When Teams Work Best: 6,000 Team Members and Leaders Tell What it Takes to Succeed - Hardcover

LaFasto, Frank M. J.; Larson, Carl

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0761923667 ISBN 13: 9780761923664

Publisher: SAGE Publications, Inc, 2001

Synopsis

"Highly readable. . .convincing. . .a must for academic collections and required reading for professionals seeking to maximize human performance and team productivity."

--Choice Magazine, Feb. 2002

What makes some teams achieve extraordinary outcomes, while other fall disappointingly short of the mark?

Frank LaFasto and Carl Larson have systematically explored that question for more than 20 years. In 1989, they published the best-selling book TeamWork; What Must Go Right/What Can Go Wrong, which reported the results of an in-depth study of some of the most successful teams in recent history and identified the eight characteristics of high performance teams.

When Teams Work Best advances this groundbreaking research by probing more deeply inside the workings of hundred of teams―some effective and some faltering. For over a decade, the authors collected and analyzed responses from more than 6,000 team members and leaders across a variety of industries, in both public and private sectors, to find out exactly what conditions help or hinder teams in achieving their goals. The voices of these team members―often eloquent, always enlightening―are heard through the quotations that appear throughout the book.

With extensive experience coaching and consulting with teams, LaFasto and Larson bring a valuable real-life perspective to their examination of the rich and often intriguing complexity behind effective teamwork. This book goes far beyond the theoretical to offer proven, practical advice that team members and leaders can easily apply to bring out the very best in their own teams.

When teams work best, the work is rewarding, outcomes inspiring and accomplishments abounds. Order your copy today!

About this title

About the Authors

Frank LaFasto, Ph.D., recently retired as Senior Vice President of Organization Effectiveness after 30 years with Cardinal Health, Inc., a multinational health care company. An internationally recognized author and lecturer on management issues, Frank has more than 35 years’ experience helping organizations build and sustain successful teams.  Frank has written two best-sellers on the subject: Teamwork and How Teams Work Best, co-authored by Carl Larson.  He currently consults with private and public sector organizations to help them build effective teams, lead critical change initiatives, and develop executive talent. Frank resides in Lake Forest, Illinois.

Carl Larson, Ph.D., is professor emeritus of Human Communication and past dean of Social Sciences at the University of Denver. His most recent work includes When Teams Work Best (Sage 2001), Successful Communication and Negotiation, and Collaborative Leadership: How Citizens and Civic Leaders Can Make a Difference. Larson consults in both the public and private sector. He received the Driscoll Master Educator Award given by the students at the University of Denver to the university’s outstanding professor. 

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Who Needs This Book?

Executives and managers who are responsible for the overall functioning of teams can use this book to ensure that teams throughout the organization understand what it takes to make collaboration work. They can learn what to look for in exemplary and less-than-exemplary teams, from the qualities of team members, to the processes that successful teams use, to the attributes of effective team leaders (Chapters 1-4). Senior managers may also want to pay particular attention to Chapter 5, which discusses organizational factors that foster or impede the work of collaborative teams.
Team leaders will find specific practical guidance in every chapter that can improve their leadership of teams. The book can be an excellent training vehicle for team leaders, whether they are seasoned veterans or new to the job. In addition to learning valuable strategies and techniques for themselves, they can use much of the material in the book in managing team members to collaborate more effectively. Finally, team leaders can use the ideas in Chapter 5 on the organizational culture to assess organizational obstacles to their work and advocate constructive change.
Team members can use this book to improve their own participation in teams, help their team function more effectively, and prepare to become leaders themselves.

Edition details

• Publisher: SAGE Publications, Inc
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0761923667
• ISBN 13: 9780761923664
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256