Managing Teams

Book description

Leading teams is an essential skill every manager must possess. To do it effectively, you must know how to instill commitment in your team, improve communication among group members, and diagnose common problems that can derail a team. In this book, you'll find valuable advice and proven strategies for managing teams, including how to:

· Diagnose common problems that can impede team progress

· Take corrective measures to remove team problems and improve performance

· Resolve team conflicts

· Promote interdependence within teams

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Pocket Mentor Series
  3. Copyright
  4. Mentor’s Message: Why Effective Team Management Matters
  5. Managing Teams: The Basics
    1. Keeping Your Team on Track
      1. Evaluating the team’s process
      2. Understanding common obstacles
    2. Obstacle 1: Lack of Team Identity
      1. Appreciating why team identity is crucial
      2. Understanding causes of weak team identity
      3. Strengthening team identity
    3. Obstacle 2: Low Participation
      1. Detecting low participation
      2. Confirming expectations about participation
      3. Enabling members to meet expectations
      4. Asking for explanations
      5. Assessing member/task fit
    4. Obstacle 3: Poor Communication
      1. Understanding the costs of poor communication
      2. Enhancing team members’ communication skills
    5. Obstacle 4: Ineffective Team Leadership
      1. Recognizing the signs of poor leadership
      2. Identifying the root causes
      3. Balancing bossing with empowering
      4. Taking action when you’re not the leader
    6. Obstacle 5: Destructive Conflict
      1. Defining the root cause of the conflict
      2. Encouraging active listening
      3. Negotiating a resolution
      4. Reminding team members to forgive
    7. Obstacle 6: “Groupthink”
      1. Understanding the dangers of groupthink
      2. Recognizing the symptoms
      3. Combating groupthink
    8. Obstacle 7: Absence of Creativity
      1. Promoting diversity of thinking styles and technical skills
      2. Balancing paradoxical characteristics
      3. Moving from divergent to convergent thinking
    9. Obstacle 8: Ineffective Decision Making
      1. Agreeing on a decision-making approach
      2. Sharpening decision-making skills
  6. Tips and Tools
    1. Tools for Managing Teams
    2. Test Yourself
    3. To Learn More
    4. Sources for Managing Teams
  7. How to Order

Product information

  • Title: Managing Teams
  • Author(s): Harvard Business Review
  • Release date: October 2010
  • Publisher(s): Harvard Business Review Press
  • ISBN: 9781422172636