Tiger team: Definition, use cases, and best practices
Summary
When urgent problems need quick solutions, regular team setups can be too slow. That’s when tiger teams step in. These small groups of experts from different areas work together to solve tough challenges quickly and from different viewpoints. In this article, you’ll find out what a tiger team is, when to create one, who should be on it, and how to help your team succeed.
"Houston, we have a problem."
It's 1970, and astronaut Jim Lovel is running out of air. After two successful days aboard Apollo 13, Lovel and his crewmates heard an explosion rock the ship. The blast had hit an oxygen tank in the ship's service module, bleeding precious air out into space and placing a ticking clock on the crew's survival.
Back on Earth, NASA flight director Gene Kranz quickly gathered a team of specialists to solve the problem. After four intense days, they helped the crew land safely in the South Pacific Ocean.
This group of specialists became known as Kranz’s "Tiger Team," which is where the term we use today comes from.
擺脫資訊孤島：最佳化組織架構，強化跨團隊協作
在本電子書中，您將學習如何最佳化組織架構，以防止資訊孤島，加快行動速度，並在變革中維持團隊步調一致。
What is a tiger team?
A tiger team is a small group of experts from different areas who come together to solve a specific, urgent problem. By bringing specialists together, tiger teams break down barriers between departments and look at challenges from different angles. Their small size helps them move quickly and find solutions that bigger teams might miss.
There are two main approaches to tiger teams:
One way is for team members to focus only on the tiger team project until the problem is solved or the goal is reached. Afterward, everyone goes back to their usual jobs. This is what happened with the Apollo 13 team, where each person worked only on bringing the crew home.
Another way is for team members to work on the tiger team project alongside their regular jobs. They don’t stop their other work, but the tiger team project is more focused and organized than most cross-functional projects.
When should you use a tiger team?
Tiger teams work like a special task force. They’re best for situations where you need to move quickly and solve important or complicated problems. Their small size lets them think creatively, make fast decisions, and avoid delays from too many people being involved.
You might use a tiger team to rescue a struggling project, launch a new important project, or find answers to business problems. For example, a travel company could have set up a tiger team to deal with the effects of COVID-19. In less urgent cases, a tech company might use a tiger team to solve common customer issues.
If you're still not sure if creating a tiger team is the right move, ask yourself the following questions:
Do you need a cross-functional team with different perspectives on an issue? Tiger teams include subject matter experts from different teams, so you can remove silos and incorporate a breadth of expertise.
Do you have a clear problem to solve or a project to complete? Tiger teams are a targeted approach. To recruit the right people, you need to know the team's purpose.
Do you need to act quickly and decisively? Tiger teams don't need to verify with many stakeholders before making a decision, so they can move faster than traditional teams.
Does your project require a high level of transparency and understanding between stakeholders? Since tiger teams are small, they can communicate and share information more easily.
Do you want to minimize the risk of a big decision? Tiger teams distribute responsibility from one person to a group of experts, so you're more likely to make the best possible choice.
If you answered yes to any of these questions, a tiger team may be just what you need.
Why use a tiger team?
Tiger teams offer a quicker and more focused way to tackle urgent problems than traditional teams. Here’s why they are effective:
Cross-functional expertise in one place. Tiger teams gather specialists from different departments, giving you a variety of viewpoints on one problem. Instead of waiting for feedback from different teams, you get all the skills and knowledge you need right away.
Faster decision-making. Because tiger teams are small and focused, they don't need to navigate layers of approvals or coordinate with dozens of stakeholders. This means they can evaluate options and act on decisions more quickly than larger, more structured teams.
Reduced risk: When experienced specialists work together on important decisions, they are less likely to miss key details. Tiger teams share responsibility among experts, which leads to better decisions.
Fewer silos: Tiger teams help break down barriers between departments. By working closely on a common goal, team members build stronger relationships that can help your organization even after the project ends.
More creative solutions. When people with different backgrounds and skill sets collaborate on a problem, they're more likely to use divergent and convergent thinking to come up with fresh ideas. Tiger teams create the conditions for innovative thinking by combining perspectives that don't usually intersect.
Who should be on your tiger team?
The answer depends on your goal. You need different kinds of experts for different problems, so choose team members based on your main goal. For example, if your tiger team is solving a customer issue, you might include people from customer service, engineering, sales, and product design. You likely wouldn’t need someone from HR or finance for this type of project.
Each team member should be an expert in their area, but also understand how their work connects with other teams. That’s why tiger team members are often more senior employees with broad experience. If you only include people with very narrow skills, you might need too many members, which can slow things down.
Tiger teams should be small, so it's best to restrict the number of actual team members. That said, you can still loop in additional stakeholders who want to stay informed on the tiger team's progress. Regular progress status reports are a great way for senior stakeholders to stay on track without getting their hands full with the details.
Tiger team best practices
Tiger teams move quickly, but they need the right structure to be effective. These best practices will help your team stay focused and solve tough problems efficiently.
Clarify responsibilities and communication norms
Once you've chosen your tiger team, be sure to clarify everyone's roles and responsibilities. That way, you know who's in charge of things like scheduling meetings, securing approvals, and tracking the budget. When responsibilities are clear, each contributor can move faster and more confidently.
A few tools that can help:
A RACI chart: Documents who is responsible, accountable, consulted, and informed for each task.
A team organizational chart: Visualizes each member's role and reporting relationships at a glance.
A communication plan: Outlines what to communicate, when, through which channels, and when to use live vs. asynchronous communication.
擺脫資訊孤島：最佳化組織架構，強化跨團隊協作
在本電子書中，您將學習如何最佳化組織架構，以防止資訊孤島，加快行動速度，並在變革中維持團隊步調一致。
Understand the problem
Everyone on your tiger team needs to understand the problem you're trying to solve. That baseline understanding is essential for your team to set goals and create solutions that actually address the root cause of the issue.
Go over the problem together to make sure everyone understands it. Start by answering these questions:
Who is involved with the problem or affected by it?
What is happening and what processes is this problem impacting?
Where did this problem take place?
When did the problem happen?
Why is this problem happening, and why does it have such a big impact?
How did the problem occur?
Create a goal
A goal gives your tiger team clear direction. It shows what success looks like, so you know when the team has finished its work. This is especially important if team members are working only on the tiger team project, since they need to know when they can return to their regular jobs.
There are lots of goal-setting methodologies out there, including SMART goals and objectives and key results (OKRs). Regardless of the method you choose, make sure you have a way to measure progress and a clear timeline to achieve your goal.
Define your scope
Scope creep is one of the biggest causes of project failure. We've all experienced it before: your team starts out focused, but then discussions veer off onto related but not essential issues. You may start to add on additional deliverables and expand your project scope to include more work, all while getting farther and farther away from the initial problem.
You can prevent scope creep by creating a scope management plan that defines your project scope before starting work. A clear scope outlines exactly what the goals and deliverables of your project are, so you know when you're veering away from your main objective. If your tiger team starts to focus on non-essential issues, you can point to your project scope to get things back on track.
Get in the same room (or video call)
Historically, tiger teams have relied on in-person collaboration to get things done. While modern communication tools and project management software make it easier to work asynchronously, some amount of face time is still important for tiger teams. That's because a tiger team's power comes from deep cross-functional connections, and meetings (including virtual ones) are the best way to build camaraderie and relationships.
Create asynchronous communication channels
In-person collaboration is great, but it's not realistic (or time-efficient) for everyone on your tiger team to be in the same room all the time. People need time for focus, and having too many meetings can clutter up your schedule and make it impossible to set aside time blocks for deep work. That's why a balance of in-person and asynchronous communication is essential for tiger teams.
Asynchronous communication comes in many forms, but the most important thing is that everyone on your tiger team uses the same communication tools. A project management tool like Asana can simplify things by letting you communicate in the same place you track and document your work. That way, your team doesn't have to jump back and forth between different channels all the time.
Manage your workload
Joining a tiger team can take up a lot of time and is different from your usual work. You may need to reduce other tasks to make space for tiger team projects. If you’re a manager, help your team members set priorities and balance their workload when they join a tiger team.
閱讀：如何有效管理團隊的工作負荷Common mistakes to avoid
Even skilled tiger teams can face problems if they don’t have the right guidelines.
No strategic direction: A tiger team without a clear purpose will have trouble staying focused. Before starting, make sure everyone knows why the team was formed and what problem they need to solve.
Failure to define the problem clearly. If the problem isn't well-defined from the start, your team may spend valuable time solving the wrong thing. Take time upfront to dig into the root cause and agree on what success looks like before jumping into solutions.
Letting scope creep take over: Tiger teams should stay focused. If new issues come up, it’s tempting to add more tasks, but taking on too much can slow progress and reduce effectiveness.
Poor documentation: Tiger teams move quickly, which can lead to missing records of decisions and lessons learned. Make it a habit to document from the start so your organization can use these insights in the future.
The future of cross-functional collaboration
The nature of work is different from what it was in the past. People are more distributed than ever, working across time zones and countries to get things done. But that doesn't mean cross-functional collaboration strategies like tiger teams are fading out of the picture.
You need the right tools to stay connected, aligned, and agile, because how you work is much more important than where you work. With a work management platform like Asana, your team can communicate, track progress, and stay aligned in one place. Get started today and see how Asana can help your teams work together more effectively.
擺脫資訊孤島：最佳化組織架構，強化跨團隊協作
在本電子書中，您將學習如何最佳化組織架構，以防止資訊孤島，加快行動速度，並在變革中維持團隊步調一致。
