Team Building: Proven Strategies for Improving Team Performance

by W. Gibb Dyer Jr., Jeffrey H. Dyer

This book is filled with the concepts, ideas, and practical suggestions that are needed for any manager to have at hand if he or she is a member or creator of a committee, team, task-force, or any other activity involving collaboration among several people. The ideas are proven by several decades of experience and well-supported in the text with numerous examples.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Management, Leadership

240 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1972

About the author

William Gibb Dyer Jr.

Reviews

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Team Building provides good discussion of fundamental team principles. It turns somewhat dry, however, when it starts detailing specific steps to be taken under certain situations. Some chapters will much more applicable when faced with that situation. I will certainly refer back to this book for ideas.

[Alejandro Teruel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Es importante advertir que esta reseña corresponde a la segunda edición del libro, publicada en 1987, y que para el 2013, el libro ya se encuentra en su quinta edición e incorpora como co-autores dos hijos del autor original quien murió en 1997. La cuarta y quinta edición representan modificaciones sustanciales a las ediciones anteriores, al punto que apenas una cuarta parte de los capítulos conservan sus títulos.

La segunda edición incluye, en su primera parte, unos interesantes capítulos sobre la evolución histórica del estudio de grupos y equipos particularmente entre 1950 y 1970, cuando William G. Dyers se formó en el estudio y práctica de los grupos T, capítulos que me parece fueron omitidos o al menos reducidos en las ediciones más recientes.

La segunda edición todavía requería justificar el interés y la importancia de los equipos en la práctica de la gerencia empresarial y se enfoca primordialmente en el problema de transformar departamentos en equipos de trabajo -la mayoría de los instrumentos y de las recomendaciones dadas en este sentido siguen siendo excelentes. Sin embargo, apenas se esboza el concepto más amplio y flexible de equipo que se ha venido desarrollando en años y ediciones posteriores.

El grueso del libro (todo la segunda parte y parte de la tercera parte) se centra en los problemas y el proceso de formación de un equipo incluyendo el caso de la aplicación de tal formación a los comités gerenciales. Dyer presta particular atención a la planificación del programa inicial de formación de equipos. Este material, aunque conserva elementos que siguen siendo aplicables hoy en día, frecuentemente luce envejecido. Han logrado conservar más actualidad los capítulos dedicados a ciertos problemas que suelen aquejar a los equipos, como lo son los conflictos entre sus miembros, los cómodos pero poco productivos consensos obtenidos al tomar como filosofía gerencial rehuir los conflictos y la paradoja de Abilene, una situación llamativa producida por la falta de comunicación y participación efectiva que se presenta cuando los miembros de un equipo terminan por embarcarse en acciones que nadie desea sólo porque creen que los demás las apoyan.

En conclusión, salvo que el lector esté interesado en la evolución del pensamiento sobre equipos como herramienta organizacional, yo le recomendaría leer una copia de al menos la cuarta edición del libro.

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I used this in my undergraduate class last semester on leading teams. In this year long class, much of the students' time is spent in actually planning and carrying out a demanding team project involving real clients and real deliverables. Thus, they want (and deserve) to not have their time wasted on material or assignments that lack practical utility. IMHO, the authors of Team Building have done a fine job of putting together some very useful and important ideas for team leaders. I especially like their development of the 4-C model, and their treatment of conflict in teams was also quite good. My students seemed to think highly of the book also, and had much good to say about the authors writing style, the quality and pragmatism of the content, and the ease of absorption of the material. (Fair disclosure: I know the authors, and respect their experience and competence in the field.)

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good for managers in learning how to bring a team together, identify problems and solve them through teambuilding activities and communication.

[Bruce Flanagan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Useful

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this for work and it was actually quite good. I wish I had read it years ago, as it would have helped in previous work situations.

[Greg Danklef · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick read and some really great ideas for team building.

[Deb · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great book to reference for team building challenges.

[Ridwan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good Book for reference

[Olivia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A helpful text filled with best practices for how to form teams and help them to succeed

[Bredo Erichsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lot of good examples together with the theory. I like it

[Justin Mertes · Rating 4 out of 5]

A hyper-practical book full of assessments, evaluations, and wisdom spanning all kinds of teams: cross-cultural, inter-departmental, small, large, temporary, etc.

Perhaps most valuable as a resource for the future, when I am assigned to lead some sort of team and think "What have I gotten myself into", and want to make sure I do the due diligence in respecting my team's time, intelligence, and skills.

One of the greatest takeaways of this book is the consistent theme of constant evaluation. If a leader doesn't know how their team is doing, they will not be meeting the real needs of the team.

[Harry Griffin]

This book is a great read! This book explains insights on team building. In the text, the author gives several examples of successful or high performing teams. The book also mentions several examples of unsuccessful or low performing teams. This book would be a great addition to a high school classroom library. It will allow readers to obtain knowledge and skills on how to build high performance teams.