Insights from Book: "Team Genius: The New Science of High-Performing Organizations" (Part 3)

This continues from Insights from Book: "Team Genius: The New Science of High-Performing Organizations" (Part 2).

Well then, what is the key to forming the right team? The book dived in next to highlights the prerequisites of a team to be effective in its way.

PART 3: The Right Conditions for Securing Team Success

1. Compelling direction: a team with great drive requires them to have a very clear division of labour (i.e. having a very clear team tasking), which are usually challenging and consequential at team level or individual level. Members are compelled to work when they know that the task poses a great impact to the team and that consequently it is something they want to do that is up to take their ability to test.
2. A bounded team with stable membership and strong identity. This is quite similar to a sense of pride that we often term it as. In this setting, members of the team are inter-dependant in terms of interaction, where there is close linkages between members in terms of the task. Take note: this does not mean the task would overlap, or in layman term having 2 or more people doing the same job. It meant the tasks have clearly defined lines, but closely affects what the others do (or at least the members can sense the changes that his/her task can bring in the big picture).
3. Right mix of members and guiding-values. This does not mean like minded individual don't form good teams. It just means that introducing differing backgrounds and values bring along a broader spectrum of ideas. Again, it brings back to the question of diversity stated in Part 2.
4. Supportive organisational context that allow access to vital materials and resources. So in a school context (for example), it comes in the form of the amount of support from the teacher in charge, school management in terms of funding, mentor-ship, good networking of supportive individuals that can offer external help etc.
5. The viability of becoming a coached teams that are guided by a mentor with expertise on the subject. This is especially important when the teams is venturing into a new sector with no members having adequate experience and network to offer concrete direction and resources.

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