About Action Teams
An Action Team is a group of typically 3 to 8 people, formed to work together tackling a problem or an improvement.
They go under various names:- Project Teams, Service Action Teams, Improvement Teams, Taskforces, Quality Circles - all operating along similar lines. The two most common ones are outlined below.
Local Improvement Teams |
Project Teams |
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The 3 Keys to successful Improvement Action Teams
Studies of such improvement project teams that were recognised as being highly successful identifies three key elements, summarised in the diagram below.
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Where the teams had a project that they felt was clearly valuable they were able to take ownership of it and invest the required effort to define and tackle it. Teams that did not were often unable to agree on what the project was really about.
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Where teams adopted a structured approach to tackling the project they organised themselves and generally delivered good outcomes. Teams that did not tended to argue from the basis of their personal preferences.
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Where teams had good teamwork with a healthy team climate and atmosphere they were able to work openly and cooperatively to carry out the project. Teams that did not tended to be tainted by conflict, politics, and people withdrawing or coasting.