Managing team development

Many companies attempt to break down organizational silos as they realize that performance depends largely on the quality of coordination and consistency of efforts made by the various players involved. To maximize responsiveness, companies encourage managers to connect with their colleagues in other departments. Indeed, it is now widely recognized that local efforts and day-to-day interactions are just as important as formal initiatives to organize processes.

With this realization, the need to create effective cross-functional teams has grown substantially. Yet, developing such teams requires more than just gathering a diverse group of individuals representing various domains of expertise on a given issue. Rather, it involves a process by which the team gradually reaches a point where its respective members can confront and combine their different points of view effectively. The publications that we have analyzed underline the following messages:

– Recognize that getting the right skills to the table is not sufficient to solve a problem effectively.

– Be aware that teams must go through several phases before they are able to work efficiently together.

– Discover the key drivers available to team leaders to accelerate team development.