Building a team requires consideration of all members – how their knowledge and skills will meet the needs for the group objectives, and how the team members might interrelate with each other.
Read the article: “Eight Ways to Build Collaborative Teams” (http://hbr.org/2007/11/eight-ways-to-build-collaborative-teams/ar/1)
The authors make a point in their findings:
“Our recent research into team behavior at 15 multinational companies, however, reveals an interesting paradox: Although teams that are large, virtual, diverse, and composed of highly educated specialists are increasingly crucial with challenging projects, those same four characteristics make it hard for teams to get anything done. To put it another way, the qualities required for success are the same qualities that undermine success. Members of complex teams are less likely—absent other influences—to share knowledge freely, to learn from one another, to shift workloads flexibly to break up unexpected bottlenecks, to help one another complete jobs and meet deadlines, and to share resources—in other words, to collaborate.” (Gratton, Erickson, 2007, para. 3)
Discuss what might be some of the “Other Influences” which could help prevent a team from acting dysfunctional?
What influences have you noticed helping create more collaboration on teams?