A study of 400 team members and leade rs blames engineering-team failures on the lack of systematic implementation, a failure of support systems and internal team-member conflicts.

Michael Beyerlein, head of the Center for the Study of Work Teams at the University of North Texas, presented a paper on "Engineers in Work Teams" at the Portland International Conference on the Management of Engineering and Technology. He extracted several lessons from the study:

• The move to teaming frequently is associated with downsizing, so workers often come to teaming with the fear that they will lose their jobs. Don't link the two.

• Work process seems to be 90 percent of a bad team and 10 percent of good one. Document each member's work.

• Definition confusion abounds over such terms as "empowerment," "accountability" and "autonomy."

• Team structures differ. Some teams have rotating leaders, others a permanent leader. Define what the team structure is to everyone involved.

• Confusion exists about managerial r oles. Publish a plan for the transfer of decision making.

• In downsized, transitioning companies, stress, pain and overload are taking a toll. Managers should expect various kinds of pain to occur and provide information and support to minimize them.

• New members have a lot of issues that core members do not have. They're outsiders and don't build the networks of veteran members. Assign mentors from the team to new members.

• Teams that developed decision-making processes are told "no" by higher ups in the organization when they try to take on such issues as compensation. Anticipation of such situations could lead to better ways of handling them.

• Teams do not seem to be getting the tools they need to learn how to handle the above issues. They need formal training to learn new skills.

  Teams of engineers, programmers, human-resource professionals and managers experience "change at its most extreme. Every day is different at work," Beyerlein wrote in his paper. "We refer to th at challenge as 'building the boat, while going downstream, in white water.' "

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