P ERCEPTION OF WHAT STRUCTURE IS WITHIN A TEAM

I asked the question How do you set a structure within your team?

Most of the leaders answered this question with establishing a formal governance planning with for example, frameworks, methods and repetitive meetings, defining plans, roles and responsibilities, cyclic weekly processes and so forth. Some replied that this is governed by the organizational hierarchical setup. All of the leaders put weight on the importance of creating clear roles and responsibilities and having the right team composition consisting of complementary skills and qualifications, (in some of the responses, age), knowledge and experience (seniority) areas. Several leaders mentioned it would be important to have one lead

role, that has the overall responsibility for driving the teams’ performance but not all said this.

One leader said, “the use of straight forward communication is important for structure”.

I asked the question What does a structure within team work look like to you?

Most of the informants replied with typical answers to this question. The answers were mainly related to formal governance and the following items were mentioned from several leaders:

clear mandates, clear roles, RACI models/reporting, complementary skills, clear expectations and weekly action meetings. One leader among these said, “descriptions on how we work in different phases”. Some leaders mentioned sharing experience across the team as ‘structure’

and this was in relation to onboarding new members to the team. One leader mentioned gender diversification as a must in structuring the team, he/she meant that this is needed in a team structure, to highlight different views, as this will increase performance of the team.

I asked the question What is a controlling system to you?

Several of the leaders immediately responded clearly defined processes, and procedures describing how we should work, and descriptions of roles and mandates. Some said, “a project control system”. A few related this to quality and risk management and one leader said,

“requirements”. Many leaders related this to structure and that it contained the processes for the whole business. One called it “guidelines” another one, “collaboration”. One of the leaders mentioned that a controlling system in a team environment for him/her was “peer pressure on the team to deliver”. This can perhaps be related to what another leader said as, “expectations on all team members to deliver”.

I asked the question Which types of controlling systems do you use within your team?

Most leaders answered with “role descriptions” and “task descriptions”. Many leaders replied with “action trackers” and “follow up tools”. One leader said “staff meetings” were seen as controlling systems. Others mentioned sales meetings and the tools that were used there, for example Customer Relations Management tools and revenue follow up. Minutes of meeting (Notes from meetings) were also seen as controlling systems. Deadlines, task lists and online digital collaboration document and project sharing rooms other.

I asked the question Which performance appraisal systems have you used within your team?

A few of the leaders said they are going away from traditional performance reviews and instead making this a year-round ongoing process, following up continuously. Two leaders mentioned coaching as a performance appraisal ‘system’ and that this would be used in a “more soft way”

than a traditional IT system-based appraisal solution. Many of the informants said they use parameters set together as one entity, and these comprised of among other: utilization, quality,

sales and values. Some used organizational tools given by the company (company specific, we did not go into the details of these tools.) Many used competency goals evaluation, done every 6 to 12 months. And a few said they used behavior goals evaluation, evaluating how people work with others and the behavior they are having within the team. One leader said, “we do not have these”. We value and evaluate fulfillment, social structures, and the knowledge acquired on a continuous basis. Two leaders answered the use traditional project control systems with resource evaluation within this.

I asked the question What metrics do you use to evaluate team performance?

Since the companies of the informants are selling services within the IT consulting industry, measuring number of or volume of sales was important for all informants. All informants also mentioned quality as a metric to use for evaluating team performance as this would have direct effect on the team performance towards customers. Others were saying that invoiced number of hours were important. Several of the leaders said they use internal feedback forms to measure team performance and productivity. A few leaders said they measure values and how people live up to their values in the company, for example, cooperation and integrity were mentioned as a few. One leader said, “we have moved away from character-based evaluation. We use 4 questions that appeal to emotions. These are qualitative assessments where the intention is to create a positive work environment”. Several of the leaders answered that in evaluating team performance and what is being valued within the company is that the teams should work together as teams and not at all with individual focus, one leader said, “we do not value the

"pointy elbows" mentality and try to create team intensives rather than individual incentives”.

I asked the question What tools, to support you in leading the team, are you using?

Some of the leaders said they use typical project management tools for tracking progress, activities and assessing risk to enhance performance within their teams. HCM, Human Capital Management, surveys to assess team development was also used, these were company specific tools. One leader said, “we use tools where we as leaders are able to measure competency goals,

“we do this on a 6/12 months basis with characters”. Being able to measure behavioral goals as a leader were also present with one of the leaders. Many leaders meant that having meetings 1-1 with the team members was also seen as a “tool” to support the leader in leading. This contributed according to many in building relationships with the teams and their team members, which was seen as important in improving as a leader. One leader said that his/her tool was to share competency with other leaders. One leader meant that creating transparency for and within the team by setting up joint collaboration forums was a tool that worked for him/her. It

seemed most of the leaders measured differently but within the same areas. Several leaders used yearly global attitude surveys where in depth questions are asked on the leaders’ ability to support the team. Others went more into the soft sides of being a leader and said they use company specific leadership training. Only a few of the leaders said they are keeping themselves professionally updated on the management dimension of their role. One leader said,

“I’m attending seminars and conferences to enhance my leadership skills”, another one said, “I would want to and should really attend formal leadership training, but it is time consuming and expensive to do so”. A couple of the leaders mentioned that they are using ‘coaching’ as a frequent tool in exploring and improving their leading capabilities in leading their teams.