Evolving from Teamwork to Teaming

Amy Edmondson, Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at the Harvard Business School, authored a book last year entitled Teaming; How Organisations Learn, Innovate, and Compete in the Knowledge Economy, in which she defines 'teaming' as "teamwork on the fly: a pick up basketball game rather than plays run by a team that has trained as a unit for years", and then expands as follows

Stable teams of people who have learned over time to work well together can be powerful tools. But, given the speed of change, the intensity of market competition, and the unpredictability of customers' needs today, there often isn't enough time to build that kind of team. Instead, organisations increasingly must bring together not only their own far-flung employees from various disciplines and divisions but also external specialists and stakeholders, only to disband them when they've achieved their goal or when a new opportunity arises. 
This evolution of teamwork presents serious challenges. In fact, it can lead to chaos. But employees and organisations that learn how to team well - by embracing several project management and team leadership principles - can reap important benefits

Edmondson then defines 5 key behaviours of successful teaming, and if these provide guidance on the 'what', FranklinCovey's capability is to provide insights into the 'how' for each. For example

• Speaking up ("communicating honestly and directly with others by asking questions, acknowledging errors, raising issues and explaining ideas"); FranklinCovey's approach starts with the intent colleagues have in teaming situations to seek mutually beneficial outcomes, explores how to use this as a motivation to speak up and then provides insight into how they can so this in a way that others will be responsive to 
• Experimenting ("taking an iterative approach to action that recognises the novelty and uncertainty inherent in interactions between individuals and in the possibilities and plans they develop"); FranklinCovey provides a format for structuring interactions with others so colleagues can mutually explore a situation (uncovering new issues / different outcomes they may not have been aware of) and then consider the broader context and possible constraining factors (as they seek to move forward)
• Reflecting ("observing, questioning and discussing processes and outcomes on a consistent basis - daily, weekly, monthly - that reflects the rhythm of work"); In the midst of multiple calls on team members time, urgent requests that arise unexpectedly and the general sense of 'busyness' that many feel in their role, FranklinCovey's approach helps people to think differently about how they spend / divide their time, with specific tips on weekly and daily planning so they can effectively execute on their good intentions 
• Listening Intently ("working hard to understand the knowledge, expertise, ideas and opinions of others"); FranklinCovey's experience is that the highest level of listening is empathic listening, where the end in mind is not to advise, probe, interpret or evaluate but simply to understand. Its also our experience that people find this to be the most challenging level (as many find it hard not to filter what they hear through their own experiences) and our work here is to help team members develop these empathic listening skills.
• Integrating (synthesising different facts and points of view to create new possibilities"); FranklinCovey's 3rd Alternative thinking provides a synergy process by which team members can conceive new and different ways of working that can help then move beyond transactional outcomes and achieve the potential for real transformation together.