Specify a Compelling Team Purpose

Collaborative Intelligence: Using Teams to Solve Hard Problems, is an eleven-chapter book written by J. Richard Hackman, the Edgar Pierce Professor of Social and Organizational Psychology at Harvard University, and published by Berrett-Koehler Publishers in May of 2011. Although based on the latest scholarly research, the book is written for both the experienced and novice team leader, and can be used as well in academic courses that examine groups and teams. The work comprises three sections. The first, "The Challenge and Potential of Teams," explains the general structural components of a team and the benefits and pitfalls of each. The second part, "Six Enabling Conditions," elaborates in detail on six environmental conditions that can help to produce successful team collaboration. The third part, "Implications for Team Leaders and Organizations," discusses specific methods leaders have adopted, or avoided, to foster collaboration and improve the quality of their teams' work, including what the author calls the 60-30-10 rule. Chapter 5 explores the second of the six enabling conditions for effective teamwork: a compelling team purpose. This chapter is designed to help leaders better articulate desired results and motivate their teams. The author draws upon research to define three attributes that the best statements of purpose possess: (1) a clearly defined objective, (2) a challenging task, and (3) relevance to achieving a br0ader goal. A framework for identifying, applying, and managing a team's focus is developed, and explanations as to why teams drift or lose focus are explored. Additionally, the author examines key indicators of effective and well-designed teamwork.

• Management
• Teams
• Business communication
• Corporate strategy
• Fostering collaboration
• Organizational behavior