By 
“Creating a team involves more than buying new uniforms.”
– Bryce’s Law
INTRODUCTION
As you travel corporate America these days, you hear a lot about “teams”; that entire groups, departments, or divisions are trying to behave more like a team than a group of individuals. It is the last sentence of the day. I suppose
someone finally discovered the power of teamwork. But how much of this represents sincere effort? My corporate contacts tell me it’s mostly a front. They claim they get some nifty new corporate t-shirts and some great pep talks, but other than this, little else. As much as companies promote the need for teamwork,
most still encourage tough individualism.
Creating a team involves more than just saying you are one. The new shirts and axioms are fine, but for this to work, people have to think and act as a team. In other words, success depends on it becoming a natural part of the corporate culture.
CORPORATE CULTURE
Teachers, trainers, and exercise instructors have long understood the value of teamwork. The intention is to turn a heterogeneous work environment into a homogeneous environment in which everyone works in a concerted effort towards common goals. But do corporate managers really understand teamwork? Not necessarily. Many still create competitive environments in the hope that the strongest will surface. Teamwork is more about cooperation than competition.
This brings up an important point: teamwork is taught. It means developing a disciplined work environment where participants must adhere to a specific set of rules. Inevitably, it means breaking some work habits and creating new ones. This can be painful, but necessary if you want to achieve your desired results. Basically, you are teaching people how to live and work together rather than separately.
In the United States there is a more natural inclination to teach individualism than teamwork; perhaps this is because we are a nation based on freedoms. For example, our public school systems have minimum dress and hair codes;
Each student is allowed to look and dress as they see fit, many of them with highly questionable taste. This is allowed as it is believed that the individual should be able to express themselves freely. This may be fine, but it certainly doesn’t promote teamwork. Compare it to other countries, such as Japan, where students are required to go to school in uniforms and are assigned group tasks, such as preparing and cleaning their daily lunch. In Japan, students are taught the value of cooperation at an early age, which has the added benefit of improving their socialization skills.
As mentioned, teamwork requires the establishment of a work environment conducive to teamwork. It doesn’t happen just by making a few trivial statements. A manager must do more, much more; some suggestions:
1. First and foremost: Lead. All teams need a leader who can articulate goals and give direction. The team must trust and believe in its leader. Without that confidence, the team is likely to not follow the leader, especially in times of difficulty. The leader must also be careful to lead with a democratic government. Asking for input is one thing, as is
have assistants, but there can only be one definitive leader to guide the team.
2. Institute uniform operating practices that everyone is expected to adhere to, such as work hours, dress code, office appearance, speech and conduct, and so on. Such uniformity emphasizes the equality of workers. As another suggestion, downplay job titles and put more emphasis on job assignments. Job titles tend to emphasize a person’s stature in a company and can be disruptive in terms of
equality.
3. Establish standard practices for the execution of work assignments, so that everyone follows the same methods and uses the same tools and techniques in their work effort. This improves communications, enables worker interchangeability, and promotes the development of quality work products.
4. Make sure everyone knows their responsibilities and assignments and understands their importance. No one wants to be considered the weakest link and as such the manager must be able to communicate its importance and carefully balance
the workload. Yes, there will be those workers who will undoubtedly stand out above the rest, but teamwork is a group effort. If a weaker worker needs additional training, give it or replace it.
5. Check progress on a routine basis. Whenever appropriate, keep statistics on individual and team performance. However, it is not important to publish such statistics. It is important that the leader knows the strengths and weaknesses of the team, but it is
it’s nobody else’s business.
6. Be on the lookout for conflicts in work relationships. Some people just won’t get along and it is up to the manager to arbitrate such disputes. Or get people to work out their differences, keep them separate, or get rid of them. You want harmony, not contention, in your team.
7. Allow the team to meet and discuss problems as a group. This keeps everyone in tune with the team’s common goals, issues, and overall progress. It also allows
team to socialize and form camaraderie (a bond of unity).
8. Recognize individual accomplishments, but reward as a team rather than individually.
CONCLUSION
Are we really trying to promote teamwork or is this just the latest corporate fad that is rolling out more for PR than anything else? Let’s hope the first and not the second. Teamwork is a powerful concept, particularly when there is something substantial to do.
Astute managers intuitively understand the need for teamwork. Let me give you an example from the entertainment world. Jack Benny, the famous comedian of yesteryear, had a great appreciation for teamwork. His radio and television shows were consistently at the top of the rankings charts for several years. When asked what his secret to success was, Benny simply said teamwork. It wasn’t important to Jack that he personally had the best lines and the best laughs week after week. In fact, he was often the butt of many of the jokes. Instead, he made sure his cast, guests, and writers received the accolades they deserved. It was more important to Benny that people say they tuned in
“The Show” instead of tuning in to see “Jack Benny”. He was correct.
I realize that there are cases in business where individualism is necessary, but these are becoming a rarity. Instead, companies can find greater glory as a team than as a group of people.
“Individual glory is negligible compared to winning as a team.”
– Dot Richardson, MD
USA Olympic Softball Team
Two-time gold medal champions
For more information on corporate culture, see:
No. 28 – “Understanding the corporate culture” – June 13, 2005
http://www.phmainstreet.com/mba/ss050613.pdf