Organizational Behavior

Group Dynamics and Teams

Virtuoso Teams

Fundamentally different from ordinary groups that most

organizations form to pursue modest goals
Made up of elite experts in their own particular fields and
specially convened for ambitious projects
Work style has a frenetic rhythm
Emanate a discernible energy
Utterly unique in the ambitiousness of their goals, the intensity of
their conversations, the degree of their espirit, and the
extraordinary results they deliver
Consists of star performers who are handpicked to play specific,
key roles
Intense and intimate and work best when forced to work in
cramped spaces under strict time constraints

Risks of Virtuoso Teams

Tough to keep them together once they
achieve their goals
Most organizations consider experts to be too
elitist, egocentric, temperamental, and
difficult to work with
Worried they might come to fisticuffs
Consequently most organizations settle for
ordinary project teams who get along nicely,
and end up with mediocrity.

Managing a virtuoso team

Fischer and Boynton suggested five principles
for leading a virtuoso team:
1. Assemble the stars
Hire only members with the best skills, even if
they have little experience with the problem at
hand.
Traditional Teams
Choose Members for
Availability
Assign members according to
the individuals availability and
past experience with the
problem.
Fill in the team as needed.

Virtuoso Teams
Choose Members for Skills
Insist on hiring only those with
the best skills, regardless of the
individuals familiarity with the
problem.
Recruit specialists for each
position on the team.

Managing a virtuoso team

2. Build the group ego
As your teams project progresses, help stars
break through their egocentrism and morph
into a powerful, unified team with a shared
identity.
Traditional Teams
Emphasize the Collective
Repress individual egos
Encourage members to get
along
Choose a solution based on
consensus
Assure that efficiency trumps
creativity

Virtuoso Teams
Emphasize the Individual
Celebrate individual egos and elicit
the best from each team member
Encourage members to compete, and
create opportunities for solo
performances
Choose a solution based on merit
Assure that creativity trumps
efficiency

Managing a virtuoso team

3. Make work a contact sport
Use face-to-face conversations in designated
spaces to foster impassioned dialogue.
Traditional Teams
Focus on Tasks
Complete critical tasks on time.
Get the project done on time.

Virtuoso Teams
Focus on Ideas
Generate a frequent and rich flow of
ideas among team members.
Find and express the breakthrough
idea on time.

Managing a virtuoso team

4. Respect the customers intelligence
Foster the belief that your teams customers
want more, not less. Youll encourage them to
deliver solutions consistent with this higher
perception.
Traditional Teams
Work Individually and
Remotely
Require individual members to
complete tasks on their own.
Allow communication via email, phone, and weekly
meetings.
Encourage polite conversations.

Virtuoso Teams
Work Together and Intensively
Force members into close physical
proximity.
Force members to work together at a
fast pace.
Force direct dialogue

Managing a virtuoso team

5. Herd the cats
Use time management strategies to balance team
members need for individual attention and
intellectual freedom with the uncompromising
demands and time lines of your high-stakes project.
Traditional Teams
Address the Average
Customer
Attempt to reach the broadest
possible customer base; appeal
to the average.
Base decisions on established
market knowledge.
Affirm common stereotypes.

Virtuoso Teams
Address the Sophisticated
Customer
Attempt to surprise customers by
stretching their expectations;
appeal to the sophisticate.
Defy established market
knowledge.
Reject common stereotypes.