How many times has this scene played out in your organization?

The leadership team has landed on an issue. No one has any real idea of how the group landed on the issue, but it’s being discussed: We need to redesign the thigamajig work center to make workflow more efficient. A team of outside experts is assembled, while the actual employees of the work center are temporarily moved out. Demolition and construction follow and, six months later, the space is complete. Sure, it was costly, but now it’s state of the art.

But the workers don’t like the end result. Technicians complain that the new space doesn’t work. A recap of the redesign project shows that their voices and views were absent in the process.

They were never asked.

Why?  Many managers don’t know how to let go. They are trained to problem solve rather than delegate it.  “Employee teams are a resource largely overlooked in organizations.  The people with the most intimate knowledge of the issue and with the best ideas on how to improve aren’t even consulted,” notes Rich Palmay, Dulye & Co. Senior Consultant.

Employee teams are a tremendous resource for an organization. They promote engagement, personal and professional development, teamwork and collaboration.  “Dulye & Co.’s strategy for employee teams is founded in diversity—diversity by tenure, departments, jobs. So in addition to solving operational or organizational problems, the diversity helps to take down silos that stymie collaboration.”

There are many other perks as well. Among them:

• Employees come away with a new sense of pride and accomplishment. 
• They form new bonds with the leadership team and learn more about the business that they work at – but never really knew.  This new knowledge and engagement is infectious. 
• They incite others to get involved. When other employees see what their peers have accomplished and feel the pride and excitement, they, too want to be part of it.
• Employees learn teambuilding and problem solving techniques. Dulye & Co. takes a process approach to forming and facilitating teams. Every minute counts for team meetings. Guided by formal agendas, effective meeting practices and follow-through checks, teams learn how to get results, efficiently.

“Teams need to be provided the resources and the guidance to succeed,” says Palmay, “but not overtly directed or led.  Their accomplishments need to be their own and they will assume accountability and responsibility – ownership – over those things they put in place.  That would not be the case if they were directed by management to do this, that and the other thing.”

And the rewards are great.

“We’ve had teams address and make improvements on issues like trust in the workplace; redesign the business’ on-the-spot recognition program; take ownership over the quarterly town hall meeting; monitor and measure the leadership team on their walk-around process and much, much more,” says Palmay.  “We have two teams at one of our clients who launched processes that not only improved the business, but led to a Gold Quill Award by the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) and a Silver Quill award in a regional competition!”
And, when the process and foundation is solid, good teams lead to new and better teams that continue to get more people involved and fuel the engine of continuous improvement.

“Personally and professionally, working with teams is one of the most rewarding things that any of us can do,” adds Palmay. “They improve businesses and enrich individuals – how can you ask for anything more than that in a business setting?”