·
They actively shape the
expectations of those who use their output… empowered with full responsibility for their success
·
They rapidly adjust
their performance to the situation…they are provided a high level of trust and autonomy
from senior leadership.
·
Grow steadily stronger…over
time, members come to know one another's strengths and weaknesses… as they
solve the challenges, the HPT grow stronger and stronger
·
Through the group
action, the individuals grow… because of a positive learning environment of
shared visions, individuals gain new skills…personal growth and development is
not seen as a threat, newly learned skills benefit the team and the individual.
·
They are fueled by
interpersonal commitments…they understand that the team goals trumps the individual
goals…they have a unified commitment, understanding how to balance individual
differentiation and communal integration.
·
Work is often carried
out with shared passion…having a higher standard of excellence than ordinary
teams. HPTs often adopt such mottos like
‘‘if one of us fails, we all fail''. (Denning,
2009, p.156)
Other elements not
mentioned by Denning, but are common to today’s business environment include; value
synergism, communicate effective dialogue instead of debate, practice
continuous improvement, and diversity are just a few.
Elements of Shared Values – I believe values are the core beliefs that guide the desired
behaviors of individuals on a HPT. These
shared values set the culture that determines interaction internally and
externally. The thought process behind the importance of value is multiplied
when shared amongst teams that lack policies and strong leadership. I agree with how author Ken Blanchard summarizes
the importance of shared values, “When aligned around shared values and united
in a common mission, ordinary people accomplish extraordinary results.”
Four Patterns of Working Together – According to Denning (2009), the four
patterns of working together are: work groups; team; community; and network. Work groups are where people temporarily
working together too achieved a common goal.
Normally, they do not share processes of operation, they lack interaction
and each has their own specialized task.
Negative Experience - I worked
for a major aviation manufacture where the environment where the environment
was all about self-preservation. Although
this was a horrible environment when it was supposed to be team based, it did teach
me to be self-sufficient in that organization, but did little in the way of
helping to build a strong team dynamic. Teams – A team is comprised of
people linked in a common objective. There
is a high degree of interaction and collaboration between members. Community
– A community is comprised of many smaller or disparate sub-structures of
people sharing the same interest for the benefit of all to include certain
interests, opinions, religion or ethnicity.
Network - A network is
a normally a very large population with the same values and interests; however
this is not a tightknit group. Positive Experience - Recently, I joined
a professional networking group, Linked In. This networking group helps share
common career aspirations and values; plus I can use this as a source of information.
What
could you have done to influence the outcomes? – As far as the negative experience,
I accepted the responsibility because I failed to push the team toward becoming
a HPT. Knowing what I do today, I would have asked for a team meeting team and emphasized
what we were all hired to do. Bottom line is it was a lack of commitment that
kept this team from achieving better results.
Reference:
Denning, S. (2009) The leader's guide to storytelling: mastering the art and discipline of business narrative. San Francisco CA: Jossey-Bass
Denning, S. (2009) The leader's guide to storytelling: mastering the art and discipline of business narrative. San Francisco CA: Jossey-Bass