Building Teamwork Produces Big Rewards
2004-02-09 email this article to a friend.
It’s a great concept but an elusive goal. Every business wants employees who not only display strong individual effort, but can function as part of a team. People who can excel within the context of the company’s larger objectives, and can play key roles in bringing out excellence in others. Employees with healthy ambitions, but who also have the capacity to subordinate ego to the larger mission, and who are able to define their success in terms of the success of their co-workers.
Most employers I serve tell me to refer only “team players” to their companies. Sounds good. But what exactly do they mean by this, and how are team-minded people identified in the course of the hiring process? Often, employers have not given this much thought. They tend to define team players in the negative: employees who won’t be islands unto themselves, who won’t try to dominate others, who won’t be personal glory seekers, who won’t act like they have all the answers, who won’t steal other people’s accounts and commissions, who won’t let down others who depend on them, who won’t disrupt the chemistry of the workplace, and so forth.
All of this is fine, but it really doesn’t define “team.” It doesn’t give you a clear sight picture or an obvious target. You may think you’re shooting at a pheasant, but you bag a magpie. Job seekers aren’t stupid. They are well-schooled on what employers want to hear. I have yet to come across one job applicant who, when asked, doesn’t assert that they are a team player. Whoopdie doo! Where has that gotten you? Nowhere. The irony is, in today’s me-oriented society, employees often tend to be less team-minded than in the past, even while more adept at making the claim.
Teamwork can be applied broadly to your entire organization or to specific “teams” you create for specific purposes. In either case, the goal is to draw the greatest advantage from the individual talents that are present, by a symbiotic relationship where each benefits the other. Working together and pulling in the same direction has a multiplying effect on individual talent, and bolsters company morale. While we are not necessarily talking about “equality” of roles, each is seen as having great value to the team, and as essential to achieving the goal.
The strength of a team is not in its sameness, but in its effective use of diversity – not just skill diversity, but personality, leadership and behavioral diversity, too. Therein lies the challenge -- and the opportunity – for the business owner or manager. How does one build a team around diverse individuals? Bringing together people of great talent and ambition has often been described as trying to herd cats. How do you foster teamwork among, in some cases, independent and strong-willed people? The key is partly in the creation of the team, and partly in its vision, its values and its management.
Managing for maximum teamwork is a great subject for a future column. Right now, let’s examine the team selection process -- an area often overlooked. For indeed, if employers do not make a deliberate and well-planned effort to attract players who will function as a team, you may end up with a “team” consisting of Peyton Manning at first base, Shaquille O’Neal in the outfield, and Tiger Woods behind the plate. Impressive, but not very functional.
Here are some pointers that may help.
(1) Recognize that being a team player begins with attitude. When interviewing a potential employee, work hard at uncovering that attitude, knowing full well that once they are hired, you will have to live with what you get. Attitudes rarely change within a timeframe that employers can accommodate.
Avoid asking meaningless questions about whether they are team players. Instead, ask the person to “define, in three sentences or less, the meaning of being a team player.” After that, ask some carefully-worded behavioral questions that require them to recall specific occasions when teamwork was required of them, and how they responded. Approach this from several directions. A picture will eventually emerge of the applicant’s relevant attitudes.
(2) Take the time to identify your long range objectives and the mixture of talents and personalities you will need to get there. Teamwork is best achieved when the team itself is made up of diverse people who assume specific functions. Who will do what tasks? How will they communicate and work together? Who will provide the leadership? Who will supply the passion that spurs others’ initiative? Who will be the steadying influence that keeps things structured and patiently on course? Who will ask the tough questions and enforce high standards? Who will keep things light, positive and upbeat?
An ideal team is one that melds the individual strengths and personalities of its members into a single unit, where one feels an accountability toward all the others and respects the roles that each person plays. Different kinds of leadership will emerge from different people, but all will sense their indispensable value to the team, and will want to be regarded as supportive and dependable.
Employers should not only take stock of the personality mixes their company requires, but should systematically assess personality and behavioral traits before a new team member is hired. Programs like the one we use actually model each job description and create a specific profile that best fits the position. The added advantage of these assessments are the team-building tools they provide after the hire, whereby each co-worker better understands how other team members are “wired” - their unique traits, communications styles, work styles, etc. This can be very powerful.
(3) Communicate your team’s core values and seek out employees who closely mirror those values. Shared values are the glue that bolds a team together and gives it a special identity. These values are a reflection of your company culture, its mission and its reason for being. Mostly they are a statement about its people. Remain true to those values as you grow your team, and the results can be dramatic.
(4) If your team has a weak link that can’t be fixed, remove the link before it compromises the team. This can be a very tough decision. You may have another place for this person in your organization, or you may wish to assist them in finding other employment. But the negative consequences of retaining a team member who is disruptive, has a poor attitude or isn’t pulling his weight cannot be overstressed. Weak leadership tolerates weak links; strong leadership knows it is best for everyone involved to take the necessary steps and move on.
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