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