How Great and Failed Teams Differ

Learning log reflection: “What makes a great team?”

Virtually everyone has been a member of a team of some type during their lives, and it is likely that most individuals have an intuitive notion concerning what made their team especially bad or good at achieving its assigned mission. For instance, young members of a league-winning little league baseball team may recall the top-notch coaching they received, the liberal amount of time they were allocated for practice, or the contributions of star players as being responsible for their victories. Likewise, adults may also recall with pleasure that the satisfaction of being part of a work team that functions like a well-oiled machine, where they were regarded as integral to success and their contributions celebrated and rewarded.

Certainly, the converse also holds true and it is equally likely that everyone has been part of a failed or suboptimal team that generated nothing but misery and disappointed for all the stakeholders involved. The common thread that unites these emotions and responses is the fundamental need to join with others in any organizational setting to achieve a common goal in the most efficient and effective way possible. The designation as a “winning” or “losing” team carries significant weight for all concerned since these are direct reflection of the team members’ abilities and seriousness in contributing to the outcome.

Indeed, no one wants to be part of a losing team, but it is possible to learn what went wrong and to identify those aspects of team that make them truly great. The coursework underscored the importance of ensuring that everyone has a voice in how the team functions and what their priorities should be at any given point in time, just as it is essential to avoid finger-pointing when things go wrong -- because they will. This means that transparency and accountability are also essential elements of a great team, but every team is unique in some way meaning that what works best for one team may be counterproductive for others. This means that team leaders must remain flexible and open-minded as they pursue the team’s overarching objectives by “keeping their eye on the prize.”