The Team Handbook

PETER R. SCHOLTES, BRIAN L. JOINER, AND BARBARA J. STREIBEL

Reviewed by Jack

Brian Joiner and Peter Scholtes were early teachers of the quality movement during the 1980s and ’90s. Much of their work advocated Deming’s management philosophy, which, in part, touted teams as being integral to improving quality. “Once people recognize that systems create the majority of problems, they stop blaming individual employees. They instead ask which system needs improvement, and are more likely to seek out and find the true source of improvement.” Joiner and Scholtes’s still relevant The Team Handbook shows how to distribute responsibility and maximize creativity in order for companies to respond more adeptly to the growing complexity of business.

The Team Handbook sets the standard for a functional workbook that can be easily employed in the workplace, and the book has owned this category since the first edition was published in 1988. This is not a book to help you decide whether you want to start a team; instead, this is the book you need to make your next team project a success. Spiral-bound and graphic-packed, there is ample white space on each page for notes and many worksheets—also available for download online—to help your team flourish. For people who think that business books are all theory and little application, The Team Handbook defies such deductions. This is simply the most usable book included here in The 100 Best.

The first distinction the authors make clear is that there are different types of teams: project teams, which are temporary; functional work teams, which are permanent; and virtual teams, which use technology. Knowing which kind of team to implement is critical to the success of the team and fulfillment of the project. According to the authors, a team should have no more than five to seven members in addition to the Team Leader and the Coach. All teams need a Sponsor whose responsibilities change as the team project progresses. He or she has a large role early on and that role changes down the path. The teams need clearly defined purposes, goals, and boundaries, as well as access to resources and people in the know.

The Team Handbook also tackles the human side of the team equation. Teams are only efficient and productive when the people in them can work together effectively. The chapter on dealing with conflict is priceless. The ten common problems and solution strategies alone are worth the price of the book. These ten issues include Floundering; Overbearing Participants; Rush to Accomplishment; Wanderlust: Digression and Tangents; and Feuding Team Members. The Team Handbook provides solutions for each problem. The authors also go into detail on leading change and the resistance to change that often appears during a given change process the team was designed to implement.

“To succeed, organizations must rely on the knowledge, skills, experience, and perspective of a wide range of people to solve multifaceted problems, make good decisions, and deliver effective solutions. This is where dynamic, productive teams can make the difference.”

Beyond the practical aspects of putting a team together, Joiner and Scholtes include sections on Decision Making, Charting, Agendas, Checklists, Process Maps, Storyboards, Methods, Collecting Data, Improvement Plans, Communication, and Advanced Tools. A true bounty of information in a comprehensive workbook with step-by-step guidelines to making your next team initiative a success, The Team Handbook is the guidebook to lead you through the minefield (and toward mastery) of team building, selling well over one million copies since its release. I guarantee you that your copy of this book will be as tattered and marked-up as mine. JC

The Team Handbook, Third Edition, Öriel Incorporated, Spiral Bound 2003, ISBN 9781884731266

WHERE TO NEXT? Here for great historical examples of good teamwork Here for fictitious but fatal pitfalls of teams | EVEN MORE: The Wisdom of Teams by Jon R. Katzenbach and Douglas K. Smith; Lean Thinking by James P. Womack and Daniel T. Jones; The Lean Six Sigma Pocket Toolkit by Michael L. George, et al.