Canadian HR Strategy

Spring/Summer 2014

Human Resources Issues for Senior Management

Issue link: https://digital.hrreporter.com/i/343811

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 24 of 31

25 for Economic Co-operation and Development released a land- mark study showing Toronto's productivity between 2000 and 2010 declined by about ve per cent? Toronto was the lowest for North America, which included Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver. Fur- thermore, in a recent Toronto Star article, Roger Martin, academic director at Rotman's Martin Prosperity Institute at the University of Toronto, advocated that if Toronto wants to maintain growth and increase growth in living standards, Canadian companies must increase productivity. Even more attention-grabbing is the critical link Martin draws between innovation and productivity. He argues that if Canadian companies do not promote innovation, Toronto's productivity can only get worse — which means no growth, lower living standards and a decline in prosperity. What do leaders need to do to build work environments where teams are encouraged to be creative, innovative and take risks? What do leaders need to start doing di erently to turn the toxic team syndrome around? In listening to Davey's eye-opening insights, I was reminded of Margaret He ernan's arguments in Willful Blindness: Why We Ignore the Obvious at our Peril. A er many years of examining this phenomenon, He ernan revealed the biggest threats and dangers leaders face are the ones they don't see — and it's not because they're top-secret or unnoticeable. Knowing that meaningful team-building does not happen on its own, my question for all leaders is: What will you start doing di erent- ly to confront and resolve the issue of toxic teams in your organization? Trish Maguire is a commentator for SCNetwork on leadership in action and founding principal of Synergyx Solutions in Nobleton, Ont., focused on high-potential leadership development coaching. She has held senior leadership roles in HR and OD in education, manufacturing and entrepreneurial rms. She can be reached at synergyx@sympatico.ca. Assumptions about teams often wrong By Karen Gorsline (Strategic Capability) M odern, complex businesses routinely use teams to support innovation and productivity. So why does that reliance on teams o en go wrong and lead to a lack of innovation and productivity, combined with an increase in frustration and time wasted? Liane Davey outlined ve traits of toxic teams — crisis junkies, egos, passive-aggressive, bobblehead agreement and spectator participants. Interestingly, the rst step she identi ed in the process of address- ing toxic teams had nothing to do with behaviour. Her process be- gins with putting the team into its business context. is prompted me to re ect on our assumptions about teams and rst principles. Teams are a modern concept Teams aren't actually a modern idea — people have functioned as teams, informally or formally, since the beginning of time. Humans collaborated as hunter-gatherers, as farmers and in small commu- nities where various individuals had di erent skills and expertise. Large organizations are diverse in terms of functions, expertise, products, consumers, geography and reporting structures. ey rely on teams to cross these boundaries and deliver results that factor in a variety of perspectives. Because of a large organization's size, there is a lack of familiarity with its diverse parts and little ongoing communication or history between functions. With the scale issue, plus a haste to get to work or get going on a project, teams o en ounder or do not realize their potential. Purpose of a team is obvious An Amish barn-raising is a classic example of a team with a clear purpose, plan and well-understood roles. Project teams usually have some type of charter that outlines the details of the project and ad- dresses speci c roles and relationships. ey o en have detailed timelines, tracking documents and checkpoints, but rarely do they explore how the team will collaborate and co-create to get full value out of forming a team versus a con- trolled network of individual contributors. Many teams are formed and given an ill-de ned task with no real insights on why they are doing what they have been mandated to do. ey know they need to deliver something by a certain date, within a speci ed budget and with de ned resources. It's for that reason many of the most exciting teams are those that self-form. ese "skunk works" deliver because they have a clear, shared purpose and a commitment to playing a role and contributing. Google has tapped into this open team concept with increased engagement and potential new products as a result. Teams are a good thing Anyone who has worked on a team where there was energy, learn- ing, colleagues who collaborated to deliver their own contribution and insights to improve others' contributions, and the team output exceeded the sum of the parts, knows how good a team can be. More of us have experienced teams that are functional, with everyone doing his part, but people were never sure why they needed to spend time in meetings together when it really didn't impact the outcome. en there are the teams that have the toxic behaviours Davey identi ed, which are o en frustrating, dysfunctional and demoraliz- ing. Her description and process for xing these teams is practical but requires organizations to be more deliberate in terms of when and how teams are formed and to embed practices in their culture that support the establishment and operation of teams. While there is the temptation to throw a group of people together for almost any activity, organizations need to be more mindful of situations where forming a team makes sense and where it does not. ey also need to make sure team members understand why they are a team, not just individual contributors, and what they will co-create together. Finally, organizations that rely on teams should ensure their culture actively supports e ective team practices. Karen Gorsline is SCNetwork's lead commentator on strategic capability and leads HR Initiatives, a consulting practice focused on facilitation and tailored HR initiatives. Toronto-based, she has taught HR planning, held senior roles in strategy and policy, managed a large decentralized HR function and directed a small business. She can be reached at gorslin@pathcom.com.

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Canadian HR Strategy - Spring/Summer 2014