Teams in General

A team is a specific way to realise the objectives of an organisation. You may define conditions for the successful use of this approach now and again and it may also be a standard way of doing things. In both cases teams have a relation with organisational and national culture (from opposed to aligned).

Teams may be approached from several perspectives: its success or failure in meeting its objectives (not always effective or efficient); its development (e.g. orientation, conflict, norming, performing en dissolving); its functioning (management, decision-making, groupthink, procedures); the interaction between its members (roles); the team’s culture (identity, rules, behaviour, status, co-operation, competition, conflict, communication patterns, commonalities and differences with the organisation as a whole). Furthermore, the study of teams should include its environment with mutual influences (e.g. parent organisation, relations with other groups, internal or external customers, expectations).

In a wider sense some cultures are more suitable for teamwork than others (e.g. in dealing with conflicts, focus on harmony, priority to family or work, influence of religion and morality, preference for hierarchy). As a consequence multicultural teams may be an advantage but could block any progress just as well. This is also a factor in a multicultural society, in particular the degree of integration in the dominant national culture (e.g. preferences for roles within ethnic groups).

The decision to start a team is the outcome of a process. A decision sounds so simple but we cannot ignore the temptation to point out the difficulties in reaching that stage. Why would you as a manager, like to start a team? Why cannot the problems in question be solved by the standing organisation? Do you want a permanent or a temporary team? What tasks is the team going to get, which responsibilities, which means? How do you delineate these tasks and what is the interrelationship between the tasks