Cross- Functional Teams: Working with Allies, Enemies, and Other Strangers

From Booklist
The old maxim that politics makes for strange bedfellows has proved true over the years, and today's workers will agree that business does the same. Consultant Parker probes the nature of corporate groups today; examines their inner workings, successes, and failures; and explains why cross-functional–that is, members from different departments–can influence company products, performance, and profits. Despite its heavy-sounding title, the book is easy to read. Parker cites the usual stellar array of admired corporations, from Federal Express to Xerox, to make his point, and tries to expunge the jargon of the day from his language. A readily accessible guide to get people working together. Barbara Jacobs –This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review
"One of our retail divisions was in a great deal of difficulty and running in the red for some time. Needing to get everyone focused and working as a supportive team in a short period of time, we asked Glenn Parker to help. Through his effort and expertise, and the ideas presented in Cross-Functional Teams, we were able to attain functionality in a remarkable short period of time. This division went on to experience phenomenally profitable growth. I credit Glenn for this."
— Michael Zaccaro, vice chairman, Phillips-Van Heusen Company

"Being successful in today's fast-paced global business environment requires many divisions and departments to work collaboratively on teams. Cross-Functional Teams by Glenn Parker provides a very real perspective and actual solutions for integrated teams to enssure that the best talent, experience, and ideas are applied to meet the business needs. From my personal experience, his ideas and solutions work."
— Peter B. Corr, senior vice-president, Science and Technology, Pfizer, Inc.

"If you are truly committed to making real teamwork a part of your company's culture, this is a must read. Glenn Parker leads the reader initially to an awakening and then to the ultimate conclusion that cross-functional teams are essential to maximizing your organization's effectiveness. This book provides a detailed roadmap first to diagnosis and then to directing a journey to greater performance. I am now a convert."
— Robert Bitterman, president, Dermik Laboratories

"Parker's book fills an important void in the world of team performance. It is loaded with practical examples from many different situations that can help anyone strengthen cross-functional teaming efforts."
— Jon Katzenbach, senior partner, Katzenbach Partners, and coauthor, The Wisdom of Teams

"This book will be valuable in many ways to people leading or supporting cross-functional teams in many industries. And it will be valuable to those industries through its use in the college classroom. With increasing emphasis on teaming skills in engineering, accounting, marketing, and other disciplines, exposure to the contents of this book will build the pool of talent that companies can tap when they hire those graduates."
— Michael Beyerlein, director, Center for the Study of Work Teams, University of North Texas



Book Description
In this completely revised version of his best-selling book, Cross-Functional Teams: Working with Allies, Enemies, and Strangers, author and consultant Glenn Parker updates his definitive practical guide to include his recent work in team rewards and recognition, communications technology, and multicultural and virtual-team issues. This new edition contains fresh examples and additional case studies of successful cross-functional teams from IBM, Parke-Davis, Xerox, Boeing, BOC Gases, government agencies, and more. Parker offers concrete advice and inspiration to team leaders, team members, and senior management. Cross-Functional Teams delivers a team operating manual to executives, team leaders, human resource professionals, and students of organizational behavior and provides a tool kit of assessment surveys, worksheets, checklists, and even sample training programs to help launch and sustain effective teams.

Book Info
Definitive guide to creating a team approach that serves customers. Identifies how over 100 successful organizations area leading this revolutionary change to cross-functional teams. DLC: Work groups. –This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Inside Flap
In organization after organization, individuals from a variety of disciplines are collaborating on cross-functional teams to produce dramatic business solutions. The recent explosion of global and virtual teams has made defining leadership roles, empowering teams, appraising and rewarding team members, connecting with key stakeholders, implementing communication technology, and managing cross-cultural relationships obstacles to team success.

In this completely revised version of his best-selling book, Cross-Functional Teams: Working with Allies, Enemies, and Strangers, author and consultant Glenn Parker updates his definitive practical guide to include his recent work in team rewards and recognition, communications technology, and multicultural and virtual-team issues. This new edition contains fresh examples and additional case studies of successful cross-functional teams from IBM, Parke-Davis, Xerox, Boeing, BOC Gases, government agencies, and more. Parker offers concrete advice and inspiration to team leaders, team members, and senior management. Cross-Functional Teams delivers a team operating manual to executives, team leaders, human resource professionals, and students of organizational behavior and provides a tool kit of assessment surveys, worksheets, checklists, and even sample training programs to help launch and sustain effective teams. Cross-Functional Teams offers advice on how to

* Achieve organizational goals by igniting team creativity and accountability
* Develop a successful cross-functional team with an effective leader, a clear purpose, a well-honed training plan, a diverse and empowered membership, and the required resources
* Recognize and dismantle team barriers and build bridges to success
* Reward team performance and tackle the sticky issue of performance appraisals

Practical and accessible, Cross-Functional Teams will transform the way you think about teams and how your team performs. This revised edition of Parkers best-seller equips your team with the tools to reach new heights of organizational effectiveness in the twenty-first-century world.



From the Back Cover
"One of our retail divisions was in a great deal of difficulty and running in the red for some time. Needing to get everyone focused and working as a supportive team in a short period of time, we asked Glenn Parker to help. Through his effort and expertise, and the ideas presented in Cross-Functional Teams, we were able to attain functionality in a remarkable short period of time. This division went on to experience phenomenally profitable growth. I credit Glenn for this."
— Michael Zaccaro, vice chairman, Phillips-Van Heusen Company

"Being successful in today's fast-paced global business environment requires many divisions and departments to work collaboratively on teams. Cross-Functional Teams by Glenn Parker provides a very real perspective and actual solutions for integrated teams to enssure that the best talent, experience, and ideas are applied to meet the business needs. From my personal experience, his ideas and solutions work."
— Peter B. Corr, senior vice-president, Science and Technology, Pfizer, Inc.

"If you are truly committed to making real teamwork a part of your company's culture, this is a must read. Glenn Parker leads the reader initially to an awakening and then to the ultimate conclusion that cross-functional teams are essential to maximizing your organization's effectiveness. This book provides a detailed roadmap first to diagnosis and then to directing a journey to greater performance. I am now a convert."
— Robert Bitterman, president, Dermik Laboratories

"Parker's book fills an important void in the world of team performance. It is loaded with practical examples from many different situations that can help anyone strengthen cross-functional teaming efforts."— Jon Katzenbach, senior partner, Katzenbach Partners, and coauthor, The Wisdom of Teams

"This book will be valuable in many ways to people leading or supporting cross-functional teams in many industries. And it will be valuable to those industries through its use in the college classroom. With increasing emphasis on teaming skills in engineering, accounting, marketing, and other disciplines, exposure to the contents of this book will build the pool of talent that companies can tap when they hire those graduates."
— Michael Beyerlein, director, Center for the Study of Work Teams, University of North Texas




About the Author
Glenn M. Parker is a consultant and trainer who has helped create high-performance teams at Bristol-Myers Squibb, Phillips-Van Heusen, Telcordia Technologies, BOC Gases, and the U.S. Coast Guard. He is the author of numerous best-selling books and manuals on teams, including: Team Players and Teamwork (Jossey-Bass, 1990), Cross-Functional Teams: Working with Allies, Enemies and Other Strangers (Jossey-Bass, 1994), Cross-Functional Teams Toolkit (Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer, 1997), and Team Depot: A Warehouse of 585 Tools to Reassess, Rejuvenate, and Rehabilitate Your Team (Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer, 2002). He also coauthored Rewarding Teams: Lessons from the Trenches (Jossey-Bass, 2000) with Jerry McAdams and David Zielinski, and 50 Activities for Team Building (HRD Press, 1991).