| The next generation of organizations is being designed largely around the work of teams as a response to the increasing complexity of global environments, demands for both innovation and operational excellence, and innovations in communication and information technologies that enable new organizational capabilities and interconnectedness in the world (Ancona, Bresman, & Caldwell, 2009). In addition, a new leadership paradigm has shifted the focus from the individual hero to a shared partnership that values everyone's contribution (Raelin, 2006). These shifts have created a growing fascination with collaborative forms of leadership. Collaborative management did not simply reinvent the top-down leadership paradigm; it also created a culture of shared goals where team members engage and participate in strategic leadership tasks, thus creating greater speed, scale, and flexibility in organizations' responses to market transitions.;This study examined the collaborative management model created by Cisco and identified what was most important to team effectiveness within this new management model. Since 2003, Cisco has been using cross-functional management teams to work collaboratively across the company. These management teams, entitled councils, boards, and working groups, were jointly responsible for the vision, strategy, and execution of the company's strategic priorities. This research study was designed to answer the question: What makes a council in Cisco's collaborative management structure most effective?;Interviews were conducted with operational leaders from each of Cisco's nine councils and yielded a database of more than 750 unique comments using a grounded theory approach (Punch, 2005). The interviews were analyzed for central themes that were then categorized and coded. The preliminary council effectiveness framework was then validated with the participants and other internal and external experts to assure clarity and thoroughness of the analysis.;Nine critical differentiators of council effectiveness were identified across three broad criteria of culture, process, and results. The culture themes were people, structure, and company. Process themes were described as agreement, alignment, and accountability. The Results themes included stakeholders, decisions, and recognition.;The benefits of creating the right conditions for team effectiveness were not only faster decisions and better business outcomes, but the team itself became more capable over time (Wageman, Nunes, Burrus, & Hackman, 2008). This framework could now be used to better design the councils at Cisco to maximize performance and effectiveness. This study also contributed to the understanding of post-traditional leadership models, including validated measures of collaborative management. |
