Larry:
When I first read your post I thought I wouldn't have much to contribute
because I have not organized a team myself. However, as I thought about
it I realized that I might be able to contribute in a different way.
I work on a team of 10 people in a company of ~1500 employees in the same
geographic location. I am a software support specialist for external
customers, so I -- like you -- am in a service role. I consider the team
on which I work to be very effective. We consider ourselves to be a
World-class Help Desk, and I believe we meet that description.
I would be glad to answer specific questions from you, but I will offer
these observations for starters:
* In order for a team to function effectively, the company must be willing
to take the concept to its extreme. There will be no effective team
without complete and total TRUST. And, in the beginning, there will be no
effective team without complete and total CORPORATE VULNERABILITY. I
can't emphasize this enough.
* To extend the above, the team must be given all of the tools, powers,
and responsibilities for management -- nothing can be held back. They
must have their own budget that they develop themselves; they must be
allowed to spend it in any way they see fit; they must develop their own
objectives for service; they must also develop their own systems for
measuring their success. All of this must be done without the distraction
of "higher-ups" offering unsolicited critique or "advice" about the
decisions. The team must be accountable to itself.
* A team must not have a designated leader. If everyone on the team is
not a "supervisor" for the team, the team will break down into a
traditional hierarchy.
* To extend the above, everything that the team does must be looked at as
individual projects. Project leaders will arise from this naturally by
participant abilities. This process should not be stifled, but it should
also not be officially recognized. It will take care of itself naturally
enough. If it becomes an officially recognized distinction, the next
project will be less effective because this designation will likely affect
its development.
Those are the most important things that come to mind right now. Again,
feel free to ask me specific questions privately or publicly. I haven't
formally studied this phenomenon of teams, but I am fortunate to be able
to observe a great one at work. I wasn't here when it was initially
formed about 3 years ago, so I may have less insight into the transition
itself.
Sincerely,
J.B. Bryant
jbryant@cas.org
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