When Teams Work Best

During the past several decades, the trend toward collaborative teamwork has grown tremendously. Teams can be found everywhere in the public and private sectors, and they come in many forms--executive teams, management teams, teams created around functional areas, special-purpose teams, cross-functional teams, industry teams, etc., depending on the work to be done. But, though most leaders and managers understand the necessity of these kinds of relationships, and view them as a valuable tool for managing today’s complex and rapidly changing environment, teamwork has not, for the most part lived up to its potential--despite this theoretical understanding.

In When Teams Work Best, LaFasto and Larson offer an analysis of the conditions that approximately 6,000 team members themselves say contribute both to the success and failure of teams. They present specific tools and outline a wealth of strategies and techniques for ensuring teamwork effectiveness, including: demonstrating the abilities and behaviors of competent team members, building and sustaining collaborative relationships, applying a practical and powerful process for problem solving, improving leadership effectiveness, and creating an organization environment that encourages collaboration.