First things first: do teams work? Yes - it is well established via research that team working:

• Enhances employee attitudes (e.g. engagement, motivation) and behaviour (e.g. absenteeism, turnover).
• Enables greater financial performance - which may be the most convincing argument for making an investment in team-based working in profit-making organisations.
• Effects increased organisational efficiency, productivity and quality.

In summary, effective teamwork ensures results that surpass the sum of individual efforts. Creating high-performance teams is all about getting the right people, getting them motivated and getting them to focus on the right things. Some years ago extensive and detailed research by the Irish Business and Employers’ Confederation (IBEC) found that the impetus for teamwork is largely linked to the need to become and remain competitive. That is, teamwork can provide flexibility that encourages members to use their initiative and to take on new challenges. With many organisations struggling to cope with the pace of change, ever-increasing demands from clients\customers, ongoing technological advances and the threats and opportunities that come with globalisation and a new world order, it is clear that teams who pull together cope more effectively than groups of individuals.

The following ‘best practices’ are key to ensuring effective teamwork:

1. Confirm purpose

An appropriate starting point is to look at the team’s purpose or role and to ensure that everyone understands this role and why teamwork is vital to its attainment. That is, teams must have a clear sense of purpose – vis-à-vis the organisation’s strategy – with each team member aware of their unique contribution to the team. Whilst there may be no ‘I’ in ‘TEAM’, there is in ‘WIN’, so each team member’s unique contribution must be confirmed, acknowledged and balanced with the team’s needs. However, whilst team members may be specialists, in many situations they also need to be flexible enough to perform different roles as required, as they adapt to changing circumstances.

2. Right policies and processes

People management policies and processes (incl. the performance appraisal and pay systems) should be structured to reflect the importance of teams. If organisational policies and processes have teamwork at their core, this will enable teams to flourish. For example, with regard to recognition and reward, practical options include a team-based performance-pay bonus scheme, celebratory team outings, meals or parties, factoring an employee’s contribution to project teams into promotional decisions and their periodic performance assessment. That is, the organisation must ensure that it is seen to take teamwork seriously, by appraising and rewarding each team member for their contribution to the team and its agreed purpose.

3. Right team size and recruits

The research tells us that team size and diversity are positively linked to creativity and decision-making, with the ideal size being 8-10 members. A reputable and widely used team assessment questionnaire is Belbin’s team inventory, that identifies 9 different roles or skill-sets that all high performing teams need to accommodate. These roles span capacities to generate ideas, implement plans, ensure quality and focus on relationships.

It is also important to get team members to take part in the selection process of new team members. Research reveals that when team members are selected in a collaborative way – with selection criteria that include interpersonal and team working talents, as well as technical skills - teams are more likely to succeed.  So it’s best to avoid recruiting clones, in preference to new members that will both challenge and add to the team’s mix - and ultimately the organisation’s fortunes as a whole. So when recruiting new team members, there are advantages to looking for the ability and courage to challenge the leader and the status quo. It is also important to have at least one person in the team that is capable of taking over if and when required. If there's nobody earmarked for succession, then the team’s success may well be time bound.

4. Right leaders

Ensure that the team leaders make a successful transition from ‘supervisor’ to ‘facilitator’.  This may well warrant training those supervisors who have difficulty with a more facilitative style of management. Team leaders have a crucial role to play in the creation of high-performing teams. Though they may have limited control over the team’s context and creation, they can create the right conditions for team members to flourish. Good team leaders are able to leave their egos at home, bring their capacity to caddy for their team members to work and deploy the range of all-important interpersonal skills that will serve to maximise team harmony and effectiveness.

5. Maintain morale

Ensure that teams spend time and effort building and maintaining morale. Teams don't materialise overnight and work pressures can often work against team spirit. So an occasional social activity can boost morale and relationships. This has important implications for the team’s capacity to cope with the inevitable conflicts, to accept responsibility or accountability and to building trust between team members.

6. Empower the team to set targets and rewards

Ensure that there’s a team focus on performance, by involving the members in setting their own and the team's targets. This ‘buy in’ process should extend to getting the team involved in deciding both ‘what’ the targets are and ‘how’ best to hit these targets. The subsequent appraisal and reward of individuals and the team may well require revision, to reflect the fact that the organisation really does take teamwork seriously.  That is, ensure that the appraisal and reward of team members reflects their contribution to the team’s agreed purpose.

7. Communicate and review performance

Regular, effective communication is an essential element of all high performing teams. No team member should be able to say ‘I didn’t know about that’. Furthermore, effective communications should enable differences of opinion to be aired, accommodated and valued. For example, when it comes to team member accountability, it is important that team members are confident enough to provide (and assess) honest and constructive feedback that they give to one another. Research also supports the practice of convening short - but frequent - status meetings, for the purpose of keeping everybody ‘in the loop’. It is also important to get the team to review their achievements under the aforementioned ‘what’ and ‘how’ headings.  High-performance teams make time to review their performance and the contribution of each team member to that performance.  These reviews should lead to action, as the best teams continually update and improve what they do to remain competitive and stay ahead of the game.

Summary Checklist - How to... Ensure Effective Teamwork

• Confirm the team’s purpose.
• Align organisational policies and processes for effective teamwork (e.g. pay and appraisal).
• Recruit people into appropriately-sized teams, who can complement the skill-sets already in place.
• Ensure that the team leader has the requisite interpersonal skills to lead effectively, whilst maintaining team morale.
• Communicate, to keep everyone ‘in the loop’ and encourage frank but respectful exchanges.
• Involve all team members in target setting and the regular performance review process.