Winning Teams on the Football Field and in the Office

Teams, teams, teams. They're all the rage these days. Whether you love-em or loathe-em, you'll have to learn to live, not only with them, but within them. You career will depend on it. Here are five strategies for building a high-performance team.

Manage by adultery.
It's a term coined by Chaparrel Steel to describe its management philosophy of treating workers like adults instead of children. People are hired, not to do mindless jobs, but to put their brains to work. Management's job is to give the team or work group a mission; see that they get the necessary resources, provide feedback and encouragement; and then turn them loose to be creative problem solvers.

Hire people who care.
When evaluating prospective employees, a major airline brings all job candidates together in a room and asks each person to make a presentation. Everybody thinks that the company officials are evaluating the person making the presentation. But in reality, the company is evaluating the candidates in the audience to see who are attentive and supportive as others are presenting. It is a strong signal that these people have the ability to care about others and are potential candidates to hire.

Make sure there is a scoreboard.
One critical difference between a group and a team is that a team knows what constitutes a win. Players in sports know instantly where their team stands and whether they are winning or losing. This information then affects how they are going to play the rest of the game. But in most organizations, employees may work for weeks and months and never know where their team stands and if they are winning, losing, or just hanging in there. Like sports teams, business teams should also have scoreboards. Then team members would have some idea how close they are to a win and what they need to do to make it happen.

Don't encourage employee dependence.
The Romans had an interesting practice regarding ownership. After building an arch, the engineer in change was expected to stand beneath it as the scaffolding was removed. If the arch didn't hold, he was the first to know. Effective leaders also keep ownership where it belongs?in the team. If the leader keeps running in and lifting the weights for his team, they are never going to build any of their own muscle. The trap in becoming a "hero leader" is that every time you pull a rabbit out of a hat, you generate more dependency from your team. Important: Astute leaders welcome their employees to discuss problems and solutions, but never let them leave their problems with the leader.

Set up your team to win, not be slaughtered.
If your team is faced with multiple tasks or problems, don't always tackle the worst ones first. Conventional wisdom says prioritize your tasks and then begin tackling your most important problems, solve them and then move on to smaller ones. This approach ignores the fact that the biggest problem is usually the hardest to tackle. Therefore, if not prepared mentally, team members are more likely to fail, become demoralized, and give up. This is not permission for all of us procrastinators to put aside our tough assignment. Rather, it allows us to gain the confidence to first experience success on a smaller level before going for "the big one."

If we don't know it, how can we do it? Paul "Bear" Bryant, the legendary football coach at the University of Alabama, said winning team members need to know the following:

Tell me what you expect of me.

Give me an opportunity to perform.L/li>

Let me know how I'm doing.

Give me guidance where I need it.

Reward me according to my contributions.

I couldn't have said it better than Bear Bryant. Do you have a winning team?

Marcia Zidle, the 'people smarts' coach, works with business leaders to quickly solve their people management headaches so they can concentrate on their #1 job ­ to grow and increase profits. She offers free help through Leadership Briefing, a weekly e-newsletter with practical tips on leadership style, employee motivation, recruitment and retention and relationship management. Subscribe by going to http://leadershiphooks.com/ and get the bonus report "61 Leadership Time Savers and Life Savers". Marcia is the author of the What Really Works Handbooks ­ resources for managers on the front line and the Power-by-the-Hour programs ­ fast, convenient, real life, affordable courses for leadership and staff development. She is available for media interviews, conference presentations and panel discussions on the hottest issues affecting the workplace today. Contact Marcia at 800-971-7619.

---

You are Excused from Training

Trainers, please picture this... You are presenting in a new... Read More

Why It Pays to Out More Humor in the Workplace

1. Humor reduces stress levels and stress is the number... Read More

You, Your Team, and Your Coach

The grand purpose of coaching is to help your managers,... Read More

3 Steps To Successfully Build A Team In Any Program

Any x by y matrix plan has one big risk...... Read More

What Every Manager, Parent, and Teacher Should Know About How to Unify Employees, Families, & Youth

Project Head Start has been successful not only for the... Read More

Presenteeism - present in body absent in productivity

Presenteeism is alive and 'not well' in many businesses today.... Read More

Creating a Winning Staff Team

As a business owner, I've had staff come and go... Read More

Teamwork, Rowing, & Paddles

Effective and sustainable teambuilding is necessary in today's marketplace where... Read More

The Secret of Successful Events

Reed Employment made a survey of their clients and compiled... Read More

Effective Team Building For Organizational Success

"Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common... Read More

How the P.R.I.D.E. Team Changed my Call Center

Several years ago I took an assignment as a Manager... Read More

Yes, But What Are You Really Saying?

More and more I hear people misunderstanding what someone else... Read More

Effective Team Building Part 1 - Another Brick in the Wall!

The first in a series of articles giving a slightly... Read More

Checklist for High Performing Teams

Why do some teams perform well while others struggle? How... Read More

Building High Performing Teams: Putting the I Back in Teamwork

Ever watched a really brilliant idea meet with resistance and... Read More

Conflict Is Cool

Having experienced more than my fair share of conflict over... Read More

Business Innovation ? Group Creativity

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More

Building a Successful Team

Once you've set a goal for yourself as a leader... Read More

Company Picnic Ideas and Planning Tips

The company picnic is a beloved tradition at many firms.It's... Read More

Feedback For Learning Can Turn Your Team Into Winners

Feedback:Most experts agree both types; constructive and positive feedback are... Read More

Franchisee Relations and Team Work

Franchisees of a particular franchise must get along in order... Read More

Safety First - Five Reasons to Hold a Routine Safety Meeting

Workplace safety is important to all businesses for ethical, legal... Read More

A Team That Gleamed

Too many techies get a bad rap for lacking teamwork... Read More

What?s Wrong With You, Why Don?t You Understand Me?

Recently while waiting for our lunch to be served in... Read More

How to Align Your Team through Change

Eight Principles for Purposeful AlignmentEffective teamwork requires individual members of... Read More

Feedback - Confirming the Good News

The feedback I'm talking about here isn't some sort of... Read More

Consensus: The Right Team Decision Strategy?

Consensus is the appropriate decision strategy for the most important... Read More

If You Can?t See It, They Won?t Do It

Recently, while developing a customer service program, I asked my... Read More

Building Teams -You see it everywhere

A college football team has it. A corporation has it.... Read More

Top Ten Creative Excursions for Building Effective Teams

The ability to build effective teams is a must for... Read More

Having Trouble Motivating Others? Try WIIFM

Recently my fourteen-year old son Matt dressed up as Santa... Read More

High Performing Teams: 10 Things You Want To Know About Building A High Performing Team

"Conflict becomes politics, commitment becomes 'Only if it's in my... Read More

Aligning Corporate Teams

Picture yourself entering a corporate meeting, team meeting, or business... Read More