Second Edition
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Parker, Glenn M.
Team players and teamwork: new strategies for developing successful collaboration / Glenn M. Parker. –2nd ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-7879-9811-0 (cloth)
1. Teams in the workplace. 2. Corporate culture. I. Title.
HD66.P346 2008
658.4’022—dc22
When Team Players and Teamwork was first published in 1990, we had already begun to see the emergence of teamwork as an important business strategy. The success of Japan as a world economic power in the 1960s and 1970s led to a fascination with Japanese management strategies and, in turn, to the popularity of quality circles, a team-based process improvement effort. Despite great success in a number of companies, quality circles failed to gain substantial support outside of manufacturing. Even when successful, quality circles were rarely part of an overall corporate strategy.
In the 1980s we saw the outline of an emerging movement toward self-directed teams, as well as a total quality management process that was heavily team-based. These “solutions” were followed by another series of fads, the most prominent of which was reengineering. Later we witnessed a fascination with something called a high performing organization . These approaches — reengineering and high performing organizations — included teams as part of their core strategy.
Although many of these fads have faded away, the trend toward both more teams and the use of teams to address more organizational issues has increased dramatically. It seems clear now, in the first decade of the twenty-first century, that teams are not fading away like so many other management fads. Teams and teamwork are here to stay. Equally important, the central unit of the team — the team player — is now widely recognized. The challenge now is how to make teams and team players effective — and that’s what this book is all about.
Teams are everywhere. For example, teams are at the core of successful organizational efforts of
Despite all the success, teams and teamwork have been the subject of some serious critical analysis (Robbins and Finley, 1995). Some cynics also joined the chorus of fault-finders, as in the following from an English trade publication:
Businesses are the grip of a team tyranny. Not simply because work is organized around teams, but because the ethos of teamworking— in itself one of those words you feel the English language is not necessarily enriched by — is pervasive. Guff such as ‘there is no “I” in team!’ surrounds us [Reeves, 2004, p. 29].
However, there is no need now to justify the value of teamwork. In addition, the notion of a team player and the importance of being a team player are accepted ideas in the organizational world. In the earlier edition of this book I described in detail what it means to be a team player. In the past, there had been a rather one-dimensional view of a team player as someone who went along and supported the company program without question — someone who was often described as a “good soldier.” A team player, it was said, lived by the credo that “to get along, you go along.”
I rejected that view and replaced it with a more complex concept of a team player. It is now clear that a team player cannot be described with a catch phrase, a simple profile, or even a job description. My view, supported by research we conducted at that time, was that there are four types of team players — Contributor, Collaborator, Communicator, and Challenger — each with its own strengths and potential weaknesses. Understanding the four team player styles helps team leaders and members better understand themselves and how they contribute to team success. At the same time I created a survey to help people identify their own styles and thereby gain insight into their individual strengths as well as a means to develop a plan to increase their effectiveness as team players.
The initial version of the instrument, called the Team Player Survey, was reprinted in the Resources section of the book. A revised edition was subsequently published in booklet form as the Parker Team Player Survey by Xicom in 1991. 1 At the time Team Players and Teamwork was first published, I did not anticipate how popular this view of team players would become. In the intervening years, it has been translated into a number of languages and used by organizations around the world, and it has sold more than one million copies. In addition, CRM Learning produced a best-selling video based on the four styles, called Team Building II: What Makes a Good Team Player?2
As seems clear now, successful organizations place great value on team players. With change the only constant, the successful employees will be the ones who can quickly adjust and work effectively with new and different people. One organizational model that provides some insight into this new world is the movie production crew — a group of people who come together for a brief period of time, work in an intensely collaborative environment, and then deliver a product that is the result of their combined efforts. The successful crew members are able to quickly and easily focus on the goal, share their unique expertise, build relationships with diverse team members, deliver the product on schedule, and then move on. I describe such a person as an effective team player. I was witness to this type of teamwork when I was the on-screen narrator of the CRM Learning video that highlighted the four team player styles. The crew, including the various functions — director, cameraperson, sound engineer, teleprompter, make-up, wardrobe, and me — all showed up at 8 A.M. ready to work. Some knew each other from previous projects, but others were meeting their teammates for the first time. They were expected to and did begin work together after little more than a quick cup of coffee.
A key contribution of the first edition was a detailed description of the effective team. Building on the early work of McGregor, Likert, and others, I set forth a list of the twelve characteristics of an effective team. I also created an instrument that gave a team the opportunity to assess their effectiveness against the benchmark of the twelve factors and then the data to begin a team building effort. The initial version of the instrument was printed in the Resources section as the Team Development Survey. A revised version was published by Xicom in 1992. 3
The basic elements of the effective team and team player that I described in 1990 remain the same. The four team player styles and twelve team characteristics still provide effective tools for the team or organization that wants to understand and increase the effectiveness of teamwork and team players. However, the environment in which teams now function has changed in some very important and often dramatic ways.
A team is no longer simply a group of people working in the same area, on the same equipment, with the same customers, and with everyone eating in the same cafeteria. Now our teammates may include people outside of the organization, many of whom we see infrequently, such as customers and suppliers, people in other countries, people in other time zones, and people from other cultures. More specifically, the contextual factors that impact the ability of a team to be successful are numerous.
The changes having the most impact are as follows:
No matter the industry, effective teamwork is critical for success. And teamwork starts with team players — individuals working together to accomplish agreed-upon goals and objectives. Learn what it takes to become an effective team player in a successful team, and the rewards of better products, quality service, reasonable costs, and higher profits will follow.
Team Players and Teamwork provides specific and practical help for people who want to know how to get more team play into their organizations. It provides a clear answer to the question “ What is a team player?” In fact, that very question was the genesis of the first edition of the book. It was asked by a manager of a client company in which I was working on ways to improve the performance appraisal system. I pointed out that, although management talked about teamwork throughout the year, it was rarely mentioned during the annual performance appraisal discussions. Somewhat frustrated, one manager asked, “What do we look for? What does a team player really do?” With that question began the journey that culminated in the writing of this book.
The data that form the basis of this book come from a survey of fifty-one companies. Managers and human resource professionals in a variety of industries completed a preliminary open-ended questionnaire. The result of this effort was a structured survey instrument that was mailed to the chief executive officers and vice presidents of human resources of fifty-one companies.
The data indicate that there are many ways a person can be a team player, and positive team process is just one of them. I conceptualized these skills and behaviors into four team player styles that form the heart of Team Players and Teamwork. I have expanded the earlier work on teams done by others to create my own model of the effective team and show the many ways in which team players contribute to effective teamwork. And I have enlarged our understanding of leadership by outlining the specific approaches team players use to carry out key leadership functions. A team player can be both a leader and a member. In fact, during the course of a day, a person may occupy both roles as he or she moves from one team to another. But a person’\s team player style will remain relatively constant even though the expectations placed on him or her will change as the role (leader or member) changes.
In the final analysis, this book is both inspirational and prescriptive. Above all, it should convince the reader of the value of team players and the many ways in which team players can benefit an organization. In addition, the book includes a guide for organizations that want to move toward a team player culture.
I wrote Team Players and Teamwork with practitioners in mind — leaders in the private, public, and nonprofit sectors who are looking for answers. I see the book as a resource guide on teamwork for people who are ready for something more than exhortation or a compilation of group exercises. Team Players and Teamwork is for people who see teamwork as a practical business strategy and want to know how to make it come alive in their organizations. I hope the book will convince readers that team players are critical to the success of the team.
This book is designed for a number of different audiences:
Team Players and Teamwork begins with a description of the many ways in which team players and teamwork contribute to the success of organizations. Chapter One presents the practical, bottom-line results of teamwork across a variety of industries and occupations. I show how effective teamwork leads to increased productivity, more effective use of resources, cost reduction, improved quality, innovation, better customer service, and more rapid commercialization of products.
Chapter Two provides an in-depth description of the twelve characteristics of an effective team and the role of a team player in bringing each characteristic to life. I discuss the ineffective team and describe the signs of trouble that team leaders can use to detect problems within their teams. I have updated each characteristic to incorporate some of the new realities that have an impact on successful teamwork.
In Chapter Three I depict the four team player styles that form the heart of the book. Using examples from my consulting practice, the survey of fifty-one companies, and the literature, I explain how positive teamwork results from effective team players. Each style description is buttressed by checklists of behaviors and adjectives that will help both leaders and members quickly identify their team player styles. The description of each style is updated to reflect the new challenges faced by team players in the organizational world of the twenty-first century.
Chapter Four begins with an assessment of the organizational costs of ineffective team players. I describe and offer examples of the negative features of each of the four team player styles. The chapter concludes with guidelines for dealing with ineffective team players. Here too I have updated the story to reflect the significant changes in the environment in which teams and team players find themselves today.
Because team leadership is critical to team success, I devote Chapter Five to team players as team leaders. I detail how each of the four team player styles carries out five key leadership functions: planning, communicating, risk taking, problem solving, and decision making. In each case I describe the consequences of ineffective leadership. I also provide team leaders with guidelines for personal development and ten successful team-building strategies. Finally, I address the new issues that confront today’s team leader, such as culture, technology, and team composition.
Chapter Six focuses on the four stages of team development — forming, storming, norming, and performing — and how team players successfully adapt to each stage. I describe each stage and pinpoint the key concerns of each team player style. For each stage and style I recommend actions that will help the team grow and develop into a mature, adaptable organization.
Chapter Seven provides team leaders with a methodology for analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of their teams. I discuss the consequences of having too many people with the same team player style. I also describe the dangers inherent in a team that is missing one of the four styles. Several sample team profiles are presented as a self-study exercise in team assessment.
In Chapter Eight I offer a prescription to organizational leaders who want to create an environment that encourages teamwork and values team players. Drawing on examples provided by our survey respondents, I describe a variety of methods used by successful organizations. Job assignments, promotional policies, performance management, team awards, and team player recognition are among the many techniques outlined in this chapter.
The final chapter presents a series of challenges to leaders, managers, human resource professionals, and training specialists who see team players and teamwork as the centerpiece of their competitive business strategy.
A Resources section includes the Parker Team-Development Survey and the Parker Team Player Survey. The Parker Team-Development Survey helps a team assess its strengths and weaknesses in terms of the twelve characteristics of an effective team. The Parker Team Player Survey is an instrument that helps an individual identify his or her primary team player style. The section also includes a report that presents frequency data on the extent to which each team player style occurs in the business world.
Glenn M. Parker
Skillman, New Jersey
October 2007
1. Xicom is now a subsidiary of CPP, Inc. The survey is now available from www.cpp.com.
2. For more information, see www.crmlearning.com.
3. Now distributed by CPP, Inc. (www.cpp.com).
Author and consultant Glenn M. Parker works with organizations to create and sustain high performing teams, effective team players, and team-based systems. His first book, Team Players and Teamwork (Jossey-Bass, 1990), became a best-seller and was selected as one of the ten best business books of 1990. Key concepts from the book were brought to the screen in the best-selling video T e a m Building II: What Makes a Good Team Player? (CRM Films, 1995) . His training and team building instrument, the Parker Team Player Survey (Xicom/CPP, 1991, 2003), has sold more than one million copies. Glenn is one of only seventy-five management experts recognized in The Guru Guide (Wiley, 1998).
A revised and updated edition of Glenn’s major best-seller Cross-Functional Teams: Working with Allies, Enemies, and Other Strangers was published by Jossey-Bass/Wiley in 2003 . He is coauthor of 50 Activities for Team Building, Vol. 1 (HRD Press, 1991), which was selected by Human Resource Executive as one of 1992’s Top Ten Training Tools. Glenn is also coauthor of 50 Activities for Self-Directed Teams (HRD Press, 1994) and editor of the HRD Press Best Practices for Teams, Vol. 1 (1996) and Vol. 2 (1998). Other publications include 25 Instruments for Team Building (HRD Press, 1998), Teamwork: 20 Steps for Building Powerful Teams (Successories, 1998), Teamwork and Teamplay: Games and Activities for Training and Building Teams (Pfeiffer, 1999), Rewarding Teams: Lessons from the Trenches (Jossey-Bass, 2000), Team Depot: A Warehouse of 585 Tools to Rejuvenate Your Team (Pfeiffer, 2002), and Meeting Excellence: 33 Tools to Lead Meetings That Get Results (Jossey-Bass, 2006) .
Glenn does not just talk or write about teamwork. He is a hands-on consultant and trainer who works with startup and ongoing teams of all types in a variety of industries. He facilitates team building, conducts training workshops, consults with management, and gives presentations for organizations across a wide variety of industries. His clients have included pharmaceutical companies such as Novartis, Merck and Company, Johnson & Johnson, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Hoffmann-La Roche, Aventis, Novo Nordisk, and contract research organizations; a variety of industrial organizations such as 3M, Kimberly-Clark, The Budd Company, Penntech Papers, Allied Signal, Pratt & Whitney, LEGO, BOC Gases, and Sun Microsystems; companies in telecommunications including AT&T, Pacific Bell, NYNEX, Lucent/Bell Labs, Telcordia Technologies (formerly Bellcore), and Siemens/ROLM Communications; service businesses such as Commerce Clearing House’s Legal Information Service, Asea Brown Boveri (ABB) Environmental Services, American Express, Promus Hotel Corporation (Embassy Suites, Hampton Inns), CDI Corp., and the New England Journal of Medicine ; the sales and marketing organizations of Roche Laboratories and the Pontiac Division of General Motors; health care providers such as Palomar-Pomerado Health System, Pocono Medical Center, St. Rita’s Medical Center, Monmouth Medical Center, and Riverside Health Care Center; retailers such as Ann Taylor and Phillips-Van Heusen; as well as teams from government agencies at the Environmental Protection Agency, National Institutes of Health, Department of the Navy, and the U.S. Coast Guard.
Glenn holds a bachelor of arts degree from City College of New York and a master of arts degree from the University of Illinois and has studied for the doctorate at Cornell University. He is much in demand as a speaker at corporate meetings and at international professional conferences in human resources, team development, and project management.
Glenn is the father of three grown children and lives with his wife, Judy, in central New Jersey. In his spare time, he roots for the Philadelphia 76ers, rides his bike, and plans his next vacation. As an active volunteer with the American Cancer Society, he helped create Run for Dad, an event to raise awareness about prostate cancer, which annually raises thousands of dollars and draws some 1,500 runners, walkers, and children on Father’s Day.