Successful teams have three things in common:

1.  prepared to co-operate, colaborate

2.  they all had diverse points of view

3.  they have a mission or something that excites them

The best teams are from different countries, genders and mindsets – bring as many viewpoints together as possible to give different perspectives.  This is good for innovation.  Experts can’t innovate – clashes of ideas enable innovation.  The most innovative teams have a core and volunteers come in because they are excited about the project (e.g. Google you can have 20% of your time doing what you want).  Co-operation is key and this can be learnt/taught.  First co-operate and then socialise them.  Do you see yourself as a team player who are preapred to put their peers and colleagues before themselves.  Bonuses at Goldman Sachs are based on team / organisation rather than the individuals….  Lynda Gratton,Professor of management practise, London Business School

A mix of virtual teams enables seniority structures to break down and creates a flatter, less hierarchical organisation.   This enables personal bonds to form and enables connections to happen despite hierarchy.

Mark de Rond (Dutch by birth, international by upbringing!!) has a new book out called “The Last Amateurs” written about the 2007 Boat Race squad from Cambridge University.  You can’t measure the effect one individual has on a team…. the boat race crew exists for one purpose only, to beat Oxford. There is a particular tension whereby if you do not perform on one day / week you can be called into the coaches office at any time and told that your time is over.  Mark de Rond,  Reader in strategy & organisation, Judge Business School, Cambridge & Author “The Last Amateurs”.

In an 8 you can’t have a ‘star’ and some ‘water carriers’ compared to a football team which can use this … an eight is as fast as the slowest member.  Rowers learn how to get on together and how better people can work with less good people and focus on a common goal.  Thye compete as individuals to become part of a team – possible conflicts.  To make the boat go fast you have to be co-ordinated and so the tension is to both combine with and compete against those you are with on the team.

At the heart is personal ambition and dreams, teamwork – personality and skills.

A group of alpha males seeking selection – their qualities make them good but also make them difficult.  They think quickly and this makes them bad at listening.   Bad at working out how they influence others.  Coaching is about diffusing, anticipate and pre-empt conflict.  There were four nationalities in the squad: USA, Canada, German and British.  By joining the CUBC each man is asked to leave behind the WAY they have rowed to create success in the past and combine to form a new crew with a new technique.  Strong willed individuals were asked to form a crew…. a lot of debate on the best way to do it and what had been successful in the past.  Duncan Holland,  Chief coach, Cambridge University Boat Club

Competence can be trumped by ‘likeability’ in business as well as rowing.  This can make a better team overall by sacrificing a little competence for more social cohesion.  The mutual support can make the defining difference between success and failure.  A boat race crew has a hierarchy where some seats are seen as more prestigious and so people perform better where they perceive they are best placed… contrast that with the coach overcoming the ego and forcing a seat change that makes a worse performance come about.

Individual performance is a function of the social environment of which you are a part, rather than any individual talent.

Any professional services firm – most of the brains have got the technical skills needed but not the ‘soft’ skills….. your DNA is wired to be the best.  This is hard for very successful people who may not naturally want to get along with each other.   KPMG uses mentoring, coaching and training and development…. customers notice if the team isn’t getting on.   They try to match client and agency teams… knowing the personality and drive of the client to their own team is important and is part of the selection process when putting the team together.  The starts are not necessarily the best people to have on a team… stars come with egos and this can cause problems.  The stars can have a big impact on the success and emotional intelligence of the team overall.  Stephen Hollis,  Head of markets, KPMG Europe

Team Spirit is a programme on BBC Radio 4 tonight 8.30 – 9 pm (repeated Sunday 9.30 -= 10 pm)

At a time when business is conducted globally and virtually Peter Day asks what it takes to build and manage effective teams.
Contributors:

Lynda Gratton,
Professor of management practise, London Business School

Mark Squires,
Director of Social Communications, Nokia

Mark de Rond,
Reader in strategy & organisation, Judge Business School, Cambridge & Author “The Last Amateurs”

Duncan Holland,
Chief coach, Cambridge University Boat Club

Colin Scott,
Rower

Dan O’Shaughnessy,
President CUBC

Stephen Hollis,
Head of markets, KPMG Europe

I have been privileged to read an early Draft of Mark de Rond’s books about Cambridge University Boat Club’s training for last year’s Boat Race…. hopefully they’ll spend some time talking about what it takes to make a great team in the context of rowing.