HPMD Bullet: A Team Building Bibliography

HPMD Bullets

BULLET #66
A TEAM BUILDING BIBLIOGRAPHY

Here is a sampling of books, chapters and articles that provide a solid foundation on team building. The single most important lesson we learned from these authors is that team building is more the interpersonal processes of the team members and the small group than the methods and rules for assembly.

Armstrong, David, Managing by Storying Around: A New Method of Leadership, New York: Doubleday Currency, 1992. A gem of a book that illustrates key values and principles at Armstong International by telling "two page" stories, complete with morals. The ones titled "You Want it When?" on pp. 120-121, and "The Endangered Buffalo" on pp. 127-128, are noteworthy for teams.

Belbin, Meredith R., Management Teams: Why They Succeed or Fail, Oxford: Heinemann Professional Publishing, 1990. The Self-Perception Inventory on pp. 153-159 is useful for understanding team roles.

Blanchard, Kenneth et al., The One Minute Manager Builds High Performing Teams, New York: Morrow, 1990. A quick read of team basics in the One Minute Manager parable format Blanchard made famous. It is a basic introduction in the context of Blanchard's situational leadership model.

Bracey, Hyler et al., Managing from the Heart, New York: Delacorte Press, 1990. This is a "business novel" that illustrates five management principles of the author's Atlanta Consulting Group. These apply as well to team interactions. Get the audio tape edition.

Brooks, Frederick P. Jr., The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering, Reading: Addison-Wesley, 1975. This is a classic text on software engineering from the project manager of the IBM OS/360 project. Especially note chapter 3 on The Surgical Team. It provides a good definition of roles and function of the small programming team.

Butman, John, Flying Fox: A Business Adventure in Teams and Teamwork, New York: AMACOM, 1993. This is another enjoyable "business novel." It provides a realistic account of a "new world" team in action, illustrating the personal interaction, politics and set-backs faced by the cross-functional product team. The book is an excellent primer on teams and a basis for group discussions.

Byham, William C. with Jeff Cox, Zapp! The Lightning of Empowerment, New York: Fawcett Columbine, 1988. This is another One Minute Manager type of parable on empowerment and teams.

Carnegie, Dale, How to Win Friends and Influence People, New York: Pocket Books, 1981. This is the classic text on interpersonal communications and the service-oriented relationship. It suggests useful applications for team communications.

Katzenback, Jon R. and Douglas K. Smith, The Wisdom of Teams: Creating the High-Performance Organization, Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1993. This is a good survey of team building concepts and actual corporate teams from two McKinsey partners. It also has useful questionnaire on pp. 62-64 and Q&A guide in Appendix A on pp. 268-291.

Maguire, Steve, Debugging the Development Process, Redmond: Microsoft Press, 1994. A good companion to Brook's Surgical Teams (see above) from a software project leader at Microsoft. Maguire emphasizes quality code and on-time delivery for development teams.

Rodgers, Buck, The IBM Way: Insights into the World’s Most Successful Marketing Organization, New York: Harper and Row, 1987. See chapter 5 on Future-Oriented Marketing, and the wonderful story on pp. 20-21 on corporate values in action.

Schrage, Michael, "The Rules of Collaboration," Forbes: ASAP Supplement, June 5, 1995, pp. 88-89. A recent article that provides a synopsis of the 13 characteristics of successful collaboration, drawing from famous two-person teams.

Wellins, Richard S., Empowered Teams: Creating Self-Directed Work Groups that Improve Quality, Productivity, and Participation, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1991. The annotated bibliography on pp. 241-246 is helpful.

Zenger, John H. et al., Leading Teams: Mastering the New Role, New York: Irwin, 1994. Part II on pp. 175-282 provides 16 interviews with industry leaders committed to teams.

Zoglio, Suzanne Willis, Teams at Work: 7 Keys to Success, Doylestown: Tower Hill Press, 1993. A how-to manual with useful team building exercises. A companion volume on the exercises is available from the publisher.

At HPMD, we are ready to help you tailor and apply the insights of these resources for your specific business needs. Our priority is to develop a long lasting relationship with our clients. We take pride in the fact that most of our business comes from our existing customers.

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