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Managing Teams Today

As organizations move to more team-based structures, the control shifts from management to employees. Upper management still sets the general direction, vision, mission, goals and objectives. But then employees, with that understanding, make decisions and control their own activities. If an organization is going to see a team succeed, they need to:

  • Provide a clear standard of high performance expectations. Management can set expectations—preferably challenging expectations, as we learned earlier—and then teams decide how to accomplish those goals on their own.
  • Provide organizational support. The organization’s structure and culture must support the success of the team. Organizations that forego an all-individual reward system and remove other cultural barriers are more likely to see their teams succeed.
  • Adjust internal and external leadership. Team leaders should guide groups but not necessarily dictate what has to be done.

Researchers like Taylor, Weber and Fayol never got to the point where they could conceive of a team in a working environment. But those concepts that still exist in management principles studied today certainly don’t exclude the use of teams, do they? Teams undoubtedly look for the most efficient way to perform, they reward their members based on achievement and experience, they understand the importance of management decision makers and resource managers in their numbers. Those principles are still at work every day.



Traditional OrganizationTeam-Based Organization
Formalization
All activities and procedures are clearly described in formal written documentsActivities and procedures depend on team goals and are not necessarily formally written.
Specialization
Individuals and departments specialize in a particular task/functionIndividuals/teams learn as many skills to perform tasks to do their jobs.
Hierarchy
Clear reporting lines with managers having few direct reportsOrganization is flat, more lateral relationships and only a few levels.
Centralization of decision making
Decisions made by managers and passed down to employeesDecision is made by a team and coordinated with other teams
Differentiation
Departments and their functions are clearly different from one anotherDifferentiation is based on project and not function
Integration
Activities are coordinated by managers of different departmentsEach team is responsible for coordinating with other teams
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CC LICENSED CONTENT, ORIGINAL
  • Putting It Together: Managing Groups and Teams. Authored by: Freedom Learning Group. Provided by: Lumen Learning. License: CC BY: Attribution
  • Managing Teams Today. Authored by: Freedom Learning Group. Provided by: Lumen Learning. License: CC BY: Attribution
  • Images: Bureaucratic and Chaotic Spectrum. Authored by: Freedom Learning Group. Provided by: Lumen Learning. License: CC BY: Attribution
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