When Teams Work Best : 6,000 Team Members and Leaders Tell What It Takes to Succeed (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Carl E. Larson (Author) "It's a problem that holds captive the entire planet..." (more)
Key Phrases: when teams work best, corporate sales program, collaborative climate, Connect Model, New York, Single Question Format (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

The authors have produced an eminently practical guide to success in collaborative teamwork. 

-- Review

Review

"Frank LaFasto and Carl Larson have done it again! After building a useful framework for team performance in TeamWork they have gone on to collect and analyze exhaustive data that enriches and extends their original work. When Teams Work Best is a gem of a book…. you can’t help but find it useful in today’s organizational world."

 

(LEONARD A. SCHLESINGER )

"LaFasto and Larson offer a tour de force on what makes teams successful. Building on sound theory and relying on extensive research, they offer specific, practical tools that will deliver team value. Team members, business leaders, and organization consultants should not only read, but use this work." 

(DAVE ULRICH )

"When Teams Work Best provides solid practical advice and tools for improving the effectiveness of all teams…. CEO’s take note, this one’s blunt, useful, and refreshing."

 

(RANDY HARWARD )

"This book makes collaboration a vivid and workable concept."

 

(ALLAN R. COHEN )

"Too often, books on teamwork emphasize either applications over theory or theory over application; LaFasto and Larson have effectively combined a fine balance of the two that effectively details both the ‘why’ and the ‘how to’…. An excellent resource for graduate and advanced undergraduate coursework in team development." 

(ANTHONY M. TOWNSEND )

"Duke Hospital has benefited from the ideas LaFasto and Larson present in this book and is a better organization because of it." 

(MICHAEL D. ISRAEL )

"highly readable. . .convincing. . .a must for academic collections and required reading for professionals seeking to maximize human performance and team productivity." 

(J.B. Kashner )

When Teams Work Best: 6000 Team Members and Leaders Tell What it Takes to Succeed by Frank LaFasto and Carl Larson is a practical, ‘user friendly’ guide to the harnessing power of cooperation and teamwork for increased productivity and effectiveness. Individual chapters address what makes a good team member, what makes a good leader, problem solving methodologies, and how to best promote confidence and trust. When Teams Work Best is very highly recommended for anyone charged with the corporate responsibility for cultivating business group work skills! 

(Midwest Book Review )

The authors have produced an eminently practical guide to success in collaborative teamwork. 

(Academic Library Review )

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 221 pages
• Publisher: Sage Publications, Inc; 1 edition (August 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0761923667
• ISBN-13: 978-0761923664
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #21,027 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #10 in	Books > Business & Investing > Management & Leadership > Teams
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive, Practical, September 15, 2002

By	Roger E. Herman (Greensboro, NC USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Teams are everywhere-in all kinds of organizations. Some work beautifully to produce wonderful successes; others are miserable failures. Why? The authors conducted research with over 6,000 team members and discovered five factors that determine a team's success: collaboration, relationships, group processes, leadership, and the organizational environment. This book is a report of what they learned, loaded with plenty of advice for increasing team effectiveness.

After an introductory prologue, the book delivers five well-organized chapters that correspond to the factors of success. The first chapter explores what makes a good team member--abilities and behaviors that matter. What determines how collaborative someone will be in a team setting? The second chapter examines relationships among members of teams: what's most important, where are the greatest challenges, and how can you make it all work?

In the third chapter, the authors look into team problem solving. Included are the distinguishing factors of good problem-solving teams, dynamics and processes of solving problems and making decisions, and building systems that support results. Chapter four really digs into the team leader, reviewing six key dimensions of the role. This chapter alone is worth buying this book. Following the research-based model, the last chapter zeros in on the organizational environment. The authors evaluate management practices, structure and processes, and systems in an insightful look at how the environment affects team performance.

Each chapter is preceded by a one-page Snapshot that offers a valuable overview of the chapter. Two indexes and a half-dozen pages of notes add more value to this volume. Good flow, readable, and useful. Recommended as a good tool for team leaders, members, and encouragers in any organization.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not bad, but not great., April 30, 2006

By	redsfan1358 "redsfan1358" (Cincinnati, Ohio USA) - See all my reviews

This book was O.K. but not great. The information could fit in ten to twenty pages - as in a pamphlet.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars 6,000 Team Members! 6,000 Team Members! 6,000 Team Members!, January 10, 2007

By	D. Moore "SWTexan" (California) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I had this as a text book for an organizational leadership class at the master's degree level. The material is repetitive in its chapter presentations, but the core elements are still good. I just didn't find it to be reader-friendly. For some reason the authors feel compelled to remind the reader every few paragraphs that the responses of more than "6,000 team members" form the basis of their conclusions. I understood that point based on the title and didn't need to be reminded on each page. The book reads as if someone went straight to print with their research paper, rather than making it an engaging read. By chapter 3 I no longer cared about the value of the content, I just hated the book. Seriously. You've been warned.