In this series of articles I examine the process and skills that leaders need to be aware of in order to achieve the full potential of their teams. Organisations increasingly rely on project teams, product development teams, virtual teams, and autonomous work teams to compete in the rapidly changing national and global markets. The ability of these teams to perform at high levels and adapt quickly to escalating demands largely determine an organisation’s success. Equally important is the ability of leaders within the organisation to shape the environment and allow teams to flourish.

For the first in a series of 6 topics, I examine the forces that contribute to the increasing significance of teams.

The setting: an era of rapidly accelerating change

People expect things sooner rather than later, and have the attention span to match. These people are also your clients. What’s more, these people have different expectations, which can change from day-to-day. It makes predicting and responding to your environment even more difficult. In more stable times experience counted, you had seen it before so you could respond appropriately. Nowadays expect the unexpected. Direct experience is less relevant. What counts more is the ability to manage a team of experts who have the collective experience to respond flexibly to market and environmental demands.

The customer revolution: power shift from seller to buyer

Put simply, choice. Customers have unrivalled access to information about your product, some of it may even be accurate. In fact they may even end up knowing more about than you. This means clients can be a lot more discerning in their choice of who to buy. This means that your organisation will have to provide a lot more clear information, regularly updated with which to help clients make their choice. Indeed some organisations already provide seemingly superior information on their competitor’s products, trusting (and knowing) that their customers want to feel like they are making an informed choice. Team play at it’s most open.

The role of teams in the ‘new’ leadership

Formal hierarchy in organisations is becoming much less common. Improved communication and awareness has meant that leaders are much more contactable, approachable and accountable. Without the formal chain of command, the concept of silos within businesses has also disappeared with understanding of an organisation’s operation expanding horizontally, as well as vertically. This means leadership actions and decisions are much more visible, as are the results of those actions and decisions. Teams are broader and more informed but nonetheless require an information/communication structure to replace the formal structures of the past.

How teams contribute to effective change

A team is (typically) a group of people, who when reacting to a change in direction, can quickly develop either inertia or momentum. When sticking to their ground a team can be come very difficult to shift, using their collective power to resist movement. When motivated to move a team quickly builds up speed, working off each other to power forward. With more and more businesses recognising the asset value of their people, keeping them motivated, engaged and involved in the process of moving their organisation forward assumes key importance.

In this series of articles I examine the process and skills that leaders need to be aware of in order to achieve the full potential of their teams. Organisations increasingly rely on project teams, product development teams, virtual teams, and autonomous work teams to compete in the rapidly changing national and global markets. The ability of these teams to perform at high levels and adapt quickly to escalating demands largely determine an organisation’s success. Equally important is the ability of leaders within the organisation to shape the environment and allow teams to flourish.

For the first in a series of 6 topics, I examine the forces that contribute to the increasing significance of teams.

The setting: an era of rapidly accelerating change

People expect things sooner rather than later, and have the attention span to match. These people are also your clients. What’s more, these people have different expectations, which can change from day-to-day. It makes predicting and responding to your environment even more difficult. In more stable times experience counted, you had seen it before so you could respond appropriately. Nowadays expect the unexpected. Direct experience is less relevant. What counts more is the ability to manage a team of experts who have the collective experience to respond flexibly to market and environmental demands.

The customer revolution: power shift from seller to buyer

Put simply, choice. Customers have unrivalled access to information about your product, some of it may even be accurate. In fact they may even end up knowing more about than you. This means clients can be a lot more discerning in their choice of who to buy. This means that your organisation will have to provide a lot more clear information, regularly updated with which to help clients make their choice. Indeed some organisations already provide seemingly superior information on their competitor’s products, trusting (and knowing) that their customers want to feel like they are making an informed choice. Team play at it’s most open.

The role of teams in the ‘new’ leadership

Formal hierarchy in organisations is becoming much less common. Improved communication and awareness has meant that leaders are much more contactable, approachable and accountable. Without the formal chain of command, the concept of silos within businesses has also disappeared with understanding of an organisation’s operation expanding horizontally, as well as vertically. This means leadership actions and decisions are much more visible, as are the results of those actions and decisions. Teams are broader and more informed but nonetheless require an information/communication structure to replace the formal structures of the past.

How teams contribute to effective change

A team is (typically) a group of people, who when reacting to a change in direction, can quickly develop either inertia or momentum. When sticking to their ground a team can be come very difficult to shift, using their collective power to resist movement. When motivated to move a team quickly builds up speed, working off each other to power forward. With more and more businesses recognising the asset value of their people, keeping them motivated, engaged and involved in the process of moving their organisation forward assumes key importance.

In this series of articles I examine the process and skills that leaders need to be aware of in order to achieve the full potential of their teams. Organisations increasingly rely on project teams, product development teams, virtual teams, and autonomous work teams to compete in the rapidly changing national and global markets. The ability of these teams to perform at high levels and adapt quickly to escalating demands largely determine an organisation’s success. Equally important is the ability of leaders within the organisation to shape the environment and allow teams to flourish.

For the first in a series of 6 topics, I examine the forces that contribute to the increasing significance of teams.

The setting: an era of rapidly accelerating change

People expect things sooner rather than later, and have the attention span to match. These people are also your clients. What’s more, these people have different expectations, which can change from day-to-day. It makes predicting and responding to your environment even more difficult. In more stable times experience counted, you had seen it before so you could respond appropriately. Nowadays expect the unexpected. Direct experience is less relevant. What counts more is the ability to manage a team of experts who have the collective experience to respond flexibly to market and environmental demands.

The customer revolution: power shift from seller to buyer

Put simply, choice. Customers have unrivalled access to information about your product, some of it may even be accurate. In fact they may even end up knowing more about than you. This means clients can be a lot more discerning in their choice of who to buy. This means that your organisation will have to provide a lot more clear information, regularly updated with which to help clients make their choice. Indeed some organisations already provide seemingly superior information on their competitor’s products, trusting (and knowing) that their customers want to feel like they are making an informed choice. Team play at it’s most open.

The role of teams in the ‘new’ leadership

Formal hierarchy in organisations is becoming much less common. Improved communication and awareness has meant that leaders are much more contactable, approachable and accountable. Without the formal chain of command, the concept of silos within businesses has also disappeared with understanding of an organisation’s operation expanding horizontally, as well as vertically. This means leadership actions and decisions are much more visible, as are the results of those actions and decisions. Teams are broader and more informed but nonetheless require an information/communication structure to replace the formal structures of the past.

How teams contribute to effective change

A team is (typically) a group of people, who when reacting to a change in direction, can quickly develop either inertia or momentum. When sticking to their ground a team can be come very difficult to shift, using their collective power to resist movement. When motivated to move a team quickly builds up speed, working off each other to power forward. With more and more businesses recognising the asset value of their people, keeping them motivated, engaged and involved in the process of moving their organisation forward assumes key importance.

In this series of articles I examine the process and skills that leaders need to be aware of in order to achieve the full potential of their teams. Organisations increasingly rely on project teams, product development teams, virtual teams, and autonomous work teams to compete in the rapidly changing national and global markets. The ability of these teams to perform at high levels and adapt quickly to escalating demands largely determine an organisation’s success. Equally important is the ability of leaders within the organisation to shape the environment and allow teams to flourish.

For the first in a series of 6 topics, I examine the forces that contribute to the increasing significance of teams.

The setting: an era of rapidly accelerating change

People expect things sooner rather than later, and have the attention span to match. These people are also your clients. What’s more, these people have different expectations, which can change from day-to-day. It makes predicting and responding to your environment even more difficult. In more stable times experience counted, you had seen it before so you could respond appropriately. Nowadays expect the unexpected. Direct experience is less relevant. What counts more is the ability to manage a team of experts who have the collective experience to respond flexibly to market and environmental demands.

The customer revolution: power shift from seller to buyer

Put simply, choice. Customers have unrivalled access to information about your product, some of it may even be accurate. In fact they may even end up knowing more about than you. This means clients can be a lot more discerning in their choice of who to buy. This means that your organisation will have to provide a lot more clear information, regularly updated with which to help clients make their choice. Indeed some organisations already provide seemingly superior information on their competitor’s products, trusting (and knowing) that their customers want to feel like they are making an informed choice. Team play at it’s most open.

The role of teams in the ‘new’ leadership

Formal hierarchy in organisations is becoming much less common. Improved communication and awareness has meant that leaders are much more contactable, approachable and accountable. Without the formal chain of command, the concept of silos within businesses has also disappeared with understanding of an organisation’s operation expanding horizontally, as well as vertically. This means leadership actions and decisions are much more visible, as are the results of those actions and decisions. Teams are broader and more informed but nonetheless require an information/communication structure to replace the formal structures of the past.

How teams contribute to effective change

A team is (typically) a group of people, who when reacting to a change in direction, can quickly develop either inertia or momentum. When sticking to their ground a team can be come very difficult to shift, using their collective power to resist movement. When motivated to move a team quickly builds up speed, working off each other to power forward. With more and more businesses recognising the asset value of their people, keeping them motivated, engaged and involved in the process of moving their organisation forward assumes key importance.

In this series of articles I examine the process and skills that leaders need to be aware of in order to achieve the full potential of their teams. Organisations increasingly rely on project teams, product development teams, virtual teams, and autonomous work teams to compete in the rapidly changing national and global markets. The ability of these teams to perform at high levels and adapt quickly to escalating demands largely determine an organisation’s success. Equally important is the ability of leaders within the organisation to shape the environment and allow teams to flourish.

For the first in a series of 6 topics, I examine the forces that contribute to the increasing significance of teams.

The setting: an era of rapidly accelerating change

People expect things sooner rather than later, and have the attention span to match. These people are also your clients. What’s more, these people have different expectations, which can change from day-to-day. It makes predicting and responding to your environment even more difficult. In more stable times experience counted, you had seen it before so you could respond appropriately. Nowadays expect the unexpected. Direct experience is less relevant. What counts more is the ability to manage a team of experts who have the collective experience to respond flexibly to market and environmental demands.

The customer revolution: power shift from seller to buyer

Put simply, choice. Customers have unrivalled access to information about your product, some of it may even be accurate. In fact they may even end up knowing more about than you. This means clients can be a lot more discerning in their choice of who to buy. This means that your organisation will have to provide a lot more clear information, regularly updated with which to help clients make their choice. Indeed some organisations already provide seemingly superior information on their competitor’s products, trusting (and knowing) that their customers want to feel like they are making an informed choice. Team play at it’s most open.

The role of teams in the ‘new’ leadership

Formal hierarchy in organisations is becoming much less common. Improved communication and awareness has meant that leaders are much more contactable, approachable and accountable. Without the formal chain of command, the concept of silos within businesses has also disappeared with understanding of an organisation’s operation expanding horizontally, as well as vertically. This means leadership actions and decisions are much more visible, as are the results of those actions and decisions. Teams are broader and more informed but nonetheless require an information/communication structure to replace the formal structures of the past.

How teams contribute to effective change

A team is (typically) a group of people, who when reacting to a change in direction, can quickly develop either inertia or momentum. When sticking to their ground a team can be come very difficult to shift, using their collective power to resist movement. When motivated to move a team quickly builds up speed, working off each other to power forward. With more and more businesses recognising the asset value of their people, keeping them motivated, engaged and involved in the process of moving their organisation forward assumes key importance.