for liza wade2

fi gure 11–2 Why Work Teams Fail

Mistakes typically made by management

-Teams cannot overcome weak strategies and poor business practices.

• Hostile environment for teams (command-and-control culture;

competitive/individual reward plans; management resistance).

• Teams adopted as a fad, a quick-fix; no long-ter commitment.

• Lessons from one team not transferred to others (limited experimentation with teams).

• Vague or conflicting team assignments

• Inadequate team skills training.

• Poor staffing of teams

• Lack of trust.

Unrealistic expectations resulting in frustration

-Problems typically experienced by team members

• Team tries to do too much too soon.

• Conflict over differences in personal work style (and/or personality conflicts)

• Too much emphasis on results, not enough on team processes and group dynamics.

• Unanticipated obstacle causes team to give up.

• Resistance to doing things differently.• Poor interpersonal skills (aggressive rather than assertive communication, destructive conflict win–lose negotiation).

• Poor interpersonal chemistry (loners, dominators, self-appointed experts do not fit in)

• Lack of trust.