The teams they are a-changin'
The way that most of us see teams in organisations needs to evolve. Photo by Marc Schulte on Unsplash
The way that most of us see teams in organisations needs to evolve. In the late 19th Century, there were huge rises in productivity because companies viewed teams at work as the product of a series of tasks - where it was possible to get better results through breaking down the task into components. This view of teams places the greatest emphasis on each component (either the person or process) and very little on the connections or spaces between the components in a team. A hallmark of real teams in 2020 is that they are greater than the sum of their parts. Following that logic, simply focusing on the parts can’t be enough to achieve great team performance.
Here are a few of the key ways in which teams in organisations they have shifted in this century alone:
From clear boundaries to fluid
Teams were typically seen as a well defined and distinct units that had distinct membership that was easily identifiable. Now, up to 95% of knowledge workers are on more than one team at work and it's not uncommon for individuals to be a part of a dozen separate teams professionally.
From stable to rapidly changing
Being a part of many teams felt like a High Court appointment – the members remained the same until they retired or died! Now, it is common for the team members to change rapidly as average tenure in organisations reduces as well as the skills required for different phases of work change.
From geographically co-located to partially or fully remote
No longer do teams need to be in the same place at the same time. While it is difficult to operate a factory or production line remotely, there are many teams that do most of their work either partially or fully remotely. The physical distancing and movement restrictions brought about in response to the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted to many people just what was possible without a physical hub.
From functionally distinct to distinctly cross-functional
In line with the view that the independent parts are more important for performance at team level, many organisations held the belief that maximising the performance of each part of their operation (sales, production, marketing, administration, etc) was more important than how those parts interacted. What is evident now is that there are more collaborative ways of working at all levels of organisations with cross-functional teams increasingly chosen as the way to achieve objectives.
From formally defined to informal alliances
While it used to be easy to identify teams by looking at an organisational chart. A report released by the ADP Research Institute in 2019[ii] suggests that about half of the work done in organisations is through teams that are not captured in the company's formal structure.
Some questions for you to consider in your teams:
What has become outdated in the past 1, 5, 10 or 20 years? Consider things both inside and outside of work.
In what ways have your teams changed in the past 1, 5, 10 or 20 years?
How will you ensure that your way of working remains relevant in 2021 and beyond?