¶ … Teams Don't Work Idea in Brief

While conventional wisdom might dictate otherwise, teams aren't always the most effective means for accomplishing goals within your organization.

How to Make the Most from your Team:

Designate a Deviant: this is the person who will prevent the team from acting in a too conventional manner. This person will ensure that the team doesn't fall into some sort of rut when it comes to creative thinking.

Avoid double digits. No team should be bigger than nine, as then it can be too easy for some team members not to contribute and for others to dominate.

Keep the team together: the members of the team should remain consistent and not change constantly. Such a thing keeps the entire process on the straight and narrow.

Be ruthless about membership: decide who can and who cannot be a member of the team. Only allow members who genuinely want to participate and who will benefit the greater good of the team.

e. Set a compelling direction. All team members should be on the same page regarding the overall objective and should feel excited about this objective.

f. Embrace your own quirkiness: most team leaders are never going to resemble the textbook case of a team leader. It's okay if you deviate from the norm. Embrace that amount of quirkiness.

g. Embrace and develop your abilities to engage in coaching on group processes so that the team can truly reap all the benefits of being part of a team. Things that one can do in this regard are as follows: run a launch meeting, engage in midpoint reviews, and reflect on what went well and poorly during...

Protect your deviant. The deviant is the person who asks the tough difficult questions, questions which can raise the anxiety levels of other people. It can too easily manifest that the other team members gang up on the deviant as he raises their anxiety levels. However, this isn't fair. It's important that the deviant be able to speak out continually, as this is the person who prevents the team from engaging in boring, homogenous thinking.
II. Reasons why teams consistently underperform:

a. Problems with coordination.

b. Problems with collaboration.

c. Problems with motivation.

d. Problems with understanding who is actually on the team. The boundaries need to be clear as do the exact individuals who are members.

e. Poor leadership: A team needs a strong direction and it's generally up to the leader to provide one. "Leaders who are emotionally mature are willing and able to move toward anxiety-inspired situations as they establish a clear, challenging team direction."

III. Common Fallacies About Teams

a. Harmonious teams work together better. Team where there is some discord actually produces better work, some research has demonstrated.

b. Bigger teams are better than smaller teams.

c. Team members become so comfortable with one another that they start to accept one another's foibles. Newness is actually a liability when it comes to the proper functioning of teams.

IV. Truths about Teams

a. Teams who have worked together before make less mistakes.

b. The deviant in the team is a crucial…