Team building ideas

Nothing right is going to happen with your team if the basic structure isn’t right.

Some guidelines:

1. Look for signs that it’s too big. The larger the team, the slower it moves. Consider a smaller team or a tiny executive committee.

2. Dispense with tactical trivia. Toss everything except important work that requires collaboration.

3. Enforce healthy norms. Four universal ones: everybody is as committed as the leader; every issue is on the table; everybody’s voice is heard; and what you say and do when you’re with the team is the same thing you say and do outside the team.

4. Have your team review its structure. Revisit size and tasks.

— Adapted from Senior Leadership Teams, Ruth Wageman, Debra Nunes, James Burruss, J. Richard Hackman, Harvard Business School Press.