Forming X-teams the way to operate during these times

IN THE face of a deadly pandemic, entrepreneurs and business people across the globe have stepped up to the Covid-19 challenge. Teams are forming to invent new testing procedures, develop vaccines, find and train health workers, feed the hungry and convert factories to produce ventilators. These are exciting ventures but to make the most of our efforts, we must shift to new ways of operating.

One way to supercharge these efforts is to structure our teams more effectively. For example, we can shift from more traditional teams with an internal perspective and stable structures to teams that shift their membership - gathering experts from inside and out, as they form and cycle through phases of innovation and execution. We call them X-teams and here is how they work.

In general, traditional teams move quickly to meet, define the problem, set goals, and get to work. But X-teams go out before they go in. Before setting goals, they reach out to make sense of changing circumstances and learn what is most needed to align their work with organisational/government priorities, harness resources and to coordinate their work with other groups. This sense-making, resourcing and coordination continue throughout the team's life.

For example, a pharma team seeking to create a new vaccine might look at what is going on in other companies and consider existing solutions as well as promising new ones, gather team members and experts and get its testing facilities and the Food and Drug Administration onboard - all before setting a clear direction.

Traditional teams often struggle early on with membership. Should students and staff be part of a university committee looking at moving courses online, or will they slow the group down? Should those creating new vaccines include a watchdog group and patients, or will that impede innovation?

The problem with traditional teams is that membership is binary: in or out.

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X-teams, on the other hand, have flexible membership. Members can be on the team part-time or for only part of the cycle, they can engage early on to provide ideas or later in the process to bring a project to fruition.

The question is not "in or out" but when and how often? Meetings do not all have to have the same participants; there can be five or 30 participants, depending on the need.

But who decides who to include and when to include them? X-teams have different types of members. The core is a small group that can convene quickly, make decisions and keep the team on track. The core is the set of people most accountable for the team's deliverables. The operational members participate in the work of the team, but do not run it. And what we refer to as outer-net members come in as needed. The rule though, is that there has to be some core stability and members have to help others to come on board.

For example, a team that was formed to find supplies for nursing homes had a core consisting of nursing home administrators and government officials. They brought in some data-analytics experts only to find that the problem was also about recruiting and training. A recruiting expert joined the core while the operational and outer-net groups expanded. The question is not who is or is not a member, but who is needed to manage, produce and augment the team's work as it evolves?

Effective X-teams make timely transitions across phases. At the start, external sense-making and relating are key. This is the time to bring in new information and perspectives, consider multiple approaches, brainstorm potential solutions and engage in divergent thinking. But set a deadline on this exploration phase so that the team can decide on one direction to take and then set up to create the product, process or test.

This next phase of execution is the time to decide on one approach and make it happen. And if it does not work, then start all over again. Finally, the team needs to consider how to export its work to the stakeholders who need it most, to educate them about why they should care, so that it is met with enthusiasm rather than rejection.

Traditional teams have great advantages, but X-teams organised as we suggest will enable us to supercharge our energies and efforts against a global pandemic.