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JWI 510: Leadership in the 21st Century
Lecture Notes
© Strayer University. All Rights Reserved. This document contains Strayer University confidential and proprietary information and may not be
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JWI 510 – Lecture Notes (1194) Page 1 of 5
Week 4: Building High-Performance Teams
Welcome to Week 4. Real leaders build great teams. They achieve breakthrough results by working
through the teams they manage, not by doing everything themselves. Still, many managers are quick to
assume that teams are always the best way to get work done. Remember this, though: working in teams is
not a virtue in itself, and it is certainly not a guarantee of success. In today’s world, with employees spread
out across time zones and continents, creating a high-performing team takes thought and planning, and
you need a framework for success.
What is a Team?
In their book, The Wisdom of Teams, Jon Katzenbach and Douglas Smith make an important distinction
between a real team and a working group (1992). They define a real team as “a small number of people
with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals, and approach for
which they hold themselves mutually accountable.”
Sadly, few teams work this way. Most of what people think of as teams are actually working groups. A
single leader defines the tasks to be performed – sometimes with member input, sometimes not – and
participants mostly work on their own. There is nothing wrong with working groups. In fact, they can be a
fast and efficient way to get work done.
Real teamwork, on the other hand, requires something altogether different. Teams should only be created
when they can accomplish something bigger and better than a group of individuals working on their own.
Before you form a team, make sure it has the right purpose, structure, and ground rules to get the job
done.
Forming-Storming-Norming-Performing
In 1965, Bruce Tuckman proposed a model of organizational behavior called Forming-Storming-Norming-
Performing. This model is particularly helpful in understanding the stages that groups go through when
working together.
Forming
Individuals spend time becoming familiar with other members. Because they don’t know each other well, they
avoid conflict and controversy. Usually, this is a short, but comfortable, stage. Little tends to get done because
members are more focused on themselves than the team. At this point in the process, the leader needs to
help the group understand the task and set goals.
JWI 510: Leadership in the 21st Century
Lecture Notes
© Strayer University. All Rights Reserved. This document contains Strayer University confidential and proprietary information and may not be
copied, further distributed, or otherwise disclosed, in whole or in part, without the expressed written permission of Strayer University.
JWI 510 – Lecture Notes (1194) Page 2 of 5
Storming
Team members stop being polite and begin to experience conflict, due to a lack of vision or role clarity.
Frustration and competition cause morale to fall. While painful, this is an important period for the team to
create its identity. We’ll consider how to establish a common goal and define clear roles and operating rules
that can help teams move through this stage more quickly.
Norming
Team members sort out their personal conflicts and shift their focus to work. The team becomes more
integrated and establishes its culture. At this point, leaders will be able to give up some of their decision-
making power to let the team assume greater control.
Performing
This is a steady state in which the team begins to function at an optimal level. Team members become
interdependent and capable of diagnosing and resolving problems on their own. Leaders shouldn’t sit
back and relax during this stage, however. Even the highest-performing teams slide back into earlier
stages when under stress. Leaders must continually monitor goals and performance.
How to Develop Your Team
When selecting and coaching your team members, keep these notes in mind:
• Avoid yes-people who will just agree with you about everything.
• Diverse perspectives are valuable, and even open conflict can be good, if valued for the lessons it
offers. Buy-in increases if there has been some disagreement.
• Select individuals who have a range of leadership and decision-making styles. Think of what you
learned with the DiSC assessment.
• You need team members who can acknowledge their weaknesses and who can ask for help when
needed. They have to let their guard down and build trust in each other.
• Hoegl (2004) found that the best size team is 4-5 members, since, in larger teams, communication
becomes difficult and decision-making grows unwieldy.
• Spend time up front to articulate and agree on matters like purpose, approach to getting work done,
and the benefits of reaching the goal.
• Ask for input and do not dictate answers. Collective goals are more likely to be achieved.
• Consider having a team charter to establish these goals and to educate others about these goals.
JWI 510: Leadership in the 21st Century
Lecture Notes
© Strayer University. All Rights Reserved. This document contains Strayer University confidential and proprietary information and may not be
copied, further distributed, or otherwise disclosed, in whole or in part, without the expressed written permission of Strayer University.
JWI 510 – Lecture Notes (1194) Page 3 of 5
Performance
It is also critical to be clear about roles and not to just divide up tasks. Each team is usually going to have a
leader, who sets the vision, defines roles, communicates goals and progress, and keeps the project and
team on track. There will also be team members who help set goals, assess and share strengths and
weaknesses, keep others accountable, and commit to decisions even when they do not support them.
There will also be individual contributors who are assigned a particular task. They are responsible for
providing the necessary work or information, while keeping the team’s goals in mind.
Agreeing on ground rules in advance allows a team to run more efficiently. Ask these critical questions:
1. How will conflict and disagreement be handled?
2. How will decisions be made?
3. How will results be measured?
If you are going to create a team charter, consider including these operating procedures. Organizational
researchers have found several ways that effective leaders remove impediments to high performance and
motivate a team to greater achievements.
Foster Commitment:
• Speak in terms of “We,” not “I;” create shared and ambitious goals
• Help people understand the personal and group benefits of working together
• Realign rewards toward team outcomes rather than individual ones
• Monitor commitment level, as squabbling and fatigue can erode dedication
• If team members lose interest, find new challenges and roles for them
Encourage Information Sharing:
• Recognize employees who freely exchange information, especially if it is sensitive or challenging
• Share as much information as you can with the team, to model the level of transparency you
expect
• If you need to rely on information from other teams or departments, recruit team members who
have the appropriate knowledge, or bring in experts as individual contributors and reward them
appropriately
JWI 510: Leadership in the 21st Century
Lecture Notes
© Strayer University. All Rights Reserved. This document contains Strayer University confidential and proprietary information and may not be
copied, further distributed, or otherwise disclosed, in whole or in part, without the expressed written permission of Strayer University.
JWI 510 – Lecture Notes (1194) Page 4 of 5
Avoid Groupthink:
Janis (1972) coined this name for what occurs when a group becomes so close-knit that members fail to
critically analyze or evaluate their decisions. Innovation and creativity are stifled when teams become so
inwardly focused that they fail to look at reasonable alternatives and are unwilling to express concerns
about the group’s views. If this happens:
• Make your team aware of the symptoms
• Give authority to non-conforming opinions
• Consider integrating new members for fresh perspectives
• In fact, you may even want to designate one or two groupthink watchdogs to play devil’s advocate
and challenge assumptions
Address Performance Issues:
• Diagnose problems by gathering information and getting a full picture
• Explain to team members how to remedy situations, including removing obstacles and
unnecessary distractions
• Define success and make consequences clear
• Make your role explicit
• Offer training or additional knowledge, and consider additional coaching, if needed
You may be called on to lead a geographically diverse or even a virtual team. Companies set up remote
teams to save costs, respond quickly to changes in the marketplace, and leverage talent from multiple
geographies.
Conventional wisdom dictates that teams dispersed across locations, cultures, and functions have lower
levels of performance. Recent studies, however, show that, if managed well, these far-flung teams can
outperform groups that are located together (Siebdrat, Hoegl, & Ernst, 2009). While many of the same
rules of teamwork apply – setting common goals, defining clear roles and agreeing on operating
procedures, etc. – recognize that virtual teams face unique management challenges. The most significant
issues center on engagement and communication.
Remember, healthy relationships among team members build cohesion, increase engagement, and
ultimately make your job easier. Effective teams also provide a way for members to spontaneously
communicate. Tools like instant messaging or other social technologies can create a virtual water cooler
that allows people to interact informally.
JWI 510: Leadership in the 21st Century
Lecture Notes
© Strayer University. All Rights Reserved. This document contains Strayer University confidential and proprietary information and may not be
copied, further distributed, or otherwise disclosed, in whole or in part, without the expressed written permission of Strayer University.
JWI 510 – Lecture Notes (1194) Page 5 of 5
All teams conclude their work at some point. Disbanding a team can be stressful, particularly if the future is
uncertain for members. But don’t let emotions make the end unpleasant. Reflect together on what worked
and what didn’t. Share these lessons with the broader organization, so that others can learn from the
team’s experience. No team’s time together is free of obstacles. Whether your team is close at hand or
spread out across the globe, it must be carefully tended to, in order to thrive.
Remember, teams are not silver bullets. They have the potential to produce extraordinary results, but many
fall short, due to poor management and a lack of cohesion. By choosing the right people, agreeing on
shared objectives, clearly defining who does what, and setting up ground rules, leaders can avoid – or at
least mitigate – many of the inherent risks of teamwork. And when obstacles do present themselves, your
team will be better equipped to overcome them and excel.
Your Leadership Journey
• If you are new to leadership, consider how you can form more trusting relationships within the
team.
• If you are a team leader, consider whether a team charter would be beneficial to your team.
• If you are a senior/veteran leader, consider how you can build better trust in all layers and
teams within your organization.
