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Team Performance Module navigation.
Module Introduction
Lesson Goals
Team Use
Why
When
Decision Making
Team Types
Development
Goals
Motivation
Performance
CRM
Human Error
Error Management
CRM Effectiveness
Module Summary
Course Conclusion
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Why Use Teams?

Some teams have had spectacular success in improving quality, increasing productivity, and adding to the profitability of their organizations. Examples are:

  • Private Sector Team Results*
    • Shenandoah Life Insurance reduced case handling from 27 to 2 days.
    • Proctor & Gamble lowered manufacturing costs 30% - 40%.
    • General Electric increased productivity 250%.
    • Xerox experienced 30% higher productivity.
    • Rubbermaid developed a new product line that resulted in sales 50% greater than expected.
    • Honeywell increased quality from 82% to 99.5% and output by 280%.
    • American Transtech cut processing time and costs by 50%.
  • U.S. Government Team Results (OPM)
    • U.S. Army, ARDEC reduced Technical Data Package (TDP) preparation time from over 190 days to less than 30 days (500% improvement); errors were reduced from 33% to less than 1%.
    • U.S. Food and Drug Administration, (FDA), Baltimore District Office, Microbiology Lab, cut testing time for food and drug samples 50%.
    • U.S. Treasury Department, IRS Brookhaven Service Center, NY, increased caseload productivity 20% and decreased overdue receipts 15% to 20%.
    • Fort Hood revamped a waste disposal/environmental program, resulting in $3.5 million in savings and cost avoidance.

There are many other examples from both industry and government on the usefulness of teams. To make dramatic change, teams do not have to be large. A team that revolutionized the Burlington Northern Railroad consisted of 7 members; the team that turned around Knight-Ridder newspapers had fourteen.**

* Swenson, D., College of St. Scholastica, Duluth MN, "Teams--the good, the bad, and the ugly."
** Katzenbach, J.R., Smith, D.K., The Wisdom of Teams: Creating the High-Performance Organization, Harper Business, 1993.

 
 

   

  
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