How well do your teams perform? Although you may think you manage them well, research indicates you probably don't. Just look around your company and you will find a plethora of groups that get together for the purpose of improving performance, solving problems or working on specific projects. Ask yourself if your teams are improving the operation of your company.

To ensure teams are working well there a many quick fixes you can use. But, first take note of two interesting facts that came out in a Gallup Poll survey of working adults: 82% favored small teams over big teams and 81% said teams are most productive when decisions are made jointly by members. Some tactics you can put into place right away to harness the power of teams are:

1. Develop a team formation process. Diversity rather than homogeneousness is one of the best ways to get teams on the fast track because differences between individuals are opportunities to enhance individual output. The human tendency is to fall in with people who share one's skills, temperament and demeanor which leads them to form clubs rather than teams. Diversity of opinions and team dynamics are two keys to success. It's how you form the team that predetermines the performance and effectiveness of the team.
2. Mesh team members' differences. Because you are bringing varying styles to the group you must ensure their differences can be transformed into complementarities. An empathetic team member, for example, could be sought out to mediate disputes, while someone with organizational ability would be tapped to refine the work schedule. In this way, each team member is free to do what s/he does best, rather than bear the burden of many workday duties that may not align with his or her strengths. Team members that have a strong reputation for pushing projects forward will aid in keeping the team going at lightning speed. Once you have built the right team for the job, managing the team is much easier.
3. Limit the team's life. It is best to keep the life of the team finite--roughly six months maximum, depending upon the project. The idea is to come together, look at the issues, create some great recommendations, get executive buy-in, and make those recommendations part of the fabric of the business. Without the pressure of a deadline there are predictable results: missed deadlines, mountains of frustration, and often partial success at best. The greatest measurement of whether a team is working well is if they don't want to disband. That kind of enthusiasm and commitment will drive them to mentor new teams which will ensure continuous improvement within the company.
4. Set clear team goals. Project selection is a critical factor for a team to be able to set goals. Projects should be clear, well-selected, and well-defined. Pie in the sky projects will waste time and slow the project down, making it impossible to set goals. Team members need very clear goals in order to work fast and have good quality.
5. Identify roadblocks. Team members need to look at previous projects and identify what slowed down the decision-making process. From there they can eliminate or change those factors to ensure their current team moves quickly. In addition, have the team start compiling time-saving recommendations that could make a difference right away and long-term initiatives that would require changes in policies and procedures.
6. Be prepared. Every meeting requires some preparation work on the part of attendees. There are documents to read and issues to consider, so that team members can reach decisions more quickly once they convene.
7. Make contact quick and on-going. Instant messaging, teleconferencing, and videoconferencing form a foundation for teamwork. Frequent, informal interactions, brainstorming or simply talking about what they're working on will help speed up the team's work. Teams need input from non- team members and a great medium for gathering fast feedback and ideas in a democratic forum is the Web. Call them communities of knowledge or town hall meetings, the goal is to encourage other employees to open up and discuss what's wrong and what opportunities exist.
8. Time management. Balancing day-to-day responsibilities with team-related tasks can consume a hefty chunk of a team member's day. Ensuring members don't waste a minute in their meetings becomes critical. Email and other electronic mediums can be used to explore possibilities and to bounce ideas off of other team members so that face- to-face meetings keep the project's momentum strong. Ensure meetings are structured and stay on topic. Sidebar matters that arise during meetings but warrant further discussion. Handle these matters later in conference calls by a small subset of the full group. Allow team members to say, 'let's move on,' 'please wrap up,' or 'go to the next point.' So much time is wasted in meetings that it is critical to allow people to be candid in order to cover more ground.
9. Encourage fast follow-up. Meeting notes should be compiled immediately and posted to a database within an hour, so that team members have a clear idea of what steps to take next. Everything about the meetings and about the follow-up should be designed to move things forward.

Ignoring your teams will not help your company move forward and the impact on your employees definitely won't make them feel like they are learning and getting their goals met.

Fast moving, successful teams have common attributes: clear goals, diverse members, a strong communication system, a carefully tailored process, and a speed-oriented timetable. Regardless of the size of your company, teams can be an important way to achieve sustained success. Employees are encouraged and energized when they see projects being deployed. If you are interested in things that help people collaborate faster, communicate faster and clearer, and make decisions faster it doesn't matter how many teams you have -- as long as the right team formation process is followed at the beginning to match team objectives with the right mix of team members in charge of achieving the objectives.

Plenty of assessments are available to help with the selection of team members and to give you information on competencies, values and behavior. Objective assessments take the guesswork out of reading or sensing what people are about. The assessments are used by many companies in the hiring and training process to select leaders and employees with the right attributes to complement your company's culture and they are are often used to optimize team selection. Bill Bonnstetter, CEO of TTI Performance Systems in Scottsdale, Arizona explains, "We look at people and jobs in the areas of behavior, attitude-passion (the connection between a person's passion and the job) and skills. One size no longer fits all. If the job could talk, it would clearly define the behavior, attitude, key accountabilities and hard skills it requires. Because the job can't talk, assessments help determine what it wants." This is true in assessing team members because it allows you to have the correct mix of behaviors, values and competencies to ensure the team functions well and generates the results desired.

Using Teams for Employee Issues
When an individual manager makes a personnel decision on his or her own, it can differ from what other managers in the same organization would do. Team involvement in decisions reduces the chances of errors and ensures better decision-making. Many companies are using management teams to work on performance ratings, career development, succession, and pay decisions. Before setting up your team to work on employee issues you should:

· Have the senior leadership determine what decisions will be shared and visible across peer managers.
· Review employee assessments to ensure the right universe of employees is considered for team participation.
· Select peer groups or teams.
· Set high standards for decision-making.
· Clarify what managers will submit and how information will be presented employees.
· Make sure there is someone to capture the decisions that are made and that managers make their own notes regarding messages to their people.
· Ensure that managers are honest and open in their meetings.
· Keep the meeting moving.
· Follow up to make sure that decisions are executed properly.

Following the above steps will improve the quality of the decisions that are made and ensure that they are implemented well. For more information on the benefits of assessments contact LLH Enterprises.