Lateral Leadership in Sourcing Teams

Are you effective in teams? Do you know and practice the art of the question? This 18-page paper integrates current theories on teams with practical approaches and techniques for leading a team through its life cycle. The paper uses the Tuckman forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning model to cover essential behaviors. The focus is on facilitative leadership and builds on the lateral leadership model popularized in their book, Lateral Leadership, by Roger Fisher (of Harvard Negotiation Project fame) and his co-author Alan Sharp. While the paper is oriented around procurement/sourcing teams in a public procurement and contracting context, the teaming model applied here is applicable to any team. The paper includes guidance of brainstorming, effective use of questions, team decision-making, and facilitation. (NOTE: An Adobe version of the paper is available to members in the resource libraries of the National Association of State Procurement Officials and NIGP: The Institute for Public Procurement.)