Managing For Dummies®, 3rd Edition

Chapter 8. It's a Team Thing

In This Chapter

• Flattening the organization

• Empowering employees

• Categorizing teams

• Recognizing the advantages of teams

• Managing new technology and teams

• Making meetings work

A revolution is taking place in business today. That revolution is deciding what work to do, how to accomplish it, what goals an organization strives for, and who's responsible for achieving them. That revolution is also touching everyone in an organization, from the very top to the very bottom. What is this revolution? It's called teams.

A team is two or more people working together to achieve a common goal. Why use teams? Teams offer an easy way to tap the knowledge and resources of all employees — not just supervisors and managers — to solve the organization's problems. A well-structured team draws together employees from all different functions and levels of the organization to find the best way to approach an issue. Smart companies have discovered (and not-so-smart companies are just now starting to figure out) that, to remain competitive, they can no longer rely solely on management to guide work processes and organizational goals. Companies need to involve employees who are closer to the problems and the organization's customers — the front-line workers.

This chapter discusses the changes in today's global business environment that set the stage for the movement toward teams. We look at the major kinds of teams and how they work, examine the impact of new computer-based technology ...