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Lessons Learned

"Our future literally depends on our ability to work together in teams." Joseph A. Deer, Assistant Secretary at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) made this statement as he opened a recent session about "Lessons Learned in Moving into Teams." Deer explained that with downsizing, decreased budgets, and requirements to focus on results, agencies will need to take advantage of the opportunities for performance improvement that teams provide.

The Department of Labor's Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management sponsored this team-focused panel discussion on March 12, 1996, in Washington, DC. The panel included representatives from Bell Atlantic, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Office of Personnel Management, and three different components within the Department of Labor. The panelists discussed lessons learned about training, communication, management support, accountability, and team-supportive behavior.

• Training
• Communication
• Support by Management
• Accountability
• Behavior

Training. Most panelists observed that training is necessary for the success of teams and must be an ongoing process-continuing even as the team matures and grows. Training topics should include:

• how to work on a team;
• development of the various skills used within the team;
• goal setting and measurement; and
• interpersonal skills.

Communication. Panelists remarked that communication is vitally important in a team setting among team members as well as between the team and the organization. Communication among team members is important on a professional as well as a personal level. Cynthia Taylor, a management analyst from the IRS, explained that her team members participated in formal team building sessions that helped them build their interpersonal skills. Effective, ongoing communication between the team and the organization is also imperative. Teams can become isolated and eventually fail if there is no effort to coordinate team activities with organizational activities.

Support by Management. All the panelists stressed that top management support is crucial. A "champion" in top management will help to create the necessary climate for successful team work. Top management should increase the delegation of authorities as the team matures. Without top management support, and without adapting management systems and processes to support team efforts, teams will flounder.

Accountability. According to the panelists, the team needs to ensure that its goals are aligned with organizational goals and then be held responsible for developing an action plan, for assessing its progress using key measures, and for achieving its goals. Team members also need to hold each other mutually accountable.

Behavior. Panelists agreed that team members have to:

• cooperate with one another;
• be patient-consensus takes time;
• be honest with each other in providing feedback; and
• get the job done even as they develop their interpersonal relationships.

Team development takes time and patience. Joel Sacks, Program Analyst with OSHA, summed up his presentation by saying that the process of setting up a team was painful, but that it's well worth it. When asked if the team members liked working in teams, the response at OSHA was that, "The staff does not want to go back to the old way of working."

Originally published on April 1996.