MSD Magazine Online..Teams, December 1999/January 2000


	December 1999/January 2000

Sporting life December 1999/January 2000, page 12
The worlds of sport and business seem to be moving closer together. Business is becoming more team orientated and the new management style is coaching. Sport is now big business, where a poor result can affect the share price and determine a manager’s future. In both arenas, the focus is on improving performance and on building high-performance teams that can consistently produce excellent results and achieve at the very highest level. Impact has worked with some of the top sports teams in the country, including the 1997 British Lions. Jeff Jackson looks at the results.

Located apart...working together December 1999/January 2000, page 16
The IT revolution is doing more than changing how we run our organisations. Virtual teams are teams that work together, either on a project or on a regular basis, but seldom, if ever, meet face to face. They’ll have a common goal and work interdependently, but the members may not be located in the same building, or even in the same country. At their best, these teams provide a cost-effective means of meeting a global business challenge, and harness the benefits of teamwork to compete in a global marketplace. Jill Revie explains.

Who’s interfering December 1999/January 2000, page 20
A coach may know little or nothing of the actual work that individuals do. The coach meets with a team of people, facilitates the creation of a vision, then the development of a strategy and then helps the team agree roles and responsibilities and a way of working together. The coach continues working with the team until the vision is achieved. Despite the lack of understanding about individuals’ work, a coach can help a team to reach extraordinary levels of performance. Myles Downey explains how.

The needs of the many December 1999/January 2000, page 24
Collaborative gatherings can help organisations that are faced with complexity, diversity and change. In a world of great change, collaborative gatherings offer the opportunity for people to work together in ways that engender high levels of ownership and commitment. And they complement a collaborative form of governance. There is a wide range of methods for creating them. These are sometimes, if somewhat misleadingly, referred to as large group intervention (LGI) methods. Martin Leith takes a look at the most popular approaches in the marketplace.

Last word

Keeping the key December 1999/January 2000, page 80
Very recently in the UK a new league of giant-sized companies has been created. Fewer companies means fewer leads and potential for new business. For any supplier, therefore, the major account is king. Buyers are better informed, and under more pressure from senior management to squeeze costs. The challenge for the supplier is to find ways of moderating the customer’s power by constantly adding value to its business and earning the right to influence buying decisions in the long term. Philip Foster, Programme Director, Henley Management College explores the subject.