True or false? Teams that practice good teamwork contribute to an organization's success.
Not only "true" but blatantly true.
The fact may be plain and simple, but creating a successful team, leading a successful team, or participating on a successful team is not so plain and simple. The sticky word is "successful." Creating a team is easy. Sitting in the leader's chair can be fairly simple. Team membership may just mean showing up.
But successful? Hold on and wait a second.
This article explores two requirements for team success. For each requirement, we explore specific action items to help you and your team fulfills those requirements. We start with trust.
Trust: A Successful Team's Foundation
A team that builds its harmony on trust enjoys the ease and enthusiasm that bring success. In fact, that trust-foundation makes the harmony all the sweeter.
Steven Covey, author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, states, "Trust is the highest form of human motivation. It brings out the very best in people. But it takes time and patience?"
Trust and team are almost synonymous. However, you cannot assume that trust develops naturally as part of the team's personality. Bringing trust-what it means, how it works, and why it matters-to the front of every team member's mind can be a great step towards team success. A great step that demands your attention.
Here are three underlying benefits your organization-and its customers-will experience once your team works with high levels of trust.
Increased Efficiency -- As team members trust that every one will carry out her responsibility, all can attend their specific functions more completely. The decrease in distractions gives an increase to efficiency.
Enhanced Unity -- The greater each member of a team trusts other members, the greater strength the team assumes. This unity strengthens the team's commitment to fulfill its purpose.
Mutual Motivation -- When two (or more) people trust one another, each one consciously and subconsciously strives to uphold the others' trust. That motivation stimulates each team member to seek peak performance.
So, how do you build trust as a fundamental team possession? Here's the short answer: build a clear structure and process to promote trust. Team members want to trust one another from the outset. If specific trust-building tools and tactics are missing, however, they will have a hard time building that trust. Below are three traits that establish a foundation for trust among team members. Notice how each trait focuses on interactions among teammates.
Open Expression -- Every member team needs ongoing opportunities to express her thoughts regarding the team's purpose, process and procedures, performance, and personality. From the team's get-go, the team leader can initiate every individual's chance to speak to the team's actions. A truly effective leader insures that even the quietest member is heard (and so becomes increasingly comfortable speaking up). The more continuously everyone on a team has chances to express openly, the more every one grows used to speaking freely and to being heard. Open expression quickly becomes everyone's pleasure, and not just the leader's responsibility.
Information Equity -- When it comes to information relevant to the team and the team's function, the rule must be "all for one and one for all." Information available to one team member must be available to all members. The secret this trait is in its process. Standardized practices for sharing information equally are simple. A few minutes setting up a team email address and holding a five-minute update each morning are two examples. These can establish everyone-gets-to-know-what-everyone-gets-to-know behavior patterns. Trust level rises when no one fears that she receives less information than others.
Performance Reliability -- We trust people we can count on. We count on people who do what they say they will do when they say they will do it. Conscientious work on the first two traits produces results in the third. Open expression and shared information enhance team members' performance reliability. Open communication can place everyone's performance cards on the table: strengths and weaknesses, confidence and fears. Equal information allows everyone to know what and how every other team member contributes to success. This knowledge produces shared support, praise, and assistance. What is more team-like than that? When expectations of every team member are up front and open, every team member strives to perform at full force for the good of the team.
TIPS FOR TEAM TRUST
The following five tips support the idea that Open Expression, Information Equity and Performance Reliability grow from how well a team communicates within itself. These tips are for the team leader and every member of the team.
1. Talk the Talk. Take responsibility for role modeling Open Expression. Don't be afraid to share information about yourself. Encourage others to do the same. Keep at it.
2. Build the Pattern. At team meetings and water-cooler chats, establish the tell-and-ask pattern. Share information about your work and ask questions about your teammate's work. It takes a bit of repetition to anchor the pattern. It's worth it.
3. Distribute to Discuss. Make it team belief that one reason for distributing information to everyone is so that it can be discussed. "New data" can be a constant agenda item at meetings. "What do you think?" can be a constant question among team members.
4. Make Good News. Usually people want to complete work rather than fulfill roles. Not much to say about one's role. Much to share about one's work. Create opportunities for people to comfortably share good news about the work they perform. (Bulletin boards, email news, lunch discussions, for example.
5. Use a Constructive Question. Have your team adopt a specific question that does two things: directs attention to the team's purpose and stimulates communication. The question can be an icebreaker at team meetings, a common follow-up to "Hi! How are you?" in the halls, a regular element in team reports. Example questions: What progress have we made? What have we done that makes us proud? What obstacles have we overcome?
Tim Wright, President/CEO of Wright Results, Inc., works with organizations that help their people "blow the lid off their performance." Tim's Blow the Lid Off Performance curriculum is currently an eight-course offering that focuses on individual/personnel performance, team performance, and leadership performance.
Contact Tim Wright at http://www.WrightResults.com
It's the summer of 1973, and a young film director... Read More
Maybe you find yourself in a new team environment and... Read More
The world of work has changed. It used to be... Read More
A tight knit team is a group of competent individuals... Read More
Recently my fourteen-year old son Matt dressed up as Santa... Read More
Over the years there has been much ado about team... Read More
The Sales Director had organised a great conference; the venue... Read More
Do you let your people express their thoughts about the... Read More
It's all about focusing on where the best value in... Read More
It's frustrating when your co-workers, audience members, teenager or even... Read More
A college football team has it. A corporation has it.... Read More
The people in your team may feel a bit uncomfortable... Read More
The Fantasy: Your marketing budget is packed to the brim... Read More
It's not true in every organization, but it is true... Read More
In days past, loyalty was a given. The worker in... Read More
As the world of manufacturing has become increasingly competitive, managers... Read More
Eight Principles for Purposeful AlignmentEffective teamwork requires individual members of... Read More
Workplace safety is important to all businesses for ethical, legal... Read More
Internal business structures have been radically transformed over the past... Read More
Trainers, please picture this... You are presenting in a new... Read More
Picture yourself entering a corporate meeting, team meeting, or business... Read More
Teams are often useful in situations where the task cannot... Read More
Many believe a leaner government promotes better freedoms with respect... Read More
With over 25 years of research and experience, we have... Read More
A Successful Team is built around mateship, around respect for... Read More
One of the best ways to ensure that your planning... Read More
We exist in such a rapidly-changing environment. Technology is moving... Read More
Benefit 1 - You get to understand them betterAlmost everyone... Read More
Leaders are faced with unlocking the potential in the people... Read More
I'm often asked, "Why is my team always fighting fires... Read More
Abstract: Based on significant research, Entelechy has defined characteristics of... Read More
Several years ago I took an assignment as a Manager... Read More
Most managers simply herd some people in a room with... Read More
One of the best lessons I have learned is the... Read More
Someone once said - "Feedback is the breakfast of champions."... Read More
We exist in such a rapidly-changing environment. Technology is moving... Read More
On the trail in Northern Canada "Marche" was the word... Read More
Benefit 1 - You get to understand them betterAlmost everyone... Read More
Proactive High Performance Teamwork is made up of nine proactive... Read More
Most managers simply herd some people in a room with... Read More
There's nothing that matches the power of teamwork to accomplish... Read More
Are workers telling the truth when they say they are... Read More
The Dance of ConflictWhen faced with the prospect of meeting... Read More
Any x by y matrix plan has one big risk...... Read More
Do you remember how you felt after your last interaction... Read More
It's the summer of 1973, and a young film director... Read More
Today, most of us have been involved in a team... Read More
Teams run most businesses and teams work best if each... Read More
The other day I got a call from a friend... Read More
In the constantly changing world of Call Centers, asking agents... Read More
Team Building Question:I'm a manager of a team of 20... Read More
When was the last time you spent excessive time and... Read More
Once you've set a goal for yourself as a leader... Read More
So much has been written on this subject; Team Work,... Read More
Group discussions are where much of the creative work of... Read More
At a time when many companies are scaling down their... Read More
Project Head Start has been successful not only for the... Read More
Over the years there has been much ado about team... Read More
Sometimes the greatest challenges lay not within the actions of... Read More
Did you know your work environment can actually make you... Read More
"Conflict becomes politics, commitment becomes 'Only if it's in my... Read More
It's all about focusing on where the best value in... Read More
Team building takes work but the results are worth it.... Read More
CREATE A MOTIVATIONAL CLIMATE: Create a climate where others find... Read More
Trainers, please picture this... You are presenting in a new... Read More
The effects of conflict in the workplace are widespread and... Read More
Team Building |