The Team Trainer by Gorden et al.: A Management Book Review

Overview and Central Argument

Gorden, William, Erica Nagel, Scott Myers, and Carole Barbato. (1996). The Team Trainer: Winning Tools and Tactics for Successful Workouts. New York: McGraw-Hill.

The central idea of William Gorden, Erica Nagel, Scott Myers, and Carole Barbato's 1996 human resources and management workbook, The Team Trainer: Winning Tools and Tactics for Successful Workouts, is that workplace unity is not something that simply "happens" without systematic effort and controlled activity on the part of leaders and team members. Effective teams are integral to the functioning of today's modern workforce — no man or woman is an island, however skilled and qualified at his or her profession. Even among the most capable employees, human managers must engage in the use of specifically guided team-building tactics to ensure that workplace teams are functional and productive. In short, workplace teams must be true teams, rather than groups of disparate individuals simply working to meet deadlines for an organization.

One analogy that comes to mind when reading this text is that much like a successful individual physical workout, effective skill-building exercises must be deployed so that individuals in a given workplace can function together and meet deadlines. In a successful team, every member fulfills an essential and unique function, without overlapping or conflicting responsibilities, goals, and tasks. In the words of one chapter, team members must be aware of when and where the ball is in their court, and not expend their energies attempting to "hit" the balls of others, or let their own drop. Much like a sports team, as opposed to an individual event, once individuals have built their own skills in training sessions, they can and must come together and work as one singular unit.

Team Roles, Leadership, and Individual Contribution

One of the reasons this book is so effective for managers in an organizational context is that it outlines the dos and don'ts of team-based quality improvement in an enthusiastic fashion while still keeping an eye on productivity goals and deadlines. Enthusiasm is key when motivating employees, and the book provides practical guidelines for team-based leadership exercises, while allowing for the fact that not every team member can be a leader at every stage of the skill-building or task-completion process. The book also accepts that teams under a leader's supervision will encounter inevitable frustrations during initial stages of formulation, and it does not present a vision of uncomplicated success — something any manager can relate to from personal experience.

As noted in Chapter 24, a good team member and a good team leader must never be without a personal toolkit of problem-solving exercises and devices. Ignoring failure or frustration simply leads to more failure and frustration, as any manager can attest when attempting to facilitate personal growth and change in a team context.

The main point the book makes is that multifaceted teams composed of diverse personalities and professionals are necessary to the workplace, but no employee can expect to lead every organizational team or play the same role on every team. Stressing that employees must learn to listen and work well with others by playing different team positions is a critical dimension of the text. Rather than merely cautioning the need for listening, the authors stress how individuals must be motivated to want to learn, listen, and perform to their highest capacity. The book therefore also emphasizes the need for team leaders and members to engage with workout skill sessions and drills in an enjoyable and energizing way. For a broader context on team-building theory and practice, the field draws on organizational psychology, group dynamics, and leadership research.

Brainstorming and Listening as Core Team Skills

The book's validity resonates with the experience of any human resource manager. Every member of every workplace team naturally wants to lead, yet every group of employees proves unique; not all employees are equally skilled in both leadership and listening. How does one make an employee a leader and an effective listener simultaneously? The book provides helpful suggestions, stressing the need to make every task a learning opportunity and a bonding experience, as well as a production goal. Productivity is enhanced by employee growth on both inter- and intrapersonal levels. Moreover, the book suggests striving for a balance — encouraging all employees on a team to function as both leader and follower — a quality especially relevant given the even greater flexibility demanded of today's workforce.

Brainstorming and listening are two of the most critical skills for all employees — managers and entry-level position holders alike — in any organization that requires creativity. The use of effective brainstorming, the authors suggest, is one of the key skills for any team leader or member to develop over the course of a career. Brainstorming functions as an effective initial icebreaking activity that encourages both expression and mutual learning. It involves a degree of risk, as all members of a group must generate ideas uncritically, without judgment, and commit them to paper. It demands creative thought and imagination — and even a measure of inspiration — during the early stages of group formation. Directing a brainstorming session also demands immediate leadership from the designated team director, who must define the central problem around which the team's purpose will center. The occasional silliness created by free-form brainstorming exercises at the beginning of team training also serves an important introductory function vital to the team-building process.

Listening is another key skill in teamwork and team building. As the team evolves from a loose group into a cohesive unit, active and willing listening — even to challenging or disconcerting ideas — is essential to maximize team results. Interestingly, given its emphasis on effective listening, the book does not take a negative view of groupthink or collective decision-making; it assumes that the purpose of the team is to reach a cohesive, democratic decision under the guidance of a leader.

The primary focus of the book is how to help individual employees function better in organizational team contexts, and how better group decisions create a better organizational framework. The role of a true leader is to maintain motivation and commitment within the team and to encourage listening in a way that makes it easier for individuals to interact — rather than retreating with their vital skills to the sidelines, feeling bullied or ignored by more vocal or dynamic team members.