Team Talk - the Power of Language in Team Dynamics

Explains why cross-functional team work is so difficult, suggests tools to help teams work better, and discusses conflict, negotiation, mutual obligations, performance, and troubleshooting

Management by teams and using teams to get things done are nothing new. But recent hoopla has stimulated interest in these work groups, and numerous companies have implemented the team approach to problem solving and accomplishing special tasks. Given these current efforts, one thing is clear: some teams work; others don't. Donnellon, a Babson College (Wellesley, Massachusetts) associate professor doing research on rewarding and evaluating teams and cross-cultural teamwork, investigates why. Focusing on cross-functional work teams of professional employees, she was able to observe in-depth--and tape-record--teams at work at four Fortune 200 corporations. By analyzing dialogue, language, and conversation, she was able to distinguish that which made teams successful. She includes a "team talk audit," a tool for analyzing interactions among team members, and she concludes with advice for both team members and managers on how to make teams work better. David Rouse