Teams are not a management panacea; they are useful in certain situations and not in others. They enhance or hinder an operation depending on the team members and the purposes for which the team has been established. Managers need to be cautious about adopting team concepts without adequate knowledge. Teams can work only after a major investment in education of the total organization. I stress education here rather than training, and education for the whole organization rather than some few senior project managers.

If people are to be able to move from team to team they must understand the basics of team operations and practice to allow them to make the cultural shifts as they move from one department or project to another. Following some predetermined process won't work because it doesn't take the people requirements into account. There is no handbook approach that paves the way. We need to be cautious in how we manage teams to counter William H. Whyte's argument that group activity (teams) has a downward leveling effect on the individual, forces conformity, denies expression of individualism, nullifies creative activity, and in general hampers and limits human activity.

Teamwork is no longer an option. But teamwork involves more than selecting a group of bodies to meet some goal or objective. The key to successful team performance involves integrating the minds, competencies, skills, and attitudes of the team members to focus on the goals and objectives for which the team was organized. It also includes providing education and training, but it's too late to provide the education and training only when the team is formed.

Most activities that require the act of doing cannot be taught from a book. Yes, the basics and some ground rules can be learned, but they're only the starting point for implementation. There are many formal courses sponsored through consultants, industrial training organizations, and academic institutions. I propose that team building must be accomplished within the particular context in which it will occur. Team building at McDonald's will be quite different from team building at General Electric. Team building at Boeing will be quite different from team building at Microsoft. While the fundamentals are the same, the context and scope are totally different and thus require a different approach.

Team building cannot be considered as an isolated event independent of other organizational requirements. Team-building exercises need to be integrated into the issues currently faced by the organization. It is not enough to send the team leader to a workshop on team building. The complete team must understand the fundamental issues that drive team performance. We know from experience that most teams include a few full-time members and many other participants whose services do not justify full-time participation. People may also serve on more than one team. So the department manager must educate all department members about personal expectations and team functions. The greatest benefits arise when team-building education is performed within the context of the department's activities. You're dealing in the real world.

So, how do you find time to build team competence when you're already supposedly overworked? Teams generally meet to discuss results as well as upcoming concerns. Reserve just one hour per week and begin teaching team concepts in relation to the work at hand. Once the process begins, team members will become more enthusiastic because much of the blaming will be eliminated. Whether your team benefits from learning depends on their confidence in speaking what's on their mind, their ability to admit mistakes and learn from them, and on whether they have access to the required intellectual property of the organization, use their ability to question intelligently, and have freedom to challenge management. Learning requires this kind of openness. Members of the team cannot hold back their concerns; they must be brought out for critical analysis and disposition.

In an environment in which freedom to raise controversial issues exists without threatening the messenger, you can begin by teaching the fundamentals like framing the problem, developing the objectives, evaluating critical issues, reaching agreement and making decisions, communicating information, and also discussing how human behavior affects all these processes. But this teaching and learning takes place in the context of the work at hand. You're teaching and learning through solving real problems, not some abstract problems. You are solving those problems with your people and not with some idealized grouping of team members.