Team Players and Teamwork:
New Strategies for Developing Successful Collaboration
Completely Updated and Revised
Second Edition
Since the publication of the first edition in 1990, there have been significant and often dramatic changes in the business environment in which teams now operate. Teams are now cross-functional, cross-cultural and even virtual. With team players often serving on multiple teams, leadership has become both more important and more challenging.
In this thoroughly revised and updated edition, I analyze these trends and show how my concept of effective teamwork and team players is even more relevant today. In the book I explode the myth that there is one way to be a good team player. The research upon which the book is based revealed that there are four team player styles that are critical to the success of any team--contributors who bring information and focus on the task at hand, collaborators who provide a sense of purpose and get the team to create set of goals, communicators who look after the people issues and help the team address group process, and challengers who candor encourages the team to question their goals and methods. Drawing on examples from over 50 companies, the book demonstrates how the right mix of these different styles creates a dynamic team whose members complement each other.
Using new research coupled with examples from my consulting practice over the years, the book provides specific, practical tools that will help both leaders and members identify their style and develop plans to increase their effectiveness and avoid the pitfalls associated with each style. I also describe in detail the 12 characteristics of an effective team and how each characteristic has been impacted by the changing team landscape.
The Appendix includes the first editions of the two Parker instruments, the Parker Team Player Survey and the Parker Team Development Survey.
Team Players and Teamwork was selected by Tom Brown, Industry Week columnist and commentator for American Public Radio as one of the 10 best business books of 1990. It was also a selection of Soundview's Executive Book Summaries.
"Glenn's book is a must-read for team leaders and team members who looking for a comprehensive set of tools and ideas to help teams perform more effectively."
---Robert Hoffman, executive director, organization development and talent management, oncology business unit, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation
226 pages, hard cover. Order from Amazon.