Many departments do not operate as teams—that is, they do not practice teamwork. Members may talk to each other at the printer or over lunch, and their work efforts may be designed to meet the overarching objectives of the department, but these employees work on a day-to-day basis largely as individuals. Such situations are unfortunate, for studies indicate that teamwork and team spirit are critical to increased organizational productivity and profitability. In addition, working together as a team, employees have more fun.
Teamwork satisfies a need for socialization. Working together also helps people grow as they learn from each other and develop important skills. Working together toward a common goal, they gain a sense of purpose that is motivating and fulfilling. When people work together in an atmosphere of trust and accountability, they put aside turf issues and politics and focus on the tasks to be done. This is why their efforts have significant results.
What is so different operationally between a team and a dedicated staff of workers? Where a sense of teamwork exists, employees look out for one another.
They know about each other’s work and can answer questions when their coworkers are out. On the other hand, if this sense of teamwork is missing and an employee is absent, nothing is done in that person’s area until they return.
In a team, coworkers also look to each other for advice and to their leader to show them the way when things are difficult. In a department, competition among employees often precludes the possibility of asking for help. Teams have an esprit that shows a sense of bonding and camaraderie. As a team is created, employees begin using the pronoun we more than I.
Such team spirit isn’t built overnight. Employees begin as a disparate group of people who just happen to work together in the same department. They will continue to operate as such, doing their jobs as they are instructed, focusing their attention on getting through each day, until you, as their manager, pull them together into a team. How do you do this?
As the leader of your staff, you:
- Encourage cooperation, rather than competition, among team members.
- Involve the entire team in making decisions related to team projects. Give subgroups within the team autonomy in designing their projects.
- Not only delegate to employees but also empower employees, sharing decision-making responsibility with them (see From Delegating to Empowering).
- Set up a system for measuring team performance as well as individual performance.
- Show that you value the work of every team member. You will have people with different levels of skills. Acknowledge that each contributes to the team’s success.
- Let the group know that each of them benefits from coworkers’ successes, because these achievements make the team that much stronger. You celebrate individual successes as team successes, too, because everyone has contributed in one way or another. A lesson of war is that soldiers do not fight for abstract causes; they fight for the person in the foxhole next to them. That example gets to the heart of why teams work; they support one another for the greater good of everyone.
A critical element of making this transformation from staff to team is creating a work culture where collaboration and cooperation exist. Such a workplace is characterized by:
- Open communication. When teamwork is present, team members, because they trust each other, are open and honest in their communications.
- A willing acceptance of assignments. Team members don’t haggle over who does what. They willingly accept assignments given them by their leader and by their coworkers. Motivated by peer pressure, they work hard to get their jobs done right the first time and to meet deadlines.
- Understood and accepted goals. Often, the team sets its own objectives and goals. Other times, goals come from their leader or senior management. However the goals are set, the team works collaboratively to achieve them. Because their leader has explained why these goals need to be achieved, team members assist one another to make them a reality.
- Results orientation. Teams focus on their objectives, and their efforts are designed to achieve them. Periodically, under direction of a leader, the team assesses its progress. That knowledge serves to direct future team effort.
- Shared trust. In a healthy team, members essentially trust one another. Despite occasional conflict, members get along well and enjoy each other’s company.
Many work environments in which teamwork is practiced involve team members in decision making, practicing participative management. Members set group goals relating either to their operation or the corporation as a whole. Hammering out the goals collectively not only utilizes the wisdom of the entire group but also secures ownership to the goals. As you’ve probably learned by now, the more your workers contribute to decisions, the more likely they are to work to support them.
Goals are more easily met, too. When goals are set as a group, all members are clear on who is responsible for what. There is no overlap in responsibility or unassigned responsibility, as sometimes happens in more traditionally run departments. You may be thinking to yourself, “All this sounds great for my staff members and even for the organization as a whole. What about the hard work I put in to become a manager? Will I be losing my newly gained authority if I involve my staff in planning and decision making?” Not at all. Sharing both does not mean that you abdicate control over the group. Consider your responsibilities as team leader.