Organizational Development: A Manual for Managers and ... - FPDL

is ‘real’ if it is self-managed, and is ‘alive’ only if it is performing well - because the result of
performance is the only clue that can keep people in a team.
Building a team is a two-fold process – creating an outside framework and developing inside
conditions. Of course, these processes are interrelated. The balance between these two aspects
rests on the principal question – who is the ‘builder’? When members who voluntary join together
in a process to get and share the effect of cooperation build a team – then internal conditions will
determine the external appearance of the team. If these people are criminals – then they will
probably constitute a gang. If people are forced to join together because of drought, then they will
probably search for the water together - and will do it in the most productive way, given the
circumstances – no matter whether or how their personal values differ.
Building a team from the outside involves selection of its provisional members (where appropriate),
definition of the mission or/and goals, setting up clear objectives, defining rules about how
resources will be allocated or how the achievements of the team will be measured,, and
determining how the team will be rewarded for accomplishments or punished for failures. It also
includes defining policies and other potential operating constraints, etc. Existing external preconditions
may be such that no team could emerge (goals are unrealistic given resources, or
awards do not match the effort necessary to earn them). These conditions may also be such that
any group of people will become a team almost immediately (consider the case of shipwreck when
only a few passengers survived in a single boat).
Building teams from inside involves creating relevant communication systems and a common data
base (information field); setting up obligatory rules of behaviour that may be specific for this team
only; learning how to work together; removing barriers for mutual understanding, trust and support;
developing relevant procedures and technologies; determining optimal allocation of specific
responsibilities, etc
Some basic conditions for building teams within organizations are as follows:
• Independence of the team from outside management in any issues related to its internal
organization; internal affairs remain internal unless the team asks for assistance or there is
an emergency;
• Team is performing a sensible piece of work that has a measurable result, and is for a
specific internal or external client;
• Evaluation of a team is based exclusively on the results achieved, not activities undertaken;
• Awards and penalties are given to the team as a whole; how they will be distributed further
to the members is an internal affair for the team;
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