The following is a guest post written by Therése Palmiotto, senior underwriter for Travelers Select Accounts.

Many companies today are turning towards the integration of work-teams into the traditional office environment. Managers are hopeful that this new work structure will help the organization improve in areas of efficiency, production and effectiveness.

The alignment of employees into individual work teams is a relatively new concept in the United States.  Although it is growing in popularity within many different organizations, there is still not enough historical information gathered in order to establish a coherent set of rules, values or formulas. Companies adopt the concept and it is uniquely applied to each work situation since we are essentially still in the learning process when it comes to developing strong work teams within an organization.

Teamwork can be exciting and can lead to some of the most rewarding experiences of an individual’s working career. It can also be frustrating, difficult, and challenging, however.

Any change to the way that a company operates internally can also be a potential risk to it’s reputation in the marketplace. Aligning your staff into a more team-focused environment may mean better collaboration and communication behind the scenes, but the shift in roles could also expose your employees to negative perception. Competitors’ ears seem to perk up just enough to catch wind of organizational changes and opportunities to poke holes in a company’s reputation. Most difficulties can actually be predicted and with the use of proper tools, can be tackled and overcome. Recently, Billy Beane, the general manager of Major League Baseball’s Oakland Athletics and the subject of the best-selling book and Academy Award-nominated film Moneyball discussed  how risk and data play a part in running a baseball team. In his discussions, Beane speaks about how using risk management techniques had helped him develop and lead a successful baseball team. If risk management skills can benefit a professional sports team, then we can apply the strategies of successful sports teams to help risk management and insurance professionals in developing successful work team environments within their own organizations.

The design of work teams is based on the theory of synergy. The productivity of the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

This is a concept that sounds like something I remember hearing many times, beginning with the first practice at t-ball at age five. Teams that are well-functioning offer mutual support of its members, which helps increase morale and generally brings out the best in its members. These are positive by-products that any manager would want to see among baseball players or office employees. Both on the field and behind a desk, the creation and maintenance of successful teams comes down to effective management, strong leadership and clear communication.

MANAGEMENT starts from the top down. Key decisions on the baseball field start well in advance of opening day. The entire baseball season starts at the top with the owners — in the business world, we call them high-level executives. Deciding to incorporate work teams is a major organizational change. It needs to be well-supported at the top and clearly communicated down the lines. When the foundations and concepts are established at the senior management level, employees are more apt to buy into the change. In the story of Moneyball, the coach desperately wanted to build ateam with big names and high salaries, but that was not the message that Billy Beane had in mind. Using a theory based on data analytics and risk management, Beane could not see paying for skill sets that didn’t correlate with winning. It was his unique strategy and in order for it to work, it had to be established at the top and carried out and supported by the lower level managers and coaches.

ACCOUNTABILITY is crucial. Baseball players know exactly what is expected of them. They know what their responsibilities are and they know how they fit into the big picture. A pitcher knows that a bad pitch will impact the catcher’s performance. The same rules apply when talking about work teams in an office environment. Establishing accountability will also hold very strong to the success of the ultimate change. Specific objectives are important not only to identify the achievement goal, but also to pinpoint who will be responsible for these changes. The human resource department will most likely have to develop new approaches towards incentive pay and bonuses, and depending on the strategic nature of the objectives, new performance metrics may also be necessary.

COMMUNICATION that is clear and consistent is the absolute key to success. Managers need to communicate with employees who are affected by an organizational change, not at them. For any change efforts to be effective, there must be a level of buy in from those who are affected by it. Early involvement and communication are two ways this can be accomplished. It is important to recognize the value of involving employees when planning change through various methods, including task force committees, focus groups, surveys hotlines or conversations, both formal and informal. Ball clubs also communicate by collecting feedback from those on the field. After each game, players go into the locker room, where the managers, coaches and players all talk about what went well and what didn’t. The team’s performance is analyzed and teammates offer recommendations on how to do better next time. Much like players spend hours watching game tapes, organizations should be stepping back to review and evaluate the organization’s performance amidst such a change.

 Seeking feedback from their employees is another way to analyze the situation. Asking people how they feel and what they think makes people feel more involved. When employees feel involved, they’re more accepting of change and feel more support for the change initiative.

Managers of baseball teams have relatively easy ways of measuring success. If the team makes it to the playoffs, it’s a pretty clear sign that the team is working well together. When ticket sales are low, and the team finishes the season with a losing record, owners understand immediately that the team is seriously lacking. In business, we don’t have the luxury of such cut and dry performance feedback, but we can rely on reputation as a litmus test for success. Don’t forget that internal changes don’t just impact the employees. Using strategies from the field to develop strong workteams will help to successfully manage your organization.