Teams can be a driving force for organizational performance--and managers can play a key role in teams' ultimate success or failure. Highlighting the latest research on team development and dynamics--and including hands-on tools for improving communication, resolving conflicts, promoting interdependence, and more--this guide helps managers at all levels to motivate teams to achieve higher performance.

Teams can be a driving force for organizational performance--and managers can play a key role in teams' ultimate success or failure. Highlighting the latest research on team development and dynamics--and including hands-on tools for improving communication, resolving conflicts, promoting interdependence, and more--this guide helps managers at all levels to motivate teams to achieve higher performance.

Creating Teams with an Edge: The Complete Skill Set to Build Powerful and Influential Teams Teams can be a driving force for organizational performance-and managers can play a key role in teams' ultimate success or failure. Highlighting the latest research on team development and dynamics-and including hands-on tools for improving communication, resolving conflicts, promoting interdependence, and more-this guide will help managers at all levels to motivate teams to achieve higher performance. The Harvard Business Essentials series is for managers at all levels but is especially relevant for new managers. It offers on-the-spot guidance, coaching, and tools on the most relevant topics in business. Each book includes the critical information that managers need on a given topic-from budgeting to hiring to communication to strategy-and offers interactive tools and worksheets that translate advice into action. Providing ready answers to day-to-day issues, these guides make sound, trusted mentoring advice available whenever managers need it. Other Books in the HBE Series: Managing Change and Transition Hiring and Keeping the Best People Finance for Managers Business Communications Innovation Negotiation

From the co-author of the New York Times bestseller Team of Teams, a practical guide for leaders looking to make their organizations more interconnected and unified in the midst of sudden change. Too often, companies end up with teams stuck in their own silos, pursuing goals and metrics in isolation. Their traditional autocratic structures create stability, scalability, and predictability -- but in a world that demands rapid adaptation to a new reality, this traditional model simply doesn’t work. In Team of Teams, retired four-star General Stanley McChrystal and former Navy SEAL Chris Fussell made the case for a new organizational model combining the agility, adaptability, and cohesion of a small team with the power and resources of a giant organization. Now, in One Mission, Fussell channels all his experiences, both military and corporate, into powerful strategies for unifying isolated and distrustful teams. This practical guide will help leaders in any field implement the Team of Teams approach to tear down their silos improve collaboration, and avoid turf wars. By committing to one higher mission, organizations develop an overall capability that far exceeds the sum of their parts. From Silicon Valley software giant Intuit to a government agency on the plains of Oklahoma, organizations have used Fussell’s methods to unite their people around a single compelling vision, resulting in superior performance. One Mission will help you follow their example to a more agile and resilient future.

This book takes a revitalized look at how teams should work in today’s business is driving real growth in some of the world’s most innovative firms. Every manager desires to have great teams around them collaborating together and running with the mission. Unfortunately, most of these teams have been built around outdated practices made popular by companies that either no longer exist or haven’t been relevant in years. However, a new generation of teams has learned to do things differently--things like hiring the right person instead of the best person; focusing on one priority while leaving room to explore new ideas; creating an environment where people are comfortable dealing with the uncomfortable; and maximizing profit by not making it top priority. In Extreme Teams, take a peek into top companies and examine the teamwork experiments powering their results, including how: Pixar’s teams use constant feedback and debate to transform initially flawed films into billion-dollar hits A culture of radical “freedom and responsibility” helps Netflix execute on the next big thing Whole Food’s super-autonomous teams embrace hard metrics and friendly competition to drive performance Zappos fuels the weirdness and fun that sustains its success From marketing to design to technology to product demand, everything has changed in business and will continue to do so. Why shouldn’t the teams carrying out these changes undergo their own upgrades?

TEAMS ON THE EDGE gives readers a front-row seat during challenging wilderness expeditions to remote locations in India, Mexico, Alaska, British Columbia, and the Yukon. Along the way, Shawn Stratton highlights the power of team dynamics and life-saving decision-making skills-skills that were put to good use as his group's navigated isolated mountain ranges, treacherous glaciers, and raging rivers. Stratton offers a behind-the-scenes look into his time as a former senior instructor with the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS). Juggling the roles of expedition leader, teacher, and medical care provider, he discovers that the secret to success lies in the strength of the teams around him. TEAMS ON THE EDGE shares valuable leadership and team- building lessons that can be applied anywhere, from the wilderness to the workplace.

Creating Effective Teams: A Guide for Members and Leaders, 3rd Edition is a practical guide for building and sustaining top performing teams. Based on the author’s many years of consulting experience with teams in the public and private sector, the Third Edition describes why teams are important, how they function, and what makes them productive. The author clearly illustrates the developmental nature of teams and describes what happens in each stage. Separate chapters are devoted to the responsibilities of team leaders and team members. Problems that occur frequently in groups are highlighted, followed by what-you-can-do sections that offer specific advice. Real-life examples and questionnaires are used throughout the book, giving readers the opportunity for self-evaluation. New to the Third Edition: Discussions of diversity within teams havebeen added throughout the text, focusing on how different ethnic or cultural groups may have differing perceptions of group interactions. Also provided will be specific strategies for ensuring that groups are respectful of these different beliefs while still being as effective as possible. References to the research the text is based on will be added, giving readers the theoretical and research background for the practical, application-based material in the text. More real-life examples and problem-solving skills will be added, including step-by-step directions for becoming a high-performing team. New checklists and self-evaluations will be added, building on those currently included in the text and providing even more information on what kind of leader or team member the reader is.