Team Players and Teamwork
New Strategies for Developing Successful Collaboration
Glenn M. Parker
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
Team Players and Teamwork
New Strategies for Developing Successful Collaboration
Glenn M. Parker
About This Book
Praise for Team Players and Teamwork "In the new edition of Team Players and Teamwork Glenn Parker updates his landmark compendium on the essential effect of cross-functional teamwork to encompass the added complexities of globalization facing team leaders and team members in the twenty-first century. Anyone participating on or managing members of a cross-functional team will benefit from reading this essential guide to successful teamwork."
-Jeffrey W. Warmke, vice president, global project management and leadership, Daiichi Sankyo Pharma Development "Glenn Parker has the unique combination of sound thinking and clear writing. In his recent version of Team Players and Teamwork he succeeds in taking this combination of skills to a higher level."
-Sivasilam "Thiagi" Thiagarajan, president, Workshops by Thiagi, Inc. "Glenn's book is a must-read for team leaders and team members who are looking for a comprehensive set of tools and ideas to help teams perform more effectively. Glenn offers practical wisdom-based on years of first-hand experience-that is unparalleled in the field of team dynamics."
-Robert Hoffman, executive director, organization development and talent management, oncology business unit, Norvartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation
Frequently asked questions
Information
Honeywellâs commercial flight division in Minneapolis, devoted largely to manufacturing our navigational systems, switched to team organization about six years ago. Virtually all plant functions, including production, conflict resolution, even allocation of funds, is done by teams ⊠[As a result] Honeywellâs Minneapolis plant has 80 percent of the flight-navigational systems market, and 1988 profits were 200 percent above projections [Chance, 1989, p. 18].GEMICOâs [General Electric Mortgage Insurance Company] experience in its Seattle office dramatically illustrates the benefits realized by creating a teamwork mentality. During 1985, GEMICOâs market share in Washington hit an all-time low and delinquencies and loan declinations skyrocketed due to deteriorating business quality. At the beginning of 1986, faced with the prospect of withdrawing from the state, GEMICOâs branch manager and newly-hired experienced sales representatives began to work together to turn the situation around. First, everyone agreed that their goal would be to increase the volume of quality business received from Washington lenders. Second, everyone on the team demonstrated a willingness to âwear different hatsâ to see this task accomplished. Sales reps met with lenders to discuss underwriting problems, and supported (rather than second-guessed) underwriters when loans were declined. At the same time, branch office underwriters accompanied sales reps on customer calls, and loan processors served as unofficial customer service reps. The result: GEMICO market share in Washington has more than doubled, while loan declinations have been cut in half and delinquency rates have dropped from 3.05 percent to 2.52 percent, lower than the average for all mortgage insurers [Barmore, 1987, p. 94].At Xerox headquarters in Rochester, New York, on a typical work day they [encoders] process about 6,000 customer payment checks worth about $ 6 million. With that level of volume, operators were frequently so overwhelmed that checks were left undeposited until the next time, watering down the companyâs return on assets.Xerox encourages team problem solvingâeven awarding those groups that find new ways to cut costs or improve qualityâso thatâs what the encoders did. They formed a team and set to work analyzing the problem.The encoders found that productivity, morale, and communication were better on Saturdays than any other of the six work days. The reason: work flow was managed through a coordinator Monday through Friday, leaving the encoders little control over what got processed, by whom, or when. On Saturdays, when the encoders had to distribute their work, assign machines, and juggle their lunch breaks themselves, workflow was far better. The end result: The coordinator position was eliminated. Now the encoders form a âhuddleâ twice daily at mail delivery time to divide the work. In one month, they found a 21 percent reduction in the number of checks carried over to the next business day, a 70 percent decrease in overtime, $ 7000 in ROA improvements, and immeasurable improvement in employee morale, communication, and employee involvement [âCopy Cats Worth Copying,â 1988, p. 28].Cheesebrough-Ponds used a high- intensity task force to reformulate and reposition its Rave Home Permanent product as Rave Moisturelock Perm. Management organized a team which included the brand group, research and development, packaging and the agency account group [Feder and Mitchell, 1988, p. 21].Pratt and Whitney used special teams to reinvigorate its production capability by reconfiguring its engine manufacturing operations into numerous small units [Herman and Herman, 1989, p. 90].Keithley Instrumentsâ plant in Salem, Ohio, saw output increase by 90 percent and absenteeism fall by 75 percent when its production teams went to work [Chance, 1989, p. 18].A five-part management plan provided the framework for management improvement in the Department of Agriculture. Much of the credit goes to an emphasis on innovation and the cooperative effort of many employees [Franke, 1988â89, p. 11].A recent study reported schools that have team management outperform schools that have hierarchical management (Chubb, 1988). For example, many school districts in Marin County, California, are encouraging a team-based effort which, among other things, schedules time for teachers and staff to work together and share decision making at all levels (Lambert, 1989).
Itâs the Twenty-First Century: Team Players and Teamwork Are Here to Stay
- New products get to the market faster.
- Customers get better service.
- Employees are more satisfied.
- The quality of products and services increases.
- The cost of production decreases.
- There are fewer lost-time accidents.
- Students learn better.
- Creativity and innovation are enhanced.
- Communication is more difficult because of language differences.
- Communication is more difficult because of cultural differences.
- Communication is more difficult because of the inherent limitations of electronic communications technolo...