This document discusses different types of teams and their roles in high-performance organizations. It outlines teams that monitor performance, teams that make recommendations, and teams that make or do things. It emphasizes that teams must have a clear purpose and both mutual and individual accountability. High-performance is achieved when organizations focus on performance results through teams, clear goals, strong leadership, and knowledge sharing.

1. Top Management’s
Role Leading to
High Performance
Organization
Chapter 12
Ray Vasquez

2. Teams That Run Things
● Teams monitor responsibility and performance throughout (top to
bottom)
● Team challenges include: choice between working group and team, role
of the team leader, problem of transitions

3. ● Large companies like Hewlett-Packard & Motorola generate teams to identify purposes, goals, and
collective work-products.
● For a real team to form there must be a “team purpose”
● Groups of managers discuss & decide and then delegate, this lacks work-productivity of a real team
● Follow up for these teams is required

4. Top management helps the charge by improving
his or her team leader attitude and skills.

5. Teams That Recommend Things
● These teams include task forces, projects groups, and audit, quality, or safety groups asked to study and
solve particular problems.
● Two critical issues unique to teams that recommend; getting off to a fast and constructive start & dealing
with the inevitable “handoff” required to get their recommendations implemented.
● Management must ensure teams include people with skills and influence necessary to crafting practical
recommendations will carry weight.
● Recommendations from management must help with cooperation and by opening doors dealing with
political obstacles.

6. Burlington Northern
A United States-based railroad company formed from a merger of four major U.S. railroads. Burlington
Northern operated between 1970 and 1996.
● The company asked 14 people to take 45 days to study and recommend the best organizational
approach to marketing.
● The head of marketing appointed Steve Brigance to lead.
● Steve sent his concerns in an essay, to be formal clear defined process and charter
● Insisted his task force had freedom to explore entire organization and to senior executives
● Chose his team members, mixed skill sets and corporate knowledge
● Instant teamwork and recommendations
● Failed miserably because the did not have an implementation team, managers assumed “just happen”
● Implementation participation, interviews, analysis, conduct trials and experiments

7. Teams That Make or
Do Things
● Front Line People - R&D, Operations, Marketing,
Sales, and Service
● “Critical Delivery Points” Places where cost and
value of products and services are determined
i.e. accounts management, customer service,
product design, productivity determined
● Top Management must never appear to
promote teams for their own sake or for the
sake of making teams.
● “Team Culture” based on performance, people
and process must be established.

8. Teams and The High Performance
Organization
● Focus both on performance and teams that deliver it
● Teams are not the only answer, they are a piece of the puzzle; simply put they are “practical”

9. Six High Performance Organization Principles
1. Balanced Performance Results
2. Clear Challenging Aspirations (vision/mission)
3. Committed and Focused Leadership
4. Energized Work Force Dedicated to Productivity and Learning
5. Skill Based Sources of Competitive Advantage
6. Open Communications and Knowledge Management (no guards - only guides)

10. Conclusion
Teams Are the Vehicle to Performance
Teams Do Not Succeed Without Both Mutual Accountability and Individual Accountability

11. References
Katzenbach, J. & Smith, D. (2002). The Wisdom of Teams: Creating the High-Performance Organization. Boston, Mass: Harvard
Business School Press. HarperBusiness Publishers.
8 Reasons Why Teams Fail. (2015, September 23). Retrieved from https://leadchangegroup.com/8-reasons-why-teams-fail/
Center For Creative Leadership. (2012, March 14). 7 Ways to BuildAccountable Organizations. Retrieved from
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ccl/2012/02/28/7-ways-to-build-accountable-organizations/#265008873cd3
The Discipline of Teams. (1993, March 1). Retrieved from https://hbr.org/1993/03/the-discipline-of-teams-2
Mutual accountability in teams. (2019, January 10). Retrieved from
https://www.theperformanceroom.co.uk/mutual-accountability-in-teams/