TrainingConsulting.PDF

Training Consulting White paper Putting the ‘I’ back in TEAM Celebrating individuality in today’s teams Introduction The concept of team has changed in recent years. Traditional assumptions about what makes a team have become outdated, particularly with the advent of virtual teams, for example. There have also been significant changes in the way we work as trends such as remote working and portfolio careers become more popular. This means that to succeed in todays post-recessionary environment, and to ensure continued success in an uncertain world, we need to address what team means in your organisation. The unattributed quote ‘There is no I in team’ is in dispute. Teams cannot and should not operate as a homogenised whole. Rather, as we know, each team is a collection of individuals and the success of that team – and the success of the project – depends on autonomous collaboration. This is where individuals understand their role in achieving the task at hand either independently or in collaboration with each other. There are a number of issues that are raised in collaborative teams. The first is self- awareness of individuals within a team. A new research report by the Chartered Management Institute1 found that half of managers over-estimate their own performance. This basic lack of self-awareness can be a significant contributory factor to team failure. The second factor is the clarity of the goal and mission at hand. If there is no explicit guidance about what is to be achieved teams and individuals can often disengage, neglecting their responsibility. It is quite common for teams to report tha