Teams of teams research

LSE project exploring the opportunity and challenges for business of teams of teams model

In an evolving agile landscape, organisational silos (Individual units) are time consuming and ineffective.

Siloed teams inhibit adaptability, flexibility, innovation, and efficiency (Brosseau et al., 2019)

So, what is the solution? Build (or recognise!) an alternative model that supports better communication and collaboration across teams and within organisations to empower teams and individuals to perform at their best in fast-changing times: teams of teams.

What are teams of teams?

• Not a hierarchy.
• Not a command of teams.
• A genuine team of teams structure leverages the connections within and between teams and creates a connected culture.

Why teams of teams?

• Research identifies multi-team systems (MTS) or teams of teams as the optimal structure for organisations to deliver results in a fast moving, complex, uncertain environment. (Salas et al., 2008)

• MTS have been found to improve team performance as their focus goes beyond their immediate teams, and instead to cross-team goals using teamwork processes.

• MTS increase innovation and creativity because they leverage the talents and thinking of a broader, diverse set of individuals.

• Whether MTS have been explicitly established or not, the reality is that most organisations are operating them through cross-functional teams and matrices

Knowledge, resilience and motivation

• Knowledge networks, forged through interconnected relationships are essential to the creation, diffusion, absorption and use of knowledge across organisations.

• Shared knowledge includes not just data and expertise, but also shared knowledge of working style and context across teams to genuinely tap into the organisation’s resources.

• Sharing knowledge across all these dimensions enables organisations to be more resilient in fast-changing environments.

• MTS are centered around goal-oriented interdependent teams which increase motivation in team members.

Trust and psychological safety

• Trust is consistently cited in research as a vital component for effective team performance.

• In MTS, trust between teams becomes essential to effective execution and requires building relationships outside the core team.

• Beyond trust, team psychological safety is a concept that was pioneered by Edmondson (1999) who recognized that while organisations can create cultures of psychological safety, it is in teams where it becomes a reality.

Leadership is the key enabler

• The role of leaders within and among teams is to create clarity about the context in which they operate – to see and make sense of the system in which the teams must work.

• Knowledge sharing becomes not simply about content but more broadly about a mindset of unblocking communication channels to enable sharing of content, ideas, context and skills.

• The team leader needs to become untethered from a single team in order to become an effective leader of teams.

• Leaders need to proactively mitigate the potential downsides of MTS – rivalries and slow communication – by becoming the connectors within the system.

1. MTS environments are emerging as the new normal for success in a rapidly changing world. Teams are where the work gets done.
2. Hierarchical leadership is replaced by an evolving network of teams working towards a common goal, building relationships at all levels across the network.
3. MTS exist across the organisation already and not just in specific/selected groups. It is essential to recognize this in order to proactively leverage the opportunity this brings, amplifying MTS impact.
4. MTS need the right kind of leadership – specifically transformational leaders as facilitators and coaches, enabling effective communication and inter-team collaboration. This requires a distinct mindset shift to work in service of the system rather than vice versa.
5. This leadership mindset will enable organizations to proactively mitigate the downsides of MTS, including rivalries and slow communication and instead unleash the power of effective networks of integrated, high performing teams.