Introduction
In today's fast-paced and interconnected world, teamwork has become more crucial than ever. Whether you're part of a small startup or a large corporation, the ability to work effectively in teams can make or break your success. Scott Tannenbaum's book "Teams That Work" offers a comprehensive and science-based approach to understanding and improving team performance.
Drawing from years of research and real-world examples, Tannenbaum debunks common myths about teamwork and presents seven key drivers that contribute to team effectiveness. This book is a must-read for anyone looking to enhance their team's performance, from team leaders to individual contributors.
The Myth of Natural Teamwork
Many people believe that teamwork is a natural ability – you either have it or you don't. However, Tannenbaum challenges this notion right from the start. He shares a personal anecdote from his days playing intramural basketball in the 1980s. Despite having great team spirit and winning their first two games, Tannenbaum's team faced a crushing defeat when they encountered opponents with superior individual skills.
This story illustrates a crucial point: while teamwork is essential, it cannot compensate for a lack of fundamental capabilities. No matter how well a team works together, if they don't possess the necessary skills to perform their tasks, they will struggle to succeed.
The Seven Drivers of Team Effectiveness
Tannenbaum introduces the concept of seven drivers that contribute to team effectiveness. These drivers form the backbone of the book and provide a framework for understanding and improving team performance. Let's explore each of these drivers in detail.
1. Capabilities: The Foundation of Team Success
The first driver of team effectiveness is capabilities. This refers to both the technical skills required to perform specific tasks and the team-related skills that enable effective collaboration. While it's crucial to have team members with the right technical expertise, Tannenbaum emphasizes that team-related capabilities are equally important.
Research has identified four key team-related capabilities:
- Good communication, including active listening and asking effective questions
- Giving and receiving feedback
- Working through conflict
- Interpersonal skills, such as empathy and the ability to interpret nonverbal cues
Tannenbaum advises that teams should invest in developing these capabilities through training or hiring individuals who already possess them. By doing so, teams can significantly boost their overall performance.
2. Cooperative Beliefs: The Power of Perception
The second driver focuses on the beliefs and perceptions team members hold about their team. These beliefs play a crucial role in fostering cooperation and can significantly impact team performance.
Tannenbaum illustrates this point with a tragic example from a 1996 Mount Everest expedition. Despite the experienced leadership of Rob Hall and Scott Fischer, their decision to continue past the agreed-upon turnaround time led to the loss of five lives. This tragedy highlights the importance of psychological safety – the belief that team members can speak up without fear of negative consequences.
Three key beliefs that support team cooperation are:
- Psychological safety
- Trust
- Collective efficacy (the shared belief that the team can perform well)
Research has shown that teams with high levels of these beliefs consistently outperform those without them. Importantly, these beliefs can be cultivated and strengthened over time, making them a valuable area for team improvement.
3. Coordinating Behaviors: The Art of Working Together
The third driver of team effectiveness is coordinating behaviors. These are the actions team members take to work together seamlessly. Tannenbaum uses the example of a well-coordinated sales team in a department store to illustrate how these behaviors can enhance customer experience and team performance.
Three key coordinating behaviors are:
- Monitoring or situational awareness
- Providing backup or support
- Adapting to changing circumstances
These behaviors allow team members to anticipate needs, step in when necessary, and adjust their approach based on new information. By practicing and refining these behaviors, teams can significantly improve their coordination and overall effectiveness.
4. Quality Communication: Less Can Be More
Contrary to popular belief, more communication doesn't always lead to better team performance. Tannenbaum emphasizes that the quality of communication is far more important than the quantity. He uses the example of the kitchen staff at L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon, a world-renowned restaurant, to illustrate this point. Despite the high-pressure environment, the kitchen operates with minimal, but highly effective, communication.
Quality communication involves sharing useful information with the right people in a clear, accurate, and timely manner. Tannenbaum introduces the concept of "closed-loop communication," a three-step process that ensures information is correctly understood:
- The call-out: Initial information is given
- The check-back: The receiver conveys what they understood
- The close: The sender confirms or corrects the understanding
By focusing on quality over quantity and using techniques like closed-loop communication, teams can avoid misunderstandings and improve their overall performance.
5. Shared Cognitions: Thinking as One
Shared cognitions refer to the common understanding and mental models that team members share. These include a shared purpose, collective priorities, understanding of roles, and contingency plans. Tannenbaum explains how shared cognitions can help teams perform well in routine situations and adapt quickly during disruptions.
For example, if a team is giving a presentation and notices the client is unimpressed, their ability to pivot and adjust their approach depends on their shared understanding of the situation and their contingency plans. Teams with strong shared cognitions can adapt more quickly and effectively in such scenarios.
To develop shared cognitions, teams should:
- Set and communicate a clear direction
- Prepare and train for different contingencies
- Engage in regular updates and debriefs
By fostering shared cognitions, teams can improve their coordination and adaptability, leading to better overall performance.
6. Conditions: The Environment Matters
Even the best teams can struggle under unfavorable conditions. Tannenbaum emphasizes the importance of both organizational and team-specific conditions in supporting team effectiveness. He shares an example of a retailer where sales team members avoided helping each other due to misaligned incentives, highlighting how conditions can hinder teamwork.
Organizational conditions that impact team performance include:
- HR practices and policies
- Senior leadership support
- Organizational culture
Team-specific conditions include:
- Access to necessary resources
- Adequate time for teamwork activities
- Clear goals and expectations
By addressing these conditions, organizations and team leaders can create an environment that supports and encourages effective teamwork.
7. Leadership: Enabling Team Success
The final driver of team effectiveness is leadership. Tannenbaum emphasizes that leadership is not just about the formal team leader but can be exhibited by any team member. He outlines seven essential functions of team leadership, each corresponding to one of the previously discussed drivers:
- Promote learning and adaptation (Capabilities)
- Foster psychological safety (Cooperative Beliefs)
- Hold teammates accountable (Coordinating Behaviors)
- Manage team emotions and attitudes (Quality Communication)
- Ensure clarity and alignment (Shared Cognitions)
- Remove obstacles and garner support (Conditions)
- Encourage participation and empowerment (Leadership)
By focusing on these leadership functions, team members can contribute to creating an environment where all seven drivers of team effectiveness are present and working together.
Real-World Applications
Throughout the book, Tannenbaum provides numerous examples of how these drivers play out in real-world situations. From high-stakes environments like emergency rooms and airline cockpits to everyday workplace scenarios, he illustrates how the seven drivers can make a significant difference in team performance.
One particularly striking example is the successful emergency landing of US Airways flight 1549 on the Hudson River in 2009. While the pilot's skill was crucial, Tannenbaum points out that the impeccable communication between crew members played a vital role in ensuring there were no fatalities.
In contrast, he also discusses how communication failures in healthcare settings have led to serious injuries and deaths, emphasizing the critical importance of effective teamwork in high-stakes environments.
Practical Strategies for Improvement
Tannenbaum doesn't just describe the drivers of team effectiveness; he also provides practical strategies for improvement. For each driver, he offers actionable advice that teams can implement to enhance their performance.
For example, to improve quality communication, he suggests:
- Using closed-loop communication techniques
- Avoiding assumptions about what others know or should know
- Ensuring information is shared openly rather than hoarded
To develop shared cognitions, he recommends:
- Setting and communicating clear directions
- Preparing and training for different contingencies
- Engaging in regular team updates and debriefs
These practical tips make the book not just informative but also highly applicable to real-world team situations.
The Importance of Continuous Improvement
A key theme throughout the book is the importance of continuous improvement. Tannenbaum emphasizes that even high-performing teams can always find ways to enhance their effectiveness. He encourages teams to regularly assess their performance across all seven drivers and make targeted improvements.
One powerful tool he recommends is the team debrief. Research has shown that teams that regularly debrief perform, on average, 20 percent better than those that don't. Debriefs provide an opportunity for teams to reflect on what's going well and what could be improved, addressing multiple drivers of team effectiveness in the process.
Overcoming Common Teamwork Challenges
Tannenbaum also addresses common challenges that teams face and provides strategies for overcoming them. These include:
- Dealing with difficult team members
- Managing conflict productively
- Adapting to changes in team composition
- Balancing individual and team goals
- Overcoming communication barriers in virtual teams
By addressing these challenges head-on and applying the principles of the seven drivers, teams can navigate difficult situations more effectively and maintain their performance even in challenging circumstances.
The Role of Technology in Team Effectiveness
While not a primary focus of the book, Tannenbaum does touch on the role of technology in modern teamwork. He discusses how digital tools can both enhance and hinder team effectiveness, depending on how they're used.
For example, communication technologies can facilitate better information sharing and coordination among team members, especially in remote or distributed teams. However, they can also lead to information overload or create barriers to face-to-face interaction if not managed properly.
Tannenbaum encourages teams to be mindful of how they use technology and to ensure that it supports rather than hinders the seven drivers of team effectiveness.
The Impact of Diversity on Team Performance
Another important topic Tannenbaum addresses is the impact of diversity on team performance. He argues that diverse teams have the potential to outperform homogeneous teams, but only if they can effectively harness their diversity.
He explains that diverse teams often have access to a broader range of perspectives, experiences, and skills, which can lead to more creative problem-solving and innovation. However, diversity can also lead to communication challenges and conflicts if not managed properly.
Tannenbaum provides strategies for leveraging diversity to enhance team performance, including:
- Fostering an inclusive team culture
- Encouraging open dialogue about differences
- Developing strong shared cognitions to bridge diverse perspectives
- Leveraging each team member's unique strengths and experiences
By applying these strategies, teams can turn diversity into a competitive advantage rather than a source of conflict.
The Role of Organizational Culture
While much of the book focuses on team-level factors, Tannenbaum also emphasizes the importance of organizational culture in supporting team effectiveness. He argues that even the best teams can struggle if they're operating in an organizational culture that doesn't value or support teamwork.
He provides guidance for leaders on how to create an organizational culture that fosters effective teamwork, including:
- Aligning reward systems with teamwork goals
- Providing resources and support for team development
- Modeling effective teamwork at the senior leadership level
- Encouraging cross-functional collaboration
By addressing these organizational factors, leaders can create an environment where effective teamwork can flourish across the entire organization.
Measuring Team Effectiveness
Tannenbaum also discusses the importance of measuring team effectiveness. He argues that teams can't improve what they don't measure, and provides guidance on how to assess team performance across the seven drivers.
He suggests using a combination of quantitative metrics (such as team productivity or customer satisfaction scores) and qualitative assessments (such as team member surveys or 360-degree feedback). By regularly measuring team effectiveness, teams can identify areas for improvement and track their progress over time.
Conclusion: The Power of Science-Based Teamwork
In conclusion, "Teams That Work" provides a comprehensive, science-based approach to understanding and improving team effectiveness. By focusing on the seven drivers – capabilities, cooperative beliefs, coordinating behaviors, quality communication, shared cognitions, conditions, and leadership – teams can significantly enhance their performance.
Tannenbaum's approach debunks common myths about teamwork and provides practical, actionable strategies based on extensive research. Whether you're a team leader looking to boost your team's performance or a team member seeking to contribute more effectively, this book offers valuable insights and tools.
The key takeaway is that effective teamwork is not a matter of chance or natural talent. It's a skill that can be learned, practiced, and continuously improved. By understanding and applying the seven drivers of team effectiveness, any team can work towards becoming truly exceptional.
As organizations continue to rely more heavily on teamwork to tackle complex challenges and drive innovation, the principles outlined in "Teams That Work" become increasingly valuable. By embracing these science-based approaches to teamwork, organizations and individuals can unlock their full potential and achieve remarkable results.
Remember, great teams don't just happen – they're built through intentional effort, continuous learning, and a commitment to excellence. With the insights from "Teams That Work," you have the tools to start building and nurturing high-performing teams in any context.