Building teamwork in USAID"s Dominican Republic Mission

This document describes Mission staff"s participation in a series of workshops designed to increase understanding of the team approach to development and build skills and knowledge to become effective team members. Strategic objective (SO) teams were created by having individuals select the SO they were most interested in, resulting in empowerment and mutual accountability. Leadership issues were resolved and defined by the SO teams themselves, and the definition developed for a team leader was used as a contract between the team and its leader, leading to a deeper level of empowerment and mutual accountability. The SO teams then determined Mission organization, agreeing that SO teams would replace technical offices, and debated issues such as extent of support office participation on SO teams, office space, and secretarial support. Critical decisions were the result of group consensus, and SO teams were committed to making their organizational decisions work. Finally, the teams discussed the roles and responsibilities of the Mission director and deputy, communicated the resulting decisions to the rest of the Mission, and planned team start-up activities. The USAID/Dominican Republic experience is a good example of how to initiate effective teamwork in an international development setting. A number of recommendations for continued success include the following. (1) Create a team learning framework. (2) Provide regular feedback to team leaders. (3) Consider how extended team members are used. (4) SO teams must learn to serve as coaches for results package teams, who require the same start-up activities as do SO teams. (6) Empower Foreign Service National (FSN) staff. (7) The Front office must maintain their own roles as coaches and continue to empower teams. (8) Maintain a positive attitude and create a positive environment.