CHAPTER 3
WHAT’S HAPPENED TO TEAM SPIRIT?
Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision, the ability to direct individual accomplishment toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.
—Andrew Carnegie
We all pretty much know what a team is. We learned about teams early on in school or in the context of a sport. In fact, we talk more about teams in a sports context than in any other. But, according to Patrick Lencioni in The Advantage, “Teamwork is not a virtue. It is a choice—and a strategic one.”1
Now more than ever, work in the knowledge economy is frequently done by teams. The big difference between a work team and a sports team is at work, the team doesn’t come together to try to beat an opponent—a team comes together to cooperate, pool their talents, and accomplish a particular set of tasks or responsibilities. In other words, teams have to work together to get the job done. And, because teams are made up of people, they can have conflict!
Most of us have been raised to be independent. We are well conditioned to be individualists—someone who can stand alone without a lot of support. Schools reward students for individual achievements and we learn early that, to get the best grades or to get into the best universities, we have to work hard and compete against other students for what we want. This continues into the workplace when we compete with other applicants for the jobs we want.
Now, at work, we’re being told we have to be on a team. For some of us, this comes as a real shock. For example, until fairly recently, most young girls and women didn’t play competitive sports, so they didn’t have the team experience a lot of boys and men have. This can be a difficult transition when we have to think about the entire team and what part we play in the success of the task the team is undertaking. No longer are we competing with our peers; we are cooperating, and this can be a difficult transition to make and potentially cause conflicts in the workplace.
There are several different reasons we come together to work on a team. It might be to design a new product or a new service. It could be to solve a problem or it just might be to produce a product. Whatever the reason, working in teams can be a challenge for any organization, and it is important to take deliberate action to identify and remove barriers to effective teamwork.
Appendix: Examples of Team Conflicts
As we discussed in Chapter 1, some people don’t like things to change. They are pleased with the way things are and see no reason to do things differently. Some of these people may resent having to work on a team, whereas others may give the impression they like working on a team, but hold back from actively supporting it. Some team members may hold unrealistic expectations about the success of the team and when things don’t go well (and there always will be times when things don’t go well!), they may become dissatisfied and push back on the team thus causing conflict.
The Jones Company just signed an important new client. The CEO decided to form teams to develop strategies for working with the new business. He decided to not have each department work on just a specific part of the business; rather, he wanted to have cross-functional teams made up of people from each department. He didn’t put a whole lot of thought into who should be on which team; he simply directed each of his vice presidents to pick a team and get started. He approached the team concept like it was a playground game.
As the teams began to meet, it was clear they weren’t sure what their role was or what they were to accomplish, so they just stopped meeting and went back to their normal jobs. The VPs weren’t sure what their role was either, so they weren’t able to provide the necessary direction. No one had the courage to go to the CEO for guidance and the new client work was less than productive.
In order to be successful, teams need a clear direction in which to head; they need to have a focus, a purpose, and to know what is expected of them. Unclear expectations can derail even the strongest team and cause conflicts to occur. If a team has a clear vision of what they are expected to accomplish and they take the time to develop how they will work together, conflicts can be held to a minimum. But remember: Teams are made up of people, and where there are people, the potential for conflict exists!
Chapter 6: You Want Me to Do What?
Setting goals for the team—whether it be for a project, a product, or any other purpose—can make a huge difference in the team’s ability to accomplish their mission with as little conflict as possible. Use the SMART goal formula to help you craft team goals that will drive the team to success.
SMART Goals
S=Specific—a goal needs to be well defined and focused. Think about “who, what, why” and it will help you to be specific.
M=Measureable—how will you determine success for this goal? What measures do you need either short-term or long-term to measure success? Remember: “What gets measured gets done.”
A=Achievable—nothing is more de-motivating than having a goal that is out of reach. Be sure the goal is achievable, but also a stretch. You want it to be a challenge, but not impossible.
R=Relevant—a goal should be linked to your organization’s or team’s current work or project.
T=Time-bound—a goal should have a date or time attached to it to ensure completion.
After the team gains clarity on their goals and objectives, it is critical that they come together to determine how they will work together. How often will they meet? Who will take notes? Who will chair the meetings? Where will reports be sent and when? These questions, and many others, need to be answered before a team can be effective.
Cynthia is always late for every team meeting. During the meetings, Juan whispers to his colleague. Larry spends all of his time on his phone responding to e-mails, while Leonard angles his chair so that his back is to most of the other team members. Lavinia leaves the meeting and shares whatever was discussed with her best friend at work.
Setting group norms is one way to minimize conflict when working in teams. Take the time at the beginning to set the “team norms”—how we are going to work together. The time invested in setting norms can pay off down the road and help the team be more collaborative and more effective.
The best way to set the team norms is to have a facilitator work with the team and come to consensus. Here is an example of team norms:
Team members—we value differences and honor each member of the team for what he/she brings to the team. We create opportunities for each team member to learn and grow. We demonstrate flexibility. We share team norms with new team members.
Deadlines—each team member agrees to make every effort to meet assigned deadlines and, if not possible, let the other team members know at least 48 hours in advance of the deadline that an extension is required.
Meetings—we will rotate facilitation responsibilities in alphabetical order. The facilitator is responsible for collecting items for the agenda, preparing the agenda, distributing the agenda 24 hours in advance of the meeting, and keeping the discussions on target during the meeting. Meetings will start and end on time. All electronic devices will be turned off unless being used by a record keeper to take notes or by participants to follow the agenda. Unless there is an emergency situation (fire, natural disaster, illness), no one will leave a meeting until it is over.
Record keeping—each meeting or update session will have a record keeper to take notes. Notes will be shared with other team members within 48 hours of the meeting.
Confidentiality—all team activities will be held in confidence unless approval is given by the team leader.
Decision-making—decisions will be made by consensus. When there is no consensus, the team can request a member of the Leadership Team to mediate until consensus is reached.
Participation—all team members commit to being active in every way while a member of this team. This includes attending meetings and actively participating in discussions, completing assignments on time, and supporting other team members inside and outside meetings and projects.
Roles—team leaders will be selected based on area of expertise and rotated based on project. Record keepers and facilitators will rotate in alphabetical order.
Conflict resolution process—when we have different opinions on project issues, we will call a special session to listen to all points of view and work to understand each other’s perspective before resolving the issues. If outside help is needed, we will request it.
Accountability—each team member is fully accountable for all decisions made.
Mutual respect—each team member agrees to respect the opinions and ideas of others. We will structure meetings to allow for each team member to have a voice equally.
Today’s workplace is made up of people from all parts of the world with a variety of perspectives and work experiences. As reported in Diverse Teams at Work:
Whether the numerous diversities your team reflects center on distinctions such as work experience and position in the organization, cultural dissimilarities involving language and ethnicity, or some of the less changeable diversities such as age and race, one thing is clear. The way these differences are managed within the group will have tremendous consequences on how the team functions, and, ultimately, on how faithful it is to the accomplishment of its performance objectives.2
Chapter 2: Why Can’t Everyone Be Like Me?
Although diverse teams may seem like something new in organizations, they really aren’t. But it makes sense to consider the importance of having a diverse team and to work to minimize potential conflicts on the team that may result from people coming from differing perspectives. Working with diversity on teams is a great place to reinforce one of the principles Stephen Covey laid out in The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People: “Seek first to understand—then to be understood.”3
As described in Diverse Teams at Work, “Diversity Variables that Impact Team Functioning” include:
“A teammate nods and says he understands, and then proceeds incorrectly.
A coworker talks on and on, never getting to the point.
A team member won’t tell you when there is a problem.
Some group members never speak out in meetings to make suggestions, yet you know they have some good ideas.
A colleague pretends everything is fine, when you know she’s upset.
One member of the group comes unglued when meetings don’t start on time.”4
How inclusive is your team?
Does your team value each member for what he/she brings to it?
Do you foster open communication where every team member’s voice is heard?
Do you seek out opinions from everyone on the team rather than listening only to a few?
Do you treat each other with respect and dignity?
Do you find ways to celebrate your differences?
Do team members mentor others in inclusive behaviors to build team competency?
Do you provide resources to your team members on what inclusiveness means?
When issues come up on a team, it is important to try to diagnose whether the issue is due to a personality conflict or a communication breakdown that might be a result of some team members not understanding jargon or American slang or idioms.
When working in a team environment, it is critical to watch out for people who cause conflict, including:
A team member reacts negatively if asked a question or to clarify a point.
A team member loves to argue each point made; he/she is the “devil’s advocate” on your team.
A team member who loves to tell the leader or anyone how to do it better.
A team member who just has to solve everyone else’s problems.
In order for ideas to be presented and heard by the team, when team members are presenting ideas to each other, it is important that they:
Maintain eye contact.
Speak clearly in a loud enough voice to be heard and vary the pitch.
Are sincere.
Are energetic and engaging.
Use animation such as gestures.
Are positive and use positive language.
Keep remarks brief but complete.
End with a call to action and outline the next steps.
The brainstorming process:
Decide on how long you have.
Set the ground rules such as:
There is no bad idea—just get ideas flowing.
Everyone must participate.
You will get all ideas out before discussing them.
Consider using flip charts around the room for each person to record his/her ideas.
Anyone can piggyback on someone else’s ideas.
When you have your ideas, clarify, eliminate, consolidate, look for themes, evaluate, vote on the best, and move forward. Determine who will be the leader and who will be on which team and when the team will report back.
Chapter 7: Don’t Draw a Line in the Sand!
Whenever you ask people to work in teams, you are looking for them to come together to work on projects or issues that need resolving. When people work together in teams, you want to have conflict. Yes, that’s what I said—you want conflict! You really don’t want people thinking the same way, or agreeing just to agree, or to make someone else happy. As your team comes together to work on whatever their task, you really do want them to bring up different points of view and that may result in conflict. And that is a good thing because conflicts can spark innovation, provide a better solution, and make your team even stronger as you work through the conflict. Conflict can be positive for teams. Fear of conflict can derail a team. Good conflict can be about ideas, where people trust each other and where people know they can’t have all the answers.
Team conflicts can happen over different approaches to the same issue or from personality conflicts or turf struggles. Trust allows conflict to be positive. You can work through the conflict to get to the best answer if there is trust. Very few people are unable to support a coworker just because they had a different idea.
In order for teams to work well together and to minimize conflict, there has to be trust among the members of the team. Teams thrive on mutual trust, so it is critical that trust be established as early as possible in the team’s lifecycle. This sounds like a given, right? It’s easy to say and sometimes not easy to do, but here are some ways to establish trust as soon as possible.
Talk about it in the first team meeting. By bringing the trust issue out in the open, you have a better chance of making it happen. “When there is trust, conflict becomes nothing but the pursuit of truth, an attempt to find the best possible answer.”5
Pat Lencioni in The Advantage says, “The kind of trust that is necessary to build a great team is what I call vulnerability-based trust. This is what happens when members get to a point where they are completely comfortable being transparent, honest, and naked with one another, where they say and genuinely mean things like ‘I screwed up,’ ‘I need help,’ ‘Your idea is better than mine,’ ‘I wish I could learn to do that as well as you do,’ and even, ‘I’m sorry.’”6
Be open and transparent. Teamwork and secrecy can’t exist together, so be honest with the team and the team leadership. The team leader should model this behavior and not allow others to keep secrets or work behind the scenes without reporting back to the team. As team leader, try to:
Share your vision for the team, the project, and the organization with your team members to give them a clear picture of where you’re headed. Give clear direction and do your best to keep things on track.
Get to know each team member as an individual. Learn what motivates each one and what frustrates each one.
Communicate as often as possible and use a variety of communication methods. Be sure that each team meeting is documented and shared with the team. Work to cascade communication throughout the team so that everyone hears the same thing. Encourage a free flow of communication between team members.
Encourage ideas and don’t discount contributions from others on the team. It is easier for people to be creative in a team environment, so encourage new ideas and brainstorming.
Acknowledge cultural differences when building trust. U.S.-based teams, for example, may be more trusting and comfortable than teams with members from other countries where it may take more time to build rapport.
Acknowledge successes from everyone on the team. Trust will break down quickly if the team leader takes credit for something someone else contributed.
Always treat team members with respect. Everyone on the team has a purpose and a value. Keep that in mind when conflicts arise!
Remember: If problems come up, focus on the problem and not the person.
Daniel Goleman says in his landmark book, Working With Emotional Intelligence, “In a study by The Center for Creative Leadership of top American and European executives whose career derailed, the inability to build trust and lead a team was one of the most common reasons for failure.”7
Here are some things to remember about teams from The Essential Manager’s Handbook:
A team member is still an individual and should always be treated as such.
Cross-functional teams offer people the chance to learn about the roles and work of others.
Inter-departmental teams break down costly barriers.
Formal teams sometimes need informal elements to stimulate and refresh their work.
Teams cease to be teams if one member becomes dominant.
All team members should make sure they are working toward the same goals.8
As we’ve said many times in this book, conflict is a normal part of life, be it at work or at home. Conflict is not the sign of a mismanaged team; it is a reality of people working together. If a team is working well together, conflict is an indication that differences are acknowledged and are being dealt with. When there is conflict on your team, bring it to the surface in as non-threatening a manner as possible and ask the team members to identify the issues. When teams routinely handle conflict in this way and survive, odds are they will be comfortable when another issue arises. They will see that this is just a part of working on a team and move forward!
Essential Tips
Most of us work in teams, so we need to learn how teams work.
Use the SMART goal formula to set and monitor goals.
Set group norms to ensure your team works well together.
Try to have people from diverse backgrounds and ideas on your team; be inclusive.
Use brainstorming to drive idea generation.
Watch for people who cause conflict on your teams.