TEAM DEVELOPMENT

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TEAM DEVELOPMENT Through the Life-Cycle of the
Technology Enterprise
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ABOUT LARCEN STRAYER

• Building strong business fundamentals through
  excellent people practices
• Integral part of Silicon Valley since 1983
• Involved with 200 start-ups
• Business approach focused on tools and techniques

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AGENDA

• Overview the basics of team development
• Frame the start-up life-cycle
• Identify the challenges inherent in each stage of
  the cycle
• Review strategies for building effective teams
  through each stage

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CHARACTERISTICS OF HIGH PERFORMING TEAMS

• Communicate openly and freely
• Provide each other with open, direct feedback
• Hold each other accountable
• Manage time and effort productively
• Fully utilize diverse strengths, styles, points
  of view
• Define and follow decision making guidelines
• Manage conflict effectively

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Team Development Process
Stage 5 Collaboration
Stage 4 Individual Differentiation
PERFORMING
Stage 3 Confrontation

• NORMING
• expectations of leaders
• interdependencies

Stage 1 Membership
Stage 2 Sub-Grouping

• STORMING
• feedback
• rules of engagement
• power

• FORMING
• style
• values/philosophy
• roles

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KEYS TO CREATING HIGH PERFORMING TEAMS

• Recognize and plan to the inevitability of the
  cycle
• Devote time to team development activities
• Identify and immediately address team issues
• Set and enforce constructive team norms
• Readdress team development with any change in
  team composition
• Dont tolerate the prima donna syndrome

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STARTUP LIFE CYCLE
Boredom!
Mature Adult
Build the Organization
Emerging Adult
Satisfy the Customers
Adolescence
Childhood
Complete the Product
Survival!
Infancy
Clarify the Idea
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CHARACTERISTICS OF CHILDHOOD

• Like a 2-year-old -- into everything
• Success and arrogance
• See no problems -- only opportunities
• Every opportunity is a priority
• No systems, no policies, no control
• Planning by wishful thinking
• Founder struggles with delegation
• Founder first to violate rules and policies

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CHILDHOOD -- COMMON TEAM ISSUES

• Lack of diversity of skills and points of view
  (focus on product development)
• Founder team resistance
• Group think if all come from same company
• CEO hiring his friends rather than to needs
• Morphing roles

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CHILDHOOD -- RECOMMENDED TEAM ACTIVITIES

• Clarify vision, values and rules of engagement
• Agree upon and enforce standards for
  accountability
• Define a common vision for leadership
• Create clear descriptions of roles (and how they
  may change with growth)
• Set an expectation for ongoing assessment,
  feedback and development
• Reserve time devoted to team-building

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CHARACTERISTICS OF ADOLESCENCE

• High turnover, complaints from senior leaders
• Oozing strategy -- still highly opportunistic
• Chaotic, overwhelmed -- not focused on priorities
• Constant change in roles
• Rebellion against beginning structure
• Senior managers still doing too much hands on
  -- need to build next level management

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ADOLESCENCE -- COMMON TEAM ISSUES

• Additions to leadership team result in narrowing
  roles
• Jobs may outgrow skill levels of initial
  executives
• Size and complexity of business require narrowing
  of involvement in decision-making
• CEO transition may result in style change
• VPs (individually and as a team) must move into
  more strategic role

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ADOLESCENCE -- RECOMMENDED TEAM ACTIVITIES

• Make sure structure continues to track to
  evolving vision
• Clearly define new roles before hiring new
  members of team
• Support individuals and team in clarifying
  changes in roles
• Proactively address changes in decision-making
  involvement
• Continue to expect ongoing assessment, feedback
  and development
• Continue to devote time to teambuilding,
  addressing the need to re-form with new members
• Pay attention to building functional and
  cross-functional teams

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LEADERSHIP TEAM
Mature Adult

• Plan for Growth
• Develop growth strategy
• Instill discipline
• Build next level of leaders

Emerging Adult

• Cross Functional Planning
• Develop and align around strategic plan
• Create framework for monitoring functional
  performance
• Identify/address infrastructure needs

Adolescence

• Effective Functional Team Leadership
• Functional support of product introduction
• Plan for scaling function
• Identify/prioritize skill/headcount needs

Childhood
Infancy
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SIGNS OF TROUBLE

• Turf battles
• High turnover/complaints from senior leaders
• Lack of visibility/plan from each function
• Unclear roles/boundaries
• Tolerance of prima donna behavior
• Lack of cross-functional goal alignment
• No clear successors or next level managers
  identified

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CEO ROLE
Mature Adult

• DELIVERING RESULTS AND PREPARING THE MARKET
• IPO
• M A
• STRATEGIC PARTNERS

Emerging Adult
BUILDING THE CROSS-FUNCTIONAL TEAM
Adolescence
DRIVING THE TECHNICAL TEAM
Childhood
FOUNDER GROUP DOMINANCE
Infancy
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SIGNS OF TROUBLE

• High turnover, complaints from senior leaders
• Company is focused on short-term transactions
  rather than long terms strategies
• Frequent tension/conflict between CEO and Board
• Lack of credibility with investors
• Ineffective recruitment of senior leaders
• Lack of communication/understanding of vision
• Dysfunctional culture