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SUBJECT: Team Formation and Support

ALPHANUMERIC INDICATOR:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION: Increasingly, manufacturing plants are turning to teams as a way to enhance productivity and solve more complex problems. However, forming and supporting teams that are successful requires more than merely reassigning personnel. It requires that thought be given to the careful selection of team members, the tasks to be performed, and the incentive structure of the organization. Through teams, production facilities have been able to reach new levels of production and efficiency, and better serve their customers' needs.

KEYWORDS: Team formation, Team support, Task design, Empowerment

OVERVIEW:

Fortunately for those involved in manufacturing environments, teams can be created through a production process, just like refrigerators, cars and other tangible goods. Teams can be formed for nearly any purpose, from developing more efficient means of production to resolving quality issues to actually producing products. The benefits of teams typically include decentralized quality control and greater quality, greater flexibility and a broader knowledge base, better communication and relationships throughout the plant, and improved morale.

The Ericsson General Electric Company Mobile Communications plant, which makes cellular telephones and mobile radios, is an example of the dramatic turnaround possible when a well structured, empowered team environment is created. In the old environment, employees felt as if they "checked their brain at the door"; they knew their job, but did not know or care what the end product was. Production and profitability fell, and an edict was announced -- "fix it, sell it, or close it down". Following the introduction of the "Winshare" program whereby teams of plant workers were empowered to make changes within pre-established safety and quality guidelines without seeking management approval (as long as the changes did not exceed each area's budget) and the employees shared in any profitability gains. The first-year results of this program were staggering -- 1,167 ideas were implemented, resulting in savings of $7.1 million.

Contrary to what many wish to believe, the advantages of teams are not found in the actual execution of work. Rather, the advantages of teams lie in their ability to be flexible, their adaptability, and their ability to learn and change. As all industries face greater pressures and challenges from both customers and competitors, these characteristics are becoming increasingly important for success. And all industries can implement and benefit from a team environment.

While teams can vary in the purpose and environment in which they exist, there are some basics that must be considered when forming teams. The first item relates to the team task, and draws upon motivational theory. The tasks must be meaningful, able to be completed autonomously, and the team must have knowledge of the results. Second, the team should be small (as small as possible while still being able to complete the tasks), have the necessary skills, and have clear boundaries. Teams should be composed of a mix of members, so individuals are similar to some members and different from others. Finally, teams must be given clear and explicit specification of the team's authority and responsibilities, and these boundaries must not be arbitrarily changed. Management's vision and production goals should be emphasized, but the team must allowed freedom in determining how to reach those goals.

In order to forge tight bonds between team members, it is often valuable to expose the team to an external stimulus, such as a customer issue. Working together to solve a problem helps new teams to bond, clarify their identity, elaborate on norms, and refine their performance strategies. However, severe changes too early in the team formation process can destroy teams.

Once teams are created, it is management's responsibility to support and nurture them. The organization must establish performance conditions that support teamwork rather than individual actions and results. For example, incentives and rewards should be structured so that interrelated work is encouraged. Management must also provide timely feedback or allow teams access to information that enables them to self-monitor their performance. Also, it is important that sufficient time and energy are devoted to team formation and development at the beginning of the process. Time spent carefully selecting team members and building relationships and lines of communication between team members will pay large dividends in the future.

Often, team members may require additional skills to succeed in a team environment; skills that were not needed in the "old world" of production lines and stations. Examples may include such basics as interpersonal skills, or more sophisticated tools such as statistical analysis. Unless management supports and helps workers build these skills, the team environment is doomed to fail. Finally, teams must be given sufficient resources to attain their goals.

REFERENCES:

• "Ericsson General Electric: The Evolution of Empowerment". Bob Filipczak, TRAINING, September 1993.
• Groups That Work (and Those That Don't). J. Richard Hackman, editor, The Josey-Bass Management Series.
• "Win Teams: How One Company Made Empowerment Work". Video Visions (Video), 1996.
• "Saturn teams Working and Profiting". Stephanie Overman, HRMagazine, March 1995.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: This is a March 29, 1999 revision by Gene Goodson of an assignment for OM742 contributed by Steve Pawl.