Leadership in Action: Making Sure that a Team is the Right Way to Go

Making Sure That a Team Is the Right Way to Go

by Michael E. Kossler and Kim Kanaga

Organizations tend to pay a lot of attention to and shower accolades on teams. But a team is not always the most efficient way to meet a business challenge. Launching a team can be expensive, and effectively leading a team toward achieving organizational objectives is a time-consuming job. Leaders can apply several criteria to determine whether a team is the right tool for meeting a business goal.

Many organizations take pride in describing themselves as team based. Scores of business books and magazine articles have exalted the formation and operation of teams ...