"Teams today - taking the strain"
Pam Jones, Vicki Holton
The Ashridge Journal, Spring 2006
A report published in the journal of Ashridge, a United Kingdom-based business leadership school, has identified strong organizational support, high levels of leadership competence, team coaching, clear objectives and good communication as crucial to the success of teams working in complex environments.
Qualitative and quantitative research among 300 leaders and members of complex teams working in a variety of sectors enabled the identification of the highest performers and the factors – in terms of leadership, team development and HR support – that were vital to their success.
The research pointed to teams being increasingly complex, with 73 percent of respondents working in multi-disciplinary teams, 70 percent dispersed geographically and 57 percent working across organisational boundaries. Nineteen percent worked in five or more separate teams. This creates significant challenges for the team leaders, team members and HR functions that support them.
The study revealed that a clear communication strategy and focused, well-developed communication skills that don't depend on face-to-face meetings help teams achieve their goals. Trust is also a big part of good communication, respondents said.
