Teambuilding: Some Assembly Required

Have you ever had a team that just didn’t gel? Team members spent more time fighting and finger-pointing than getting the job done, right?

Many managers spend precious time refereeing team members when they should be focusing on more productive and profitable endeavors. Why do some team members simply not get along? One reason could be that managers seek a certain type of team member(s) who are just like themselves, when instead they should aim for a mix of types.

For example, a toolbox with only one type of screwdriver would be of limited use around the house. Rather, you’d need different types of screwdrivers to tackle various tasks. The same concept applies to the workplace. Rather than comprise your team of similar types of people, you need a mix to get all the jobs done.

To illustrate the different types of personalities that make up a well-balanced team, let’s use the following Screw Squad characters. Each of these personality types has something positive to offer the team. And by ensuring diversity in your team the positive qualities of the other team members will balance out any negative traits. At the end of each character description you’ll find suggestions for the best way to use each type on your team. And while you don’t have to tell your team which character matches each member, you should make each person accountable for a certain role based on his or her inherent strengths.

D.R. Iver

You’ve probably seen this person try to take control of a meeting or project team. Some of this person’s characteristics include the ability to focus on the mission, drive work to completion and hold team members accountable for deliverables. D. R. Iver is great in situations where the mission is clear, the work is well-defined, the team is in delivery mode or where delivery is dependent on multiple team members completing individual tasks. On the other hand, D. R. Iver can hurt in situations where the team needs time to gel or to brainstorm ideas, or where team members still are going through a learning curve.

Use D. R. Iver when:
¥ You want to get a team mobilized to get something done.
¥ You need structure and discipline in your execution.
¥ You have to meet a tight deadline.

Gloom N. Doom

This is the person who always sees the glass as half-empty. These folks tend to focus on why something won’t work, which can lead to them spending time worrying vs. doing. Gloom N. Doom is great at providing reality checks when analyzing a solution to a problem, at testing a proposed solution prior to implementation, and when the team is unrealistic about work that can be accomplished in a given timeframe. However, Gloom N. Doom can slow your team down when the group already has problems working together and getting motivated to perform, or when tight execution is needed without distractions. If you can convince Gloom N. Doom of your project’s worth, then you’re onto a winner.

Use Gloom N. Doom when:
¥ You need a “devil’s advocate” to test assumptions, designs or solutions.
¥ You want to ensure that a schedule is doable.
¥ You want to ensure that key issues and risks are identified.

Op T. Mystic

This is Gloom N. Doom’s polar opposite, always seeing the glass as half-full and taking the viewpoint of why something can work. These people can be overly optimistic in estimating task durations, which can lead to schedule slips, but Op T. Mystic is good at energizing the team and customers and at thinking outside the box. Be careful of Op T. Mystic’s enthusiasm where accurate assessments of risks and issues are needed or where work scope needs to be tightly managed.

Use Op T. Mystic when:
¥ You need to energize the team with a can-do attitude.
¥ You want to generate excitement with customers or business partners.
¥ You need to instill creative thinking and execution in the team.

Sir Prised

Charging in on his steed comes Sir Prised with his battle cry: “Was I supposed to do that today?” Sir Prised can be very creative, excelling in unstructured environments. However Sir Prised likely will fail when structure in execution is necessary or when the work scope needs to be tightly managed.

Use Sir Prised when:
¥ You want to instill creativity in the team.
¥ The work is unstructured (e.g., responding to customer support requests).
¥ You need someone to perform possibility thinking.

N. Gree

This person takes the viewpoint of why something can’t possibly work and does so in an aggressively negative manner. Teamwork and civil communication are not this person’s forte, which may be why N. Gree is great at getting management’s attention--most managers take notice of aggressive behavior. While this may seem like a person you’d want to avoid having on your team, even N. Gree can perform a valuable function when the team needs a kick-in-the-rear to get going or when team members are being unrealistic about work that can be accomplished in a given timeframe.

Use N. Gree when:
¥ You need to get the team’s or management’s attention to a problem.
¥ You don’t care what the china shop looks like after the bull has been in it.
¥ You need a reality check.

Fill Your Toolbox

Does all of this mean that for a team to be well-balanced, it needs to contain at least one of each Toolbox Tribe member? Of course not.

The skills that each member brings to the team are more important than his or her personality type. Remember, you couldn’t build a rocket ship if you had one of each character on the project team, but none of them was a rocket scientist. If possible, though, you should at least seek one each of the first three types: D. R. Iver, Gloom N. Doom and Op T. Mystic. But if your team consists of all D. R. Ivers or all Op T. Mystics, that character’s negative qualities can end up dragging down the whole team. The same can happen if one person manages to dominate the team, even if it’s well-balanced. In these cases, the best tactic is for you as the team leader is to take that person to one side and ask him or her to back down.

Fixing It All Together

In a well-structured team, each member knows what he or she needs to contribute, when each person has to perform, what the other team members are doing and what it takes to be successful. Just as importantly, each team member helps the others to ensure the team’s overall success. After all, a team that works well together is more likely to pull together during the rough patches. In addition, having your team members in appropriate positions makes it easier for them to shift roles where needed and work outside their comfort zones. Whatever your team’s aims are, success comes more easily with a well-stocked toolkit.

Lonnie Pacelli has more than 20 years of project management experience at both Microsoft and Accenture and is the author of the Prentice-Hall book “The Project Management Advisor: 18 Major Project Screw-Ups and How to Cut Them Off at the Pass.” You can reach Pacelli at: http://www.projectmanagementadvisor.com