Teamwork Doesn’t Happen On Its Own
A well-functioning
team is something marvellous. Everyone
knows their job and works with their colleagues seamlessly. At times, it seems as if members can read
each other’s minds.
Teambuilding is hard work.
There’s no such thing as a team that “falls together” except
in very rare circumstances. Even where
this does happen, it’s usually because the “right” people have been recruited
at the right time for whatever reason. After
a period of time, however, as things naturally evolve and team needs change,
it’s not surprising to see that some team members become “surplus to
requirements”, or become bored with their current position and want fresh
challenges.
When putting together a team, you find two situations: starting
from scratch or joining an already-formed team.
In the former case, you have the advantage of being able to pick and
choose. This is rare, but does happen,
as in the case of newly formed societies, clubs or businesses. I’ve been in both situations.
When you join an existing team, whether as leader or member
(again, as I have done), you need to be sure of which role you’ve been
recruited for as well as the roles played by others. As leader, you’ll want to know who else plays
which role and their relative strengths and weaknesses. As member, you’ll also need to know this, as
well as how the leader likes to work.
How the leader likes to work is what I have often found to
be the cause of problems. Members have
both collective expectations (i.e. what
they all want as a group) as well as individual
ones. The same applies to the leader,
but their job is to ensure that the members’ needs are met in order to get the
job done. The leader, in other words, serves the team. This means they need to understand both
individual and group dynamics. Some
people are “naturals” at this. Others
(like me) have to work harder.
So how do you go about building an effective team? Firstly, remember that the tendency to choose
people who are “like you” may not be the right thing. You need people who will challenge each other
(and you) and explore all possibilities, whilst fulfilling the various team
roles defined by the likes of Belbin and Margerison & McAnn. The reason that many organisations fail is
that the management team becomes dysfunctional or dominated by one personality
with a misguided vision or perception.
Look at the current Rugby World Cup competition going on and
you’ll see a number of teams all striving to win the trophy. Look at the individual players in a rugby
team, and you’ll see they’re all different heights and shapes, depending on the
particular position in which they play. How
they have been trained, how they play as a team,
mixing their skills effectively and maintaining their focus and composure
in the face of adversity all dictate how well they do. There have been surprises, such as Japan (a
nation not known for its rugby prowess) beating South Africa (a well-experienced
team).
When recruiting, decide what you need, then hire the skills,
attitude and personality to fit into the team.
It may mean that you reject good people, but you can’t afford to have a
rugby team composed entirely of props.
Once you have your team, they still need to get used to each
other - you need to coach them. No rugby or football players get thrown
together and just told to “get on with it”, but that’s what some leaders think
happens, judging from their behaviour. You
need to get them on board with your vision of what’s going to happen, their
individual contribution and what they need to do to achieve that. They’ll need help at times. See that you
give it. Coaches know that all players
are subject to self-doubt, moments of weakness or panic and they stand behind
them. If they don't stand behind their
players, guess what? The players won’t do
their best for the coach.
Team management is more work than a lot of us realise, but
the rewards when you get it right are equally beyond expectations!
Labels: Leadership, Productivity, Strategy, Teamwork
posted by William Martin @ 16:24
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