Team Work

What Makes Teams Work?

There are many different and liable responses to this question. Many argue against the notion of teamwork in today's corporations. Others argue that top management alone should control every aspect of operations. While few argue that lower level employees should solely be responsible for decision making within their groups. Throughout this paper I am going to express the opinions of different CEOs and corporate leaders. Finally, I will express my own opinions about the positive and negative aspects of teamwork.

Ray Oglethorpe, president of AOL Technologies, considers size as the most important factor in building a successful team. He believes that too many people in a team cause the connections between team members to hard to make, ultimately destroying the team. Ideally he likes a team to be between seven to nine people. His company successfully incorporated this idea when the company was "felling hamstrung at the technologies level." Another key facet is to have no delegates. Oglethorpe says, "You don't want people who have to take the ideas back to someone else to get authorization. You want the decision makers."

The United States Marine Corps. is an organization that I think creates teams for the right reasons and in the right way. I grew up in Pensacola, FL. I live only three minutes away from two bases. One is a Navy base and the other is for Marines. Through living so close, I have learned that many people mistake the U.S. Marine Corps. as a command-and-control organization. However, I know that when they put a team together it is in the right place for the right reasons. They are very disciplined and work very well in the teams that are created.

At the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, teamwork is crucial and matter-of-factly a situation of life and death if a team isn't functioning properly. Successful shuttle launches depend on communication from each member of a team. This seems easy but the problem occurs when those who hold leadership positions intimidate people and often people don't want to stand out. Michael Leinbach is the shuttle-launch director at the Kennedy Space Center and he makes it clear that nobody should ever feel bad about being the reason that a launch is postponed.

Teams depend on the culture of the company in which the team exists. When I say culture, I mean watch how people act and interact. Do people do things for one another? If a company's culture is supportive and trusting then likewise there is a good chance that teams will be successful. Also, it is important that members of teams have realistic expectations. The unrealistic expectation that is usually assumed by leaders is that team members are expected to put aside their own personal goals and work strictly for the team. The best teams have leaders who do not make these unrealistic expectations.

The term "team" also applies to sporting teams as well as organizations. A great example is the U.S. Women's World Cup Champion Soccer Team. The culture in this type of team is built around fitness, intensity, and respect created on and off the field. For example, a member of the team showing up for camp fit and ready to play can represent respect for herself and the team. A team can also become stronger through bonds that are created over time. When there are certain