Building effective R&D teams: The senior manager's role

As teams become increasingly powerful tools for achieving business goals, the relationship between teams and the leaders responsible for their performance necessarily changes. A 34-company study has defined a new team-centered role for senior managers who lead multiple reams. The new role demands both translational and transformational leadership behavior; as well as the mastery of 16 key management practices in the areas of accountability partnering buy-in, coaching, and resources/systems. A second dimension of the new role is the creation of a positive working environment for teams by promoting and sustaining seven company characteristics linked to team results-characteristics such as customer satisfaction and communication.