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Consortium for Service Innovation

Technique 8.4: Promote Teamwork

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Celebrate what is working.

Since the foundation of KCS is capturing and improving the collective experience of the organization, teamwork and collaboration are critical. While tools can enable collaboration, the behaviors are what drives the benefits. And, the behaviors are heavily influenced by the culture of the organization.

Creating a culture of collaboration and collective ownership is the leader's responsibility. The leader needs to ensure the environment nurtures and recognizes collaboration that is creating value. Historically, organizations have focused so heavily on individual contribution that the shift to valuing collaboration and teamwork can be a challenge. The old management practice of stack racking individuals is hugely dysfunctional if we want to create a knowledge sharing, collaborative environment.  Fortunately, organizations are moving toward recognizing collaboration and teamwork as important competencies.  

A fairly well established and successful example of this shift from individual contribution to team capability is the adoption of the Agile Methodology in software development environments. The same kind of shift that software development has made with Agile is necessary for long term KCS success. 

Recognition Programs

As discussed in the Internal Motivators technique, recognition is far more powerful and effective than rewards. By rewards we mean tangible things like cash or prizes. We want to create an environment where we leverage the things that motivate knowledge workers to contribute to the knowledge base.  The two most powerful motivators are

  1. a sense of accomplishment (how we feel about our contribution) and
  2. recognition (acknowledgement of our contribution by others).

The impact of the recognition is dependent on the value the organization places on it. If the organization puts high value on having a KCS Publisher role or being in the role of Coach or Knowledge Optimizer, that makes those a high impact form of recognition.  There are lots of ways and opportunities for leadership to recognize knowledge workers and their contribution.

Is there a place for rewards and prizes?  Maybe. First, it depends on the culture of the organization.  In some environments it can be an effective way to create awareness, excitement, and fun.  The same program in another environment may be seen as silly or elementary.  Second, the program has to be thoughtfully designed.

To motivate the right behavior and promote KCS adoption early on, many companies implement reward and recognition programs. Historically we have seen that these programs are hard to get right. In addition to frequently misunderstanding what really motivates people, the programs are often based on activities, not outcomes, and end up driving the wrong behaviors. They become outdated as the organization progresses on the KCS journey, but the programs seldom have an end of life plan.

Any KCS rewards and recognition programs aimed at getting started must have an end date. If they continue too long, they send the signal that knowledge sharing and reuse are not part of the job, but something "above and beyond" to be specially rewarded. In fact, the opposite must happen—KCS Practices must be integrated into all participants' job descriptions and formal job evaluation programs. At this point, the primary reward and recognition for doing KCS well is the same as it is for doing any other part of the job well: continued employment, good reviews, and career advancement.

Some of the design principles of successful programs include:

  • Legitimate metrics—tied to independent feedback and requestor input, most often done through satisfaction or effort surveys
  • Alignment to organizational goals—measures directly link to and reinforce desired outcomes and the impact map
  • Time constraints—clear beginning and end, and a plan for what is appropriate for the next phase of the KCS journey
  • Balance of individual and team rewards—consider virtual teams as well as geographical and subject matter teams
  • Compatibility with the individual—tailored to the values, interest, and styles of the person or team (don't embarrass an introvert!)
  • Equal opportunity for participation—include recognition for different positions, roles, and responsibilities
  • Recognition of diversity of skills—good generalists are as valuable as good specialists; recognition for each of the skills needed for success
  • Promote collaboration, not competition—measure and recognize each individual's own progress and achievements 

Given these guidelines, most organizations develop programs to appeal to different motivational factors. Here are some motivation and reward examples:

  • Challenge—Set new records for key outcomes (often a team recognition)
  • Attention—A visit with/from a senior level executive 
  • Affirmation—Add meaningful job opportunities or new roles, like membership in the KCS program team or trips to industry conferences or events

One key to using rewards and recognition programs effectively is to view them as part of the communications plan. These programs are an effective way for leaders to draw attention to new practices and priorities.

Applying "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team"

Patrick Lencioni's book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, calls out the hallmarks to watch for when assessing the health of the team. From his website, www.tablegroup.com, we can see the following list of issues and strategies for overcoming them:

Overcoming an Absence of Trust
  • Identify and discuss individual strengths and weaknesses
  • Spend considerable time in face-to-face meetings and working settings
Overcoming a Fear of Conflict
  • Acknowledge that conflict is required for productive meetings
  • Understand each individual team member's natural conflict styles and establish common ground rules for engaging in conflict
Overcoming a Lack of Commitment
  • Review commitments at the end of each meeting to ensure all team members are aligned
  • Adopt a "disagree and commit" mentality - make sure all team members are committed regardless of initial disagreements
Overcoming the Avoidance of Accountability
  • Explicitly communicate goals and standards of behavior
  • Regularly discuss performance versus goals and standards
Overcoming Inattention to Results
  • Keep the team focused on tangible group goals
  • Reward individuals based on team goals and collective success

 In the appendix of Lencioni's book, he offers a simple survey for assessing the health of an organization which works for teams of all sizes. KCS is a team sport; The Five Dysfunctions of a Team is a great resource for organizations adopting KCS.

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