I came across this article recently and quite like what it says.  In today's corporate world, the skills of teams are very different to those written about by management gurus 50 years ago.  My experience of working with corporate teams in recent years is one of constant chaos as a result of multiple and frequent changes, leading to apathy in many cases.  And yet, only a couple of days ago, I was working with a team who were for the 4th time facing redundancy.  The workshop I was running was helping them to be resilient during this difficult time.  The group were so positive, friendly and welcoming that I think, despite the article arguing that most teams are not high performing, they are more common than we realise.  Anyway, here's the article.  Let me know what you think.  It's written by Professor Pierre Casse and Associate Professor Eoin Banahan.

For a long time now, one of the key requirements of those embarking on a career in the corporate world, and of those wishing to progress once a part of it, has been the ability to work in teams.

Most, if not all, corporations over the past 50 years or more have designed work processes around the team as a fundamental necessity in the collaborative process. Huge investment is made every year in trying to improve the way in which individuals work in teams.

But, let's face it; most teams don't deliver outstanding results. Of course there are exceptions but they are in the minority. In fact, it has been shown time and time again that teams led according to the current conventional guidelines produce, at best, average results. At worst, they are destructive and highly de-motivating.

As time goes by and corporations continue to invest in team development programmes, both team leaders and members are learning that the traditional models of development and the skills they profess to promote are no longer adequate, given the challenges of today's fast-changing business world. Nevertheless, management training centres, business schools and other educational providers continue to promote widespread use of traditional team development models, which were originally developed for a business world that was fundamentally different to what we experience today.

In many cases, the models in question are too theoretical and have always had limited relevance to the challenges of day-to-day teamwork.

The relevant question for teams is: what critical skills are needed to improve performance in a fast-changing world? Moreover, we need to explore how such a skill set should change and develop as the future unfolds.

Limitations of traditional models on team skills

The fundamental limitations of traditional models derive from the fact that they are based upon the assumption that the team has the following characteristics:

• boundaries are clearly defined


• roles are clear and decision-making mechanisms transparent


• members are all equally committed to ensuring outstanding team performance


• members know their strengths and weaknesses


• members know how to contribute so the team is performing at its best constantly and continually


• leaders have the power and are in control


• teams are co-located and meet face-to-face regularly


• the team is the best mechanism for achieving organisational objectives


• teams know how to assess performance and learn from experience.

The traditional models, such as Blake and Mouton, Hershey and Blanchard, Belbin and the like, were developed at a time when the business environment was relatively stable when compared to today's experience. Moreover, they have become overused as reference models and, as a result, have lost their sharpness as practical application tools.

There is no doubt that such models have made a significant contribution to our understanding of how teams perform and have provided useful platforms for performance improvement but it is time now to consider new paradigms.

We see three major shortcomings with most of the traditional team leadership/composition models. This includes the well-known Belbin Team Roles model, which has become a standard reference model for analysing team composition. Traditional models:

Do not meet the new requirements of a fast-changing world Today we find ourselves in a turnaround world, facing a new type of complexity in which the boundaries between right and wrong are unclear. Situations are full of contradictions and paradoxes; ambiguity and uncertainty abound. It is not just the rules of the business game that are being reviewed and revised but the very purpose of all our economic activities. To prove successful, this reassessment requires new associations of people and minds. Teams today cannot function the same way they have done in the past - they must now be able to probe and question their basic assumptions and, more importantly, invent new ones

Do not recognise the fact that people have changed dramatically over the past 50 years People today do not think, feel and behave as in previous generations. There is no doubt that new information and communication technologies have had a dramatic impact on people's lives: a mobile phone, for example, is more than a communication technology but a different way to live and interact with other people. Team members are more assertive and demanding; they are no longer so ready to accept what their leaders say. They express their doubts; they expect answers. 'Out of the box' thinking is becoming the norm for many teams and organisations. People want to be part of the creative process by which teams or organisations are re-invented

Do not openly acknowledge the poor performance of many teams Most teams do not deliver outstanding results. They suffer from what we have called the "tyranny of the average". They are complacent and value good team spirit at the expense of great performance. People feel comfortable but do not deliver anything special. It is not for nothing that most high performers are reluctant to work in teams. They feel that they are 'pulled down' by the cosy team atmosphere. Teamwork cannot be an end in itself. Leaders must know how to boost their teams so that the quality of the results increases, at least from time to time. We claim that we have been brainwashed on teamwork for the last 50 years - it is time it was re-invented.

A new paradigm for team skills

Let's explore a new paradigm for team skills that we believe is more relevant for today's challenges. But let's be innovative in our approach to presenting the model. So, rather than simply describing it and its various components, let's first assess where you, the reader, stand in relation to the model.

Look at the following questionnaire and, in each pair, circle the number of each item that you think is typical of you at work.

At work, I think I am good at:

1 creating a sense of vision

2 questioning other people's statements and ideas

3 setting up structures and organising things

4 acknowledging the existence and importance of emotions in people

5 doing and achieving agreed-upon objectives

6 communicating and helping people exchange ideas

7 paying attention to people's needs and expectations

8 having a lot of personal contacts (inside and outside the team)

9 sharing my working dreams with others

10 creating rules and regulations to get a minimum of order

11 caring about people's feelings

12 getting results in a no-nonsense way

13 creating a good team spirit so that people can perform and enjoy

14 getting people excited about a task or project

15 checking assumptions and expressing doubts

16 meeting and spending time with people

17 using limited resources and talents efficiently

18 inventing the future today

19 getting order out of disorder

20 challenging traditions, established concepts and ways of doing things

21 dealing with confrontations and conflicts

22 getting people involved, committed and driven

23 acting as a resource and sharing my knowledge as well as my network

24 promoting synergy (creativity) among people who work together

25 having insights

26 having an environment conducive to motivation and engagement

27 clarifying roles and distributing responsibilities

28 translating ideas into deeds and achievements

29 challenging and building on people's emotions

30 creating a web of contacts and using it

31 creating high standards for better performance

32 listening to people and seeing their point of view

33 connecting people

34 coming up with scenarios for the future

35 involving people in teamwork

36 defining effective work processes or ways to perform

37 facilitating people's interactions and using their skills

38 expressing my feelings in an open manner

39 getting things done and delivering

40 coming up with new concepts, which clash with existing ones

41 fighting to change and improve an existing situation

42 promoting team members' understanding of each other

43 co-ordinating

44 getting information from people by using electronic networks

45 not taking anything for granted

46 coping with fear

47 putting pressure on people for effectiveness' sake

48 focusing on the energy level of a team and raising it

49 promoting positive feelings in a team and getting everybody motivated

50 outlining what could be tomorrow

51 making sure people perform and enjoy being together

52 determining the proper procedures to achieve a set of targets

53 getting people (from inside and outside) together

54 moving forward… fast

55 creating a sense of ownership among the team members

56 being provocative.

Scoring

Now record your selected items in the grid right (see pdf) by circling the number you have chosen and add up the number of circles in each horizontal row so that you end up with eight scores.

According to our model, if teams are to prove, in highly motivating environments, ready to meet the challenges of today' s fast-changing business world, their members must be prepared to master eight key skills. Look at your scores and consider this:

• For a score of one or two This could mean that the corresponding skill is not something with which you feel comfortable. As a result, you rarely use it, despite the fact that your situation may call for it. Moreover, if you do apply this skill, rarely do you prove effective since it is an area of underdevelopment in your skill set


• For a score of three to five You feel comfortable employing this skill and can activate it when necessary. When you use it, you can be quite effective. However, it is something that could be developed further. Investing effort in honing this skill would provide you and your team with an avenue toward performance improvement, and the resulting satisfaction and enjoyment would be a real motivating factor for the future


• For score of six or seven This is where you feel most comfortable. This is what you do extremely well and is where you make your greatest contribution to team effectiveness. It is critical that you should nurture this skill; continue to employ it whenever the situation calls for it but be careful that you use it appropriately. It would be counter-productive to use it when perhaps other skills would prove more effective.

The 21st Century Team Skills model

Drawing on our research and experience as consultants, teachers and case study writers, we contend that there are eight core team skills that are critical in order to create a 'hot' team, deliver outstanding results, and maintain focus and high levels of motivation within the team.

Let's now consider the eight skills and, as we do so, you can reflect and assess yourself by referring back to your eight scores:

Skill 1 Dreaming or anticipating, visioning, inventing tomorrow today, seeing opportunities, thinking in new ways, building on differences, creating new horizons.

There can be little doubt that, in a fast-changing business world in which nothing is certain and the possibilities endless, the ability to anticipate and/or invent the future is a key skill that teams must have. Unfortunately, it is very underdeveloped in most teams. Indeed, the environment which exists in most corporations can best be described as hostile where the development of this skill is concerned. Most team leaders are afraid of it.

Skill 2 Mapping or organising things and people to maximise the use of limited resources and talents, bringing order and clarity to a give situation, turning chaos into something stable and productive.

When the pace of change is continually accelerating and the level of ambiguity increasing, everything and everyone can seem chaotic. The atmosphere is tense as people scramble around trying to secure a foothold and restore balance. This is when the mapping skill is absolutely critical. Without the ability to create order from chaos, the team environment can become highly toxic and disintegrate, leaving devastation in its wake.

Skill 3 Pushing or testing the status quo, looking for results, initiating actions, moving fast and making it happen.

Skill 4 Energising or mobilising people, raising the energy level, getting excitement out of the team, creating vitality and playing on emotions.

Without the ability to make things happen and generate results - and do so without unnecessary delay - the team will not survive. Although this may seem so obvious as to not require mention, it is surprising how many teams become more focused on socio-emotional aspects of team dynamics and, in so doing, lose sight of the ultimate objective. From time to time, teams also become so focused on process that they lose sight of the need to decide, conclude and move on. Without the pushing capability, teams risk stagnation.

To succeed today is an exhausting, never-ending process. Success is not a one-shot deal and then the game is over. Teams must work hard in a highly-competitive environment to maintain success. To face the challenge, they must be able to maintain high levels of energy and excitement. However, it is natural that, from time to time, the energy level will dip as people withdraw to reflect and rejuvenate. This is when the team must have the ability to boost, mobilise and renew.

Skill 5 Social networking or browsing the web, connecting with people, getting information from the Internet.

In today's networked world, in which all teams and team members are interconnected and, to varying degrees, interdependent, the ability to move beyond the boundaries of the team to source resources is critical. In fact, this skill has become such a necessity that often it is difficult to determine the boundaries of the team itself.

Skill 6 Caring about other people, paying attention to their feelings and emotions, listening and giving feedback, facilitating communication.

The team environment must be one in which people feel valued. The importance of its socio-emotional aspect can often be overlooked as team members struggle to achieve their objectives. As a result, individuals can begin to disengage as they feel their contributions are undervalued and their feelings disrespected. Without the ability to care within the team, commitment, motivation and morale will deteriorate quickly.

Skill 7 Releasing the tension among the team members, turning conflicts into positive options, handling confrontations with tact, transforming hostility into something positive.

The ambiguous nature of today's business environment can give rise to considerable tension within every organisation and team. As people vent their frustrations, conflict and confrontation is inevitable. However, conflict needs not be counter-productive. In fact, if managed well, it can be a stimulus to creativity and can move team performance to new heights. Therefore, the ability to release tension and use conflict as a source of creativity is essential to expanding team capability.

Skill 8 Challenging the team's assumptions and values, acting in a provocative way, pushing for new alternatives, blocking compromises and championing high standards.

In a highly competitive and ambiguous environment, teams must have the ability to question, provoke and undermine established ways of thinking and behaving. Without it, the team will not progress beyond the average.

So where are the strengths and weaknesses in your skill set? Are you a Dreamer, a Mapper, a Pusher, an Energiser, a Networker, a Carer, a Releaser of tension or a Challenger? You may find you have varying levels of proficiency across the skills, some more developed than others, but it is important to bear in mind that you can switch between them as the need arises. The question to consider is, in moving between them, how comfortable and proficient are you? Our ability to switch between the different skills when the time is right, and our levels of proficiency when exercising each skill, has a huge impact on the effectiveness of the team and the cohesion within it.

If we want to improve our performance, we should learn to recognise where we are strong and not as strong, as a team member and as a team as a whole. Once we have raised our awareness, we are in a position to devise strategies and target resources to measurably improve our rates of success.

Team leadership into perspective

The 21st Century Team Skills model can help team leaders re-examine their role using a different paradigm to what has been used in the past. The model helps define more clearly what we consider to be the seven key success factors for team leaders, who must:

1 identify their own team skills and use them appropriately

2 acknowledge their team members' skills and give them a chance to use them when required

3 assess the requirements of the situation in which the team may find itself

4 ensure that the right team skills are activated at the right time

5 develop the team skills of each member

6 inject new people into the team who have skills that may be missing

7 manage the natural confrontation between the various team skills as they arise.

Team leaders have a difficult and challenging task. They must manage and nurture the portfolio of skills within the team and ensure that they are deployed appropriately and in the right balance.

Conclusions

Today's business world is complex and highly dynamic. In order to keep pace with the requirements of the time, organisations must build high-performance teams in every area of activity. Businesses cannot depend solely on the knowledge and skills of the individual since the challenges to be addressed require a range of diverse skills that no individual can master alone. Therefore, the key success factor must be to build the required skill set across a collection of individuals working together and provide them with the environment and resources necessary for high performance.

However, we must re-invent the way in which teams come together and perform. Teams must be able to deal effectively with the issue of tyranny of the average if they are to develop a culture of high performance that proves sustainable. While team performance management remains a key team leadership task, responsibility for providing the skills required for success must lie with each individual team member.

The 21st Century Team Skills model provides leaders with a mechanism for assessing the effectiveness of team composition and planning for improvement in an environment in which the pace of change is rapid and accelerating. At a fundamental level, this is what differentiates this new model from other well-established approaches that have been in use for the past 50 years.