Some organizations believe they can implement teams without changing the traditional hierarchical structure. Within months, the two structures inevitably clash. Typically the more entrenched structure survives and teamwork is reduced to a thing of the past. Managers have much greater difficulty adjusting to a team-based environment than hourly employees because they have to learn to trust that people can and will handle things without their oversight. Another big mistake is to not supply the team with adequate training and support to make the transition successfully. Most teams need about 15-18 hours of teambuilding skill training in order to have a successful launch.
There are three things you need to do to overcome resistance to changing to a teaming environment:
1. Build dissatisfaction with status quo — the ways things are currently being done. People have to see that continuing to do things the same old way will be a mistake.
1. Build dissatisfaction with status quo — the ways things are currently being done. People have to see that continuing to do things the same old way will be a mistake.
2. Build a compelling vision for what teams might look like and how they would work. Sell people on that vision so they get excited. Talk about the gap between where you are and where you need to be.
3. Outline the steps that you’ll use to close the gap. Too often people start launching teams before they have developed the dissatisfaction or the compelling vision.
For More Team-Building FAQs visit: Teaming FAQs
