Teams are, in other words, the best way we know of to empower people. Teams working on cross-functional processes, those that cut across the organization and involve several work units, reap the greatest benefits, at least in the beginning. Team Requisites None of this happens overnight. Before we can charter quality improvement teams and expect them to succeed with the kind of dazzling results I mentioned earlier, organization members must believe that they can trust management. Without effective training in each of these aspects, quality improvement teams can be expected to fail.
Facilitation is a skill that requires special training.
It means, simply put, helping a group get where its going. It does not mean telling the group where it should be going. That, arguably, is the leader's job. As members of an organization become more experienced in working in teams, facilitation becomes less important. In the beginning, it is often critical to success.