彭蒙惠英语：What Makes a Team Tick?

What Makes a Team Tick?

 

2

Assessing “work style”

How would you characterize the work style of each team member? Is one member a “snap” decision maker¹? Does another rely on intuition? Does another rely heavily on delegation²? People with similar work styles tend to work together effectively.

 

How do members of your team handle and resolve conflict? Do some members take an analytical³ approach toward contested issues? Do some use their authority to address conflict? Do others encourage their peers or subordinates to resolve conflict themselves? The more congruence in conflict management techniques, the greater the likelihood you’ll build a team.

 

How do team members view competition? While competition is an inevitable⁴ part of business life, team members may view competition in diverse ways. Do members tend to compete within the team for scarce budget dollars? For support staff? The degree of team spirit will be related to the degree of cooperation or competition present among team members.

 

Evaluating your team

As you evaluate your team’s prospective⁵ members, you may find they tend to behave in markedly different ways. Don’t be discouraged; they can still work together quite effectively, but the “team” approach may not be their preferred—or most productive—work style.

 

If you have a work group that appears to share similar outlooks and behavior, don’t expect the similarities to be absolute. Perfect congruence almost never occurs, and effective team building doesn’t require absolute conformity⁶ among team members.

 

So ask yourself: How do members of your prospective team stack up? Do they share enough attributes to make for an effective team? If so, you can stop pondering the vague generalities of “team building” and start creating a viable⁷ work unit that reaches each day for profit and success.

 

 

Vocabulary Focus

contested (adj) [5kCntestid] relating to an issue that is being challenged or questioned

inevitable (adj) [in5evitEbl] certain to happen

stack up (idiom) to compare with another thing of a similar type

 

Specialized⁸ Terms

congruence (n) 一致 the state of being in agreement or in harmony

 

如何启动团队

 

2

衡量“工作风格”

你会怎样描绘每位成员的“工作风格”？有人是果断的决策者？有人凭直觉？还有人需要充分授权？作事风格相似的人一起工作易于发挥效率。

 

团队成员如何处理并解决争端？有些人对争论议题采取分析的方式？有些人利用权威来处理争端？还有人鼓励同事或部属自行解决？处理争端的方式愈一致，团队建立的可能性愈高。

 

团队成员如何看待竞争？虽然竞争是企业生命中不可避免的一部分，但团队成员看待它的方式可能各异。成员在团队内竞争是倾向于争取有限的预算？还是为了助理？团队精神的强度与成员间呈现的合作或竞争程度有关联。

 

评估团队

评估团队未来的成员时，你会发现他们的表现似乎南辕北辙。别泄气；他们共事起来还是可以十分有成效的，但“团队”模式可能不是他们喜欢、或最有成效的工作风格。

如果你有一个看起来有着相似的理念和行为模式的工作团队，别指望这种共同性是绝对的。完美的和谐几乎从未存在过，而建立有成效的团队也不需要成员间的步调完全一致。

所以问问自己：你未来团队成员的条件如何？他们具备足够成为一个有成效的团队的特质吗？如果有的话，就不要再琢磨这意义含糊的“团队建立”的说法了，着手去建立一个能够每月逐步达成利润和成功的实际工作团队吧。

 

 

 

1 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

2 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

3 analytical   

adj.分析的；用分析法的

参考例句：

• I have an analytical approach to every survey.对每项调查我都采用分析方法。
• As a result,analytical data obtained by analysts were often in disagreement.结果各个分析家所得的分析数据常常不一致。

4 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

5 prospective   

adj.预期的，未来的，前瞻性的

参考例句：

• The story should act as a warning to other prospective buyers.这篇报道应该对其他潜在的购买者起到警示作用。
• They have all these great activities for prospective freshmen.这会举办各种各样的活动来招待未来的新人。

6 conformity   

n.一致，遵从，顺从

参考例句：

• Was his action in conformity with the law?他的行动是否合法？
• The plan was made in conformity with his views.计划仍按他的意见制定。

7 viable   

adj.可行的，切实可行的，能活下去的

参考例句：

• The scheme is economically viable.这个计划从经济效益来看是可行的。
• The economy of the country is not viable.这个国家经济是难以维持的。

8 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。