90 Days to Level Up Your Teamwork

Part IWrap-Up

Performance goal: Get ready to learn, innovate, and compete.

Teaming and its associated interpersonal behaviors support organizational learning and require the right leadership mindset to optimize outcomes. This way of working allows employees to grow personally and professionally, whereas traditional top-down and assembly line models treated workers like children who must be told what to do.

Questions

1. Although teaming is imperative in today’s organizations, neither teams nor organizations naturally do it well. Have you had an experience with unsuccessful teaming in your career?
2. There are several benefits to teaming. These benefits fall into two categories: better organizational performance and more engaging and satisfying work environments. Which category do you think is more important?

Activity

For this activity, get a paper and pen to write answers to these prompts.

Teaming is a dynamic way of working that provides the necessary coordination and collaboration without the luxury (or rigidity) of stable team structures. Do you see benefits to this approach? What about drawbacks? Do the benefits outweigh the drawbacks in your opinion? Why or why not?

Boundary spanning involves deliberate attempts to reach across the barriers that exist within and between groups of all kinds. Rapid developments in technology and the greater emphasis on globalization have greatly increased the significance of boundary spanning in today’s work environment. What actions ...