Creating High-Performance Teams

Just because management calls a group of researchers a team doesn't mean they are a team. Teamwork, as many RD that is, people from different departments and functional specialities must feel comfortable about joining together in temporary work groups. 4. A majority of the people who will be called upon to form the team must actually want to be on that team. This means they must not only recognize the potential gain from forming the team, but the pain they will go through as well. 5. Management must also be willing to change. A management that insists on continuing in the traditional hierarchical style will disempower the team, O'Connor explains. "Management must realize that it's going to have to give up some of its power," he warns. ENABLERS OF SUCCESS Assuming the five prerequisites for a successful start have been met, the human resource directors agreed that ultimate success demands the presence of the following enablers: 1. Training, training and training. "People are so used to a hierarchical setting," O'Connor observes, "that when you start talking about working together as co-equals on a team--not just for a meeting but for deciding what work they will take on, how they will allocate that work, how they will make decisions, even allocate the rewards--you're talking about a fundamental shift. …