How Real Managers In The Real World Build Real Teams: A Call For Relevance
Authors: Mathison David L. 
Published: February 2016

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Few places in the management literature is there a greater divide between theory and practice than in Team Building.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Yes, academics have thoroughly researched what this &ldquo;ideal team&rdquo; should look like, its various developmental stages, even the proper mix of roles &ndash; yet this author would argue we as educators and consultants know little of how to really develop teams and offer even less of this in equipping our students-managers for this central task.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>The purpose of this paper is a call for relevance &ndash; a challenge to move from speculative theory on team development to actual practice &ndash; identifying what works and what doesn&rsquo;t. Following a literature review which underlines how theoretical our field has become concerning team development, an actual research study will be reported.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Forty-two MBA students participated in a study where near ideal work teams were developed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Then these same students were asked, &ldquo;What went right?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Identify four lessons you learned on how to build an energized team.&rdquo;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>The following is a partial list of student observations on what contributed most to an ideal team: listening, clearly defined goals and tasks, respect for each other, urgency of time, strong norms that rejected loafers, lack of formal structure, and allowing natural leaders to lead.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.25in; margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">&nbsp;</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">The paper ends with a discussion on implications for managers hoping to develop energized work teams:</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">&nbsp;</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.5in; margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt 1in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">&middot;<span style="font: 7pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Ad Hoc Teams are Best</span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Standing groups which lack &ldquo;Sunset Causes&rdquo; tend to become political over time.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.5in; margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt 1in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">&middot;<span style="font: 7pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Find the Right Mix between Formal and Informal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Informal gives energy, formal gives needed structure.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.5in; margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt 1in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">&middot;<span style="font: 7pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Leadership Must Emerge Early in the Process and be Accepted by Most.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>There is a critical moment where leaderless teams dissolve into political games.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.5in; margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt 1in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">&middot;<span style="font: 7pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Strong Norms of Mutual Respect Must be Present from the Beginning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>The tendency toward competition in early team formation must quickly be moderated and directed toward task completion.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">&nbsp;</span></span></p><p class="MsoBlockText" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in; margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt;"><span style="font-style: normal; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">In conclusion, our theoretical traditions have led us to a profound understanding of group dynamics, but to remain relevant we owe our students a practical guide as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>A guide that discussed how Real Managers in the Real World develop Real Teams.</span></span></p>