Organizational culture and team effectiveness - How are they related?

Teams and team building have received a great deal of attention over the last decade. Organizational culture has likewise received a great deal of attention. One of the strongest arguments for why organizations struggle with change is that they are trying new things in a culture that is not supportive of those efforts. Culture has a strong influence on how each individual responds to their peers. This paper discusses the relationship between team effectiveness and the culture present in the organization. In other words, when certain cultural characteristics are present what impact does that have on the effectiveness of the teams in that organization? By showing this relationship, and providing a set of tools for measuring this effect, it is possible to identify cultural changes that can be made to enhance team effectiveness. Using the Organizational Cultural Assessment developed by Ronda Reigle, organizations have been surveyed to assess the amount of organic versus mechanistic characteristics present. These same groups were assessed using the Larson and LaFasto team maturity survey to evaluate the presence of the eight characteristics of effective teams. The results of the two surveys are quantified and the relationships discussed.