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Talent Management Perspectives

Published April 2009

Manage Team Performance by Managing Behavior

 

  David Collins

It is estimated that more than 90 percent of large organizations rely on the work of teams to achieve their business goals.

Teams come in many forms: cross-functional teams to achieve strategic initiatives, temporary teams to manage short-term projects, even cross-organizational teams occur in some industries. Virtual teams are now more common, where team members live and work in different locations and may never actually meet face-to-face. But the one thing all teams have in common is that people interact with people.

All teams go through three distinct steps in their path to effectiveness. They begin as a collection of individuals, develop into a group directed by a leader and eventually become a self-directed, mature team. In a perfect world, just putting capable people together would ensure collaboration and success. In the real world, people come into the team setting with unique personalities, and they do not always mesh in a productive way.

If not effectively managed, these differences can lead to dissatisfaction, conflict and a lack of effectiveness. But if these personalities are managed effectively, they can bring creativity, energy, focus and improved performance to the team.

People have preferred ways of behaving toward others, making decisions, dealing with stress and managing time. Since each person has only ever been him or herself, their preferences make perfect sense to them. They may assume their way is best, or the only correct way. When behavioral preferences are downplayed or ignored, team effectiveness can suffer. Miscommunications and frustrations may add up slowly over time, without the leader noticing, leading to erosion of team unity and productivity.

For instance, if one team member, Dan, is repeatedly late, this will irritate the member who is a stickler for punctuality, Sharon. Sharon may assume Dan is a slacker who can't be trusted to fulfill team commitments.

Talent managers can't magically wipe away behavioral preferences or turn team members into clones, and they shouldn't want to. Each individual brings a unique set of skills, experience and perspective to the team. So how can managers help team members increase communication and learn to work interdependently? An important first step to ensure team success is to get individuals to recognize their own behavioral preferences.

Fortunately, observation is the only skill needed to gain insight into teammates' behavioral preferences. Managers need only observe behaviors, both verbal and nonverbal. Does Mike tend to clam up during a discussion? Is Dan chatty and laid-back? Does Sharon dominate every conversation? Is Tina so eager to please that she doesn't voice her own opinions?

As managers and team members undertake this observation process, they should:

• Not jump to conclusions, but watch how people interact and react in a variety of circumstances.
• Remain objective and don't make "like" or "dislike" judgments about behavior; simply note it.
• Differentiate style from role. Just because someone is in management doesn't mean that person is bossy, for instance.
• Watch how people respond to stress, as this usually brings up the default behavior patterns most familiar to them.
• Get out of the way. It's easier to observe a situation you are not involved in.