies like Levi Strauss, ABB, and 3M.

Temporary teams differ from permanent teams. Most importantly, they have high demands placed on them to produce results quickly and then disband. Their mandate and authority (e.g. can they make final decisions? can they implement them?) are often unclear. And if the team is also cross-functional, it will have complex goals affecting many parts of the organization and beyond.

And then there are the team members! They come with varying degrees of commitment, different agendae, functional backgrounds, perspectives, and loyalties. But they all wonder whether their efforts here will be rewarded at performance review time.

The ad hoc team faces a unique challenge. It must sort out its human dynamics issues early, get everyone aligned on a common mandate, and build the genuine commitment of all members to that goal quickly! devote to the project. They need to get on with the task–asap!

Yet, again and again experience has shown that when team members do not address the human dynamics part right at the beginning, team performance suffers seriously later on.

So, what should your project or ad hoc team do to maximize its performance? Its first meeting is crucial. Plan to invest just one day, up front, on its “process” issues. This initial session should be facilitated by a skilled person who is not a team member. As a guide, here is what my one-day “kickstart” program typically covers:

Purpose/mission

Why was the team created? What goals and deliverables (e.g. design a process to reduce wastage by 18%) are expected of it? Ensure that all members understand and accept these objectives and their related time-lines.

Champion(s)

To which manager, board or steering committee does the team report? What support has this champion promised? What information/updates do they expect from the team? How will the team liaise with the champion?

Team Members

What skills, knowledge, and experience do they bring? Identify and discuss each person’s hopes, desired benefits, expectations, concerns, and initial degree of commitment to the team. Make it OK not to be committed at the outset.

Operating Guidelines

Determine how leadership will operate within the team. Is there one leader? What is his/her role? How will the team make decisions? How often will they meet? How will they communicate amongst one another? What is expected of each member? Can someone miss a meeting? What happens if someone fails to meet a commitment?

Next steps

Now it is time to turn the group to its task. Here members start developing a plan of action and assign responsibilities. The day should end with this underway.

The above fills a very productive day. A facilitator will fast track the team to performance by:

1. providing structure and leadership
2. training members on group dynamics
3. helping them through the startup energy-draining issues around power
4. ensuring that they stay focused

A good facilitator will leave the team with tools and techniques to address interpersonal issues whenever they obstruct team performance downline.

What about your temporary teams? Can they afford a slow acceleration to maximum performance?

Related Articles
  The Power of a Brand Name and how to make your own brand powerful
  Let Me Tell You About A Truly Great Brand
  Strategic Branding Questions
  Culture Creates Your Brand's First Impressions
  Successful People Create and Nurture Their Unique and Powerful Personal Brand

Article Tags: group process, leadership, leadership members, team, team work, teamwork
Referred by: http://upwardaction.com



Related Forum Posts
Re: Anyone Uses Elance.com? Guru.com? Rentacoder.com? - I've had quite a bit of success on oDesk.com. I've never used Elance so I can't compare. I like oDesk.com 'cos I get to sort thru people (e.g. within a certain bid range) with a single click. I find their help response very quick and I like the oDesk Team software that "providers" must install. This gives me the Buyer more insight as to what I am paying for. The Team software takes screenshots of the Providers screen on 10 min increments so I can see that the person is infact doing work for me.
Re: FILL IN THE BLANK: One thing I did to grow my business today - Website: Posted a new article on my main business website and bookmarked it. Team: Contacted new affiliates and invited them to join my training list.
Re: Essential Leadership skills - Vision Values Mission Strategic Thinking Decision Making Communication Team Bonding People Development Coaching / Mentoring / Guiding / Grooming Presentation Thanks Robert
Need help in Team Building Activity.. - Hi! I am tasked to organize a Team Building Activity in the office. I would like to seek help from you guys on ideas on how to make it worth the time and effort. I want the team to ask for more team building activities after this one. Thanks! jane
Re: Need help in Team Building Activity.. - Team Building Activities are my favorite part. Last time our team was out for an expedition. We got a map and had to find the cave were we also slept and on our way there were other activities. It was an extreme team building and it was organized by a specialized company.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

3 Key Factors For Raising Capital

What is Discretionary Cash Flow

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.