Building Effective Teams: Miss the Start, Miss the End

Esther has an M.A. in Organizational Leadership, is the author of over 100 articles, and co-author of "Agile Retrospectives: Making Good Teams Great" and "Behind Closed Doors: Secrets of Great Management". She’s a founder of the AYE Conference, and serves on the Board of Directors for the Agile Alliance. www.estherderby.com.

  Agile   Communications Management   Talent Management  

“The beginning is the most important part of the work.”
- Plato, Greek philosopher and writer, 429–347 B.C.E.

In my two previous articles on gantthead, I’ve talked about a managers relationship with a team that has already formed. Your relationship with a team as they work is essential for cultivating a self-organizing team and maintaining a link with the organization. But your part in growing effective teams starts long before the work starts.

The 60-30-10 Principle
J. Richard Hackman has been studying teams for decades. One of his most significant findings is that 60 percent of the variation in team effectiveness is attributable to the design of the team, 30 percent to the way the team is launched and 10 percent to leader coaching once the team is underway. By “design of the team”, he doesn’t just mean picking the best people. You also have to think about the nature of the work, articulate a goal and plan for enabling supports.

Aim for Flexible, Long-lived Teams
You can call a group of people a team the first day they come together, but that doesn’t mean they’ll achieve teamwork right away. People need time to understand each other’s strengths, weaknesses and work styles. They need to agree on, try and then adjust the way they work together to find their groove.

In many organizations, …

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