Team Makeover Some Practical Strategies for Successfully Remodeling an Organizational Team A Presentation for the OHA Annual Meeting Kendall L. Stewart, M.D. June 13, 2006

Why is this topic important? For a variety of reasons, organizational teams must be remodeled continuously. Most of us don’t do this easily or very well. This is a clear opportunity for improvement—right here, right now—in most organizations. That you have recognized this opportunity sets you apart. This presentation will suggest some practical strategies that can make your current or near- future team remodeling project more efficient and successful. After mastering the information in this presentation, you will be able to identify –Some of the common reasons teams need to be remodeled. –Some of the reasons that team remodeling projects often flop, –Some practical strategies that will make your remodeling project easier, –Why you should adopt these strategies, and –How you can implement them.

What are some reasons why teams need to be remodeled? People leave the team. New people join the team. The team loses focus. The team loses steam. The current team is no longer the best possible team. The team becomes dysfunctional. The task changes significantly. The organizational culture changes. Leaders set off on a new direction.

What are some of the reasons that team makeovers often flop? People fail to engage in succession planning. People are chosen for some reason other than “fielding the best team.” People focus on “teamwork” instead of performance. People fail to recognize that a makeover is needed. People are afraid of hurting other people’s feelings. People assume the makeover will occur “naturally” on its own. People. Duh.

What practical strategies will increase the likelihood of a successful makeover? Make a passionate commitment to the mission—and the goal. Stay focused on performance. Accept your obligation to field the best possible team. Embrace discomfort. Listen intently. Clarify everyone’s expectations. Learn the rules—both kinds. Request an annual, facilitated 360-degree evaluation from your key customers. Observe, predict, manage and serve instead of longing for people to change. Manage feelings appropriately. Keep finding more efficient and effective ways to get things done. Prepare for meetings. Stop tolerating muda in meetings. Embrace succession planning. Weave your professional and personal lives together. Stay in the loop. Communicate effectively. Become the team expert at something the team needs. Take a position and state it good-naturedly. Maintain a task list and deliver on your commitments.

Manage feelings appropriately. Why should I? –We all have them. –Sensitivities vary from person to person and time to time. –Upset people feel perfectly justified in feeling the way they do. –Feelings blind us to options that would otherwise be obvious. –Feelings incline us to behave impulsively. –They are most destructive when not identified, expressed and managed. How can I? –Recognize that emotional arousal is always a danger sign. –Recognize that very few people understand this. –Recognize that strong emotion is contagious. –Recognize your own emotional arousal and restrain yourself. –Recognize others’ emotional arousal and urge caution and restraint. –Give feelings some time to dissipate and be understood.

What have we learned? Teams frequently need makeovers. Your team may need one now. Team remodeling projects usually don’t come off very well. The successful team remodeling project does not occur naturally; successful remodeling leaders plan and execute the project carefully. We have identified some strategies that will increase our chances of success. And we know why we should do these things and exactly how we should go about doing them. Now we need to just do them.

Where can you learn more? Katzenbach, Jon R. and Smith, Douglas K., The Wisdom of Teams: Creating the High- Performance Organization, Harvard Business School Press, 1992 Parker, Glenn M., Team Players and Teamwork, Jossey-Bass, 1996 Schein, Edgar H. The Corporate Culture Survival Guide, Jossey-Bass, 1999 Stewart, KL, et. al., A Portable Mentor for Organizational Leaders, SOMCPress, 2003 Stewart, Kendall L., “Relationships: Building and Sustaining the Interpersonal Foundations of Organizational Success” SOMCPress White Paper, SOMCPress, March 11, 2002 SOMC Executive Staff, “Rules of Engagement: Some Expectations for SOMC Leaders,” SOMCPress, June 2003 Visit to download related White Papers and presentations.

How can you contact me? Kendall L. Stewart, M.D. VPMA and Chief Medical Officer Southern Ohio Medical Center President & CEO The SOMC Medical Care Foundation, Inc th Street Portsmouth, Ohio

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