The experience of great teamwork is one of
life's greatest thrills. Unfortunately, it is also rare and
fleeting. If you want to turn your own working group of individuals
into a magnificent, all-conquering team, you need to guide
them on a journey of 5 steps, from Unshared Certainty to Shared
Uncertainty.
1. Unshared Certainty. At the first stage
of teambuilding, the team are no more than a disparate group
of individuals without any close links. Their main aim is to
look after number one and they do this by seeking personal
advantage in any situation. As a result, individuals rarely
stick their necks out. Doing anything more risks failure and
recrimination at the personal level. Unfortunately, in many
organizations, we encourage safe working by expecting people
to go it alone. In these type of organizations, there are no
team rewards, only individual rewards; there are no team rules,
only individual rules; and there is no team communication,
only one-to-one communication. As a result, there is no risk
and no teamwork.
"Pleasure usually takes the form of me and now; joy is
us and always." (Marvin J. Ashton)
2. Loose Links. At the second stage of team
development, the group start to find reasons for working together.
They may do this initially because they see some personal advantage
for themselves, for example, by working with others whom they
like, or with others who have information they need, or who
have skills that complement theirs. However, the minute they
have nothing to gain from joint working, they are likely to
quickly revert back to lone working, like a stretched elastic
band snapping back to its untested state.
Lone working is often unwittingly encouraged by organizations
who reward individuals and what they know far more than they
reward teams and what they know. As David Yockelson says, "The
biggest problem is that most companies have not grown up supporting
team efforts or compensating for collecting and sharing. Just
about every company has compensated the individual. So most
employees have grown up thinking their knowledge is power."
3. Shared Purpose. A breakthrough in teambuilding
is achieved when the group start to share a purpose, mission,
or goal which can only be realized by working together. This
is nearly always a big goal and one that excites and motivates
at an emotional level.
The story is told of an unannounced visit by John F. Kennedy
to the space center at Cape Canaveral in the mid 1960's. Kennedy
toured the complex and met a man in overalls. "What do
you do here?" he asked. The man replied, "I'm earning
a living." Kennedy nodded and moved on. He met another
man in overalls and asked him the same question. "I clean
away all the rubbish," the man said. Kennedy smiled and
strode on until he met another man in overalls and put the
same question again. This time a big smile came across the
face of the man who replied, "Mr President, I'm helping
to put a man on the moon."
4. Team First. At the fourth stage of teambuilding,
the group now starts to put the team before themselves. This
only happens when they see that they have far more to gain
from working together than from working on their own. They
start to share not just the goal and mission, but everything
else: ideas, thoughts, plans, skills, knowledge, time, and
even their feelings. When the group reach this stage, they
are prepared to make personal sacrifices if the team wins out.
Writer John Adair quotes Mike Brearley, former England cricket
captain, who was regularly called upon to ask his players to
put aside personal glory for the sake of the team. "Cricket
is a team game but as such it is unusual in being made up of
intensely personal duels. Personal interest may conflict with
the team. You may feel exhausted and yet have to bowl; you
may be required to sacrifice your wicket going for quick runs.
It is the captain's job to coax the happy blend of self-interest
and team-interest from his players."
5. Shared Uncertainty. Once a team sees themselves
as a distinct, cohesive unit with a huge pool of resources
to call on and an exciting goal to strive for, they start to
realize that they can achieve far more together than apart.
That means they can move into areas that they never dared try
before. They are prepared to go for the big prizes. In organizational
terms, this means a high level of attention on the customer
and their needs. The result is a remarkably high level of achievement
and success.
"When spiders unite, they can tie down a lion." (African
proverb)
Teambuilding is one of the most powerful forces of organizational
life. It benefits the individual, the organization, and the
customer. But it doesn't just happen by itself or overnight.
It takes guidance, patience, and commitment. But the results
are well worth while.
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