What Makes Teams Work?

Michael Leinbach

Shuttle-launch director
John F. Kennedy Space Center
Kennedy Space Center, Florida

Where I work, having a well-functioning team can be a matter of life or death. The most critical element of a successful shuttle-launch team is an open channel of communication from each member to the team leader.

With my team, I make sure that everyone knows to inform me immediately if there's a glitch in his or her work -- any glitch -- even if it's just something that's marginally off, but still within normal specs.

But there are a couple of human factors that can work against us. People tend to be intimidated by those who hold leadership positions. And often people don't want to stand out. It takes about four months to prepare for each mission. By the time the launch date arrives, everyone wants it to go. It's natural not to want to be the person who gets the mission scrubbed.

I tell people that being on a team is like getting a huge family ready to go on a picnic. Say you have to get 50 or 60 people ready to go, and then one of the kids gets sick. Picnic scrubbed. You go when the kid is better. It's as simple as that.

I make it clear that nobody should ever feel bad about being the reason that we scrub a launch. If we didn't launch that day, it's because we put safety first -- and that's what is really important. We'll try to make the launch happen later.

I also try to get to know everyone on the team in an attempt to do away with that intimidation factor. I came up through the ranks here, so a lot of people know me anyway. But I make it a point to spend at least half of my time in my office in the processing area, rather than in my office in the corporate area. It's good for me and it's good for the team, both personally and professionally. A team works better when people are at ease with the leader. Members are more likely to say what's on their minds. I suspect that's true of any team.

Michael Leinbach (michael.leinbach-1@ksc.nasa.gov) is the shuttle-launch director at the John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where he leads a team of about 500 people. He started working with NASA in 1984 as a structural engineer.

Martha Rogers

Partner
Peppers and Rogers Group
Bowling Green, Ohio

You can't say, "teams work because of this" or "teams don't work because of that" -- because it depends. But if you're looking for one quality that most good teams share, I'd have to say that it's the culture of the company in which the team exists. Is the culture one that rewards groups? Is it one that rewards individuals? Or is it a culture where no one gets rewarded? Look around. Watch how people act and interact, regardless of whether they're on a team. Do people do things for one another? Do they pick up coffee for others when they're going out? If the culture is full of give and take -- if it's supportive and trusting -- there's a good chance that you'll see successful teams at work.

It's also important that the leaders and the members of good teams have realistic expectations of motive. Sometimes I work with teams that are made up of people from all different areas of a company, with leaders who expect that each team member is going to put aside his or her own personal goals and work selflessly for the common good. Not realistic.

People from different parts of a company are going to have disparate styles, expectations, and reward systems. The best teams have leaders who recognize those differences. Communism has fallen all over the world, and it doesn't work for teams either.

Martha Rogers (rogers@1to1.com) is a partner in the Stamford, Connecticut-based Peppers and Rogers Group, a consulting firm that specializes in customer-relationship management. Rogers works mostly from her office in Bowling Green, Ohio.

Tony DiCicco

Former head coach
U.S. Women's World Cup Champion Soccer Team,
and gold-medal winning 1996 U.S. Women's Olympic Soccer Team
Wethersfield, Connecticut

To have a successful team, you must have a shared culture. My team's culture is largely built on fitness, intensity in training, individual respect, and respect for the group -- both on and off the field. You know you have a good team member when she arrives at training camp fit and ready to play. That kind of preparation shows respect -- for herself and for her fellow team members.

I'd also put an emphasis on leadership. When Brandi Chastain scored a devastating goal for the other team last summer, team captain Carla Overbeck walked right up to her and told her, "Brandi, we have 85 minutes to get that goal back. We need you focused and fully into the game. Let's play."