Is there one thing that, when done, will lead to success? … yes!

TEAMWORK

The problem is that a team requires three things:

1. A common goal.
2. Working together.
3. A group of diverse people.

For a goal to be common it requires a bare minimum of three things:

1. The setting of the goal.
2. The sharing of the goal.
3. The common focus on the goal.

For working together to be an outcome, it requires a bare minimum of four things:

1. Cooperation
2. Communication
3. Feedback
4. Some structure

And lastly, not even having a group of diverse people will materialise before:

• The word is put out that you are looking.
• You select people.
• You link up as the group.

How quickly does the one ticket to success become the fourteen tickets to success?

Ask the question differently – is there one thing that, when neglected, will lead to failure? … yes!

TEAMWORK

I see all too often companies that have balanced score cards, SWOT reviews, websites, products, offices, logos, customers and suppliers but lack teamwork – these are the companies that are struggling.

How will you know if you are one of these companies?

• You will have the attitude that meetings don’t or can’t add value.
• You will be experiencing an internal silo mentality or the classic ‘us and them’ mentality.
• Your team members will favour sending emails to clients above meeting them face to face.
• If you do hold senior team meetings they will be no more than review meetings per line function or dominated by a reactive operational focus, talking about aspects of the business that should be taken care of elsewhere.
• You will be under-performing.
• Your team may have grown in size but the value of the larger team is not manifesting.
• When you ask your team what the biggest problem in your organisation is and they say ‘communication’.
• Some people in your organisation are working themselves to death while others get away with the murder they are committing.
• The silo mentality is especially prevalent between the sales and the service aspects of your business.
• When raising any internal issue, fingers are pointed at another aspect of the organisation.

TEAMWORK is an outcome you cannot afford to take for granted – it takes work to create and it needs to be maintained.

Get busy doing everything else at the expense of creating and maintaining teamwork and your need for TEAMWORK will become far greater really quickly.

• If your business is anything like cricket – spend time in the nets.
• If your business could be likened to a production – spend time in rehearsals.

Make TEAMWORK your priority straight away.

• Employ people who have a track record of creating and running successful teams.
• Get your HR team to focus on creating and maintaining the required levels of teamwork.
• Measure teamwork before measuring anything else.
• Find the people reluctant to work as a team and change this attitude.
• Recognise all success and the teamwork that brought it about.
• When teamwork is found to be failing, go back to rehearsals or return to the nets.

The Ripple Effect understands TEAMWORK and facilitates interventions that result in TEAMWORK.

By Louis Gerke

Development Facilitator – The Ripple Effect

If this post interests you please feel free to share it: