Team work continuous challenge or success factor
A large majority of organizations and people rate team work and collaboration as “very important”. It reappears in the top reasons for failure for projects, business initiatives and others. Depending on the source,the position will vary but just a little. Not surprisingly, companies invest in project management, collaboration and digital solutions. Without a doubt, they do add value otherwise usage and investments would decrease. I do believe that at the risk of sounding gullible. Nonetheless, it reappears over and over in top challenges, or reasons for not meeting targets. In general, we’re better at resolving technical problems then people related problems. They are less personal and, in most cases, easier to deal with in case of mistakes. So, teamwork is probably a top candidate for improvement with a high impact both for us as individuals and our organizations.
Before going further, let’s briefly reflect on what teams do. Because it the most popular sport if the world (and I don’t know anything about cricket), we’ll use a soccer team as an example. A team is a group of individuals working to reach a goal. The team is out to win. It has a goal that will drive their actions. They need to score, defend and stop the ball from entering the goal. To complete those different actions, they’ll need different means, skills and qualifications. They need speed, precision shots,agility and anticipation. Different actions and players imply communication and synchronization. They need passes to make plays successful and score. A clear expectation of everyone’s role and abilities. The offensive, midfield, defense players and the goalie have a different role and position on the field. One last thing, there is the opposing team. The team works in a constantly changing environment.
With all that in mind, let’s go through some of the areas to make team work more effective:
Goals and Vision
The soccer goal is a good analogy. It’s Simple for everyone to understand the objective and Measurement.Ball in is a point. The team can Achieve.It’s a Relevant result for the players and the supporters (i.e. stakeholders). It must be done within the allocated Time of the game.In addition to being SMART, it’s also the smartest way to avoid the first pitfall of poor team work and projects. It mobilizes sponsors and participants. No one likes wasting time or money. If the goal is subjective (e.g. strategic or must do), time spent to strengthen the goal will save time and lead to a better outcome. Also, it greatly contributes to all the following points.
Skills and capabilities
The type of skills required will depend on the objective, the required activities and more. Our soccer team is going to need speed and accuracy for the offense to score. It’s going to need anticipation and intercepting for the defense to prevent goals. And, the mid field will have to be more polyvalent to connect the team and adapt the team tactics to the opposing team. In practice,we generally have a team because of availability, history or other reasons. Going beyond the names can raise valuable points. Gaps or disbalances can be a risk or an opportunity to investigate.
Interaction
During the game, our team must continuously assess the context (e.g. position of ball, opponents and own team) and carryout a play. Practice makes perfect. Repetition reduces the improvisation.Increases player’s relationship and coordination. Build on those strengths while not neglecting the “assess the context”. Meaning, the team also needs to be confronted with different contexts and situation to develop and bet better. Someways of doing that are ice breakers, events, or solve a new problem.
Problem Solving
Every team have problems to resolve. Too often either no one has a solution or “the” solution which ends up not working. Picture the people on the side line or in the stadium. Regardless of the relevance of their ideas, it must come from the team itself. It takes team work and the previous points to go the problem-solving steps for an effective outcome. First to evaluate the difference between the current and desired situation. Then to identify the influencing factors and which can be leveraged.To think of potential solutions and which one to try first. And then trying,adjusting or changing if needed. It is a quality that individuals and teams will use in every function, process, and methodology.
Decision making
There are different kinds of decisions from strategic to tactical. In our example, the coach decides whereto position and swap players. The player with the ball decides what to do next.In our day to day life, we’ll have similar situations. It’s important for all the team members to understand who part of which decision should be. The intent is to get the right perspective sooner versus having to manage mistakes and rework. And, there are different ways to manage decisions. Reaching the adequate balance of involvement and goal driven criteria will likely evolve over time. Take the time to discuss the ‘ground rules’ up front and reiterate to learn from experience.
Trust
Although mentioned last, it is not the least important. Trust is needed within the team for it to be effective. The customers and stakeholders must have trust in the team to do it’s best. The only reason for saving it is that the points above contribute to building the trust.If this is an issue, you should probably scroll back on the above with the viewpoint of the untrusting party. Listening is a quality that is often overlooked.It will help you understand possible issues. Hopefully, stakeholders will perceive the will to be more opens and show some openness back.
Not everything can and will change immediately. Start with one of the key areas. Preferably take one from the top. Open conversation with the team is a good way to get a broader perspective then just your own. The depth of conversations is also more meaningful and better check everyone’s alignment. An uncomfortable situation be to have all agreeing we have a common direction followed by left/right/forward/backwards/up (at the same time). Try to improve on those findings. Whatever the outcome, it will provide insight for the next opportunity for better team work.
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