Biopsy of a Team

For the last few days, I have been thinking about writing about a topic with most of the people around me define with. Teams. Yes, since most of us spend anything from 12 to 15 hours daily working with our respective teams and organizations, this topic should elicit the maximum amount of thought and emotion from us.
I am not a Management Guru or a thinker, but I write from what I see. And I see what most of us do.
Defining Teams
Teams are not just about the huddle after a success. They are more than that. A team, as I see it, is a collection of people who come together to accomplish a certain common task. The task can be playing a game, as in cricket or football, or working in an organization. Believe me, the latter can be as engaging as the former.
But, from the above definition of a team, there are two important phrases, viz. Collection of people and Common Task. Let’s take them one by one.
Collection of people, as it goes, is not a simple proposition, People picked up randomly and put together to accomplish a task, might just be an act of cinematic liberty. In real life and real organizations, this is not true. In today's scenario, teams are selected from a group of people with a certain skill set. This skill set can be true in terms of physical and mental attributes. For the purpose of discussion let us club domain knowledge with physical attributes. Mental attributes would basically talk of the person's fitment into the team, adapting and understanding the team culture and objective.
Team Selection - Role of Specialists & Generalists
In an ideal team selection, every single member knows what he does, best. And also, there is respect in the abilities of others in the team. But, if everything was white and black, where would generalists like me go. So, there are certain people who basically can fit in more than one role. They might not be specialists, but they can hold fort in most scenarios.
It is with these generalist people that most of the mental attribute problems arise. Sometimes in their minds, and sometimes in others.
The job of team selection is to me the most important in the ultimate accomplishment of a task. This is because, generalists, with their ability to handle a bit of others domain area, they might spell a sense of insecurity among the team members. Not to say that Generalists are more of a nuisance to team culture, we should understand, these people need special handling. They have to be nurtured as by multi-tasking they display a distinct understanding of team objectives, and in the present manpower reduction scenario, they form an essential part of the team.
Here the role of the team leader is important. He can move ahead and try and model all members as generalists, or keep a healthy mix of specialists and generalists. That to me is the key of team selection and reflects the means to end approach of the team.
But the end, to me is what most teams don’t understand. The clarity and singularity of purpose are not evident these days. Teams which work on defined timelines or targets mostly display this attribute. Sometimes, the team leaders also miss the real purpose and take on hands on day to day approach. Here we again delve in to the mental attribute of teams.
Mental Attributes – Fitment, Adaptability, & Clarity of Goal
Basic purpose or goal of team is a factor of many environmental parameters. On a macro level, this is ruled by the Industry, the technology, and mostly by outlook of the management. A goal once decided moves along as the team and the organization mature and grow. This transient nature of the goal, tests the mettle of a team and the vision of the leader.
Blaming the team leader for low engagement levels in the team is not completely correct. Although, by being the leader, quantum of the blame rests with him, but certain factors are beyond his control too.
If the organization has decided to focus its attention towards a new technology, then the entire team which was working on the now-out dated techniques is rendered in such a flux. I have faced such a situation, where in the organization decided, in face of competition, to switch technologies mid-way. The entire team was in a state of indecisiveness and was then relocated to various other teams. This led to low motivation and engagement levels, and further to mass exodus to other organizations. And till date, whenever we all meet, the person most criticized is the team leader for not being open and forthright with the team on such a drastic change. This might not be completely correct, but that’s how I see everyone, including myself, functioning.
In that state of flux, if the team was taken into confidence, before hand, and explained the impending scenario, at least some engagement levels could have been maintained. But that is asking much from the team leader, who himself was a member of someone else’s team.
But where most organizations and team leaders go wrong, is to shove the entire impending scenario under the carpet. Like as taking the above example further, all employees were taken for an outbound to a resort within city limits and engagement was discussed there. Its not that the team had a flock of sheep who did not understand anything, but the team leader and the management still thought it to be a better way of handling the situation. Result was the inevitable, the engagement score dipped to an all time low.
On a cautionary side, let me add, lets not see all such efforts (as in outbound etc.) by the team leader, as shoving concern under the carpet. Some Outbound trips I attended recently were pure unadulterated fun and led to good bonding between the team.
But still as per the common belief, things go wrong when they have to and are most needed to go right. Team leaders falter when then they are most required to go right.
Teams are complex and need very careful handling. A trick missed once can have a multiplying effect later. And this is the common scenario most teams and organizations face.
So if you are leading a team, then chalk out a vision for the team. Even if the goals are transient, vision is generally stable over time and through situations. Engage the team, involve them in decision making, but also be critical when required. All this is easier said than done. But try some of it, and your team, even after a long time will never criticize you. And you could simply believe in the phrase, Happily Ever After!!