+Teamwork tips and resources

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Teamwork 10 Tips

by Mark Lamendola

1. If you run a team, be a leader--not a dictator.

2. Teams are made of people--be sure to recognize them for individual accomplishments individually and publicly.

3. Never chew out a team member publicly. Reward publicly, punish privately.

4. Don't allow slackers--get rid of them.

5. Keep lines of communication open.

6. Actively solicit ideas, and then listen to the input. Don't poo-poo ideas when someone is brave enough to offer them.

7. Reward people for assisting their team mates.

8. Use humor often, but don't make fun of people. By example, encourage them to make fun of themselves.

9. Rotate some responsibilities, give ownership of others.

10. Bar negativity, but not by edict. Create a positive environment by eliminating irritants (such as petty policies and bad equipment).

Teamwork Traps

by Mark Lamendola

Managers often get dragged into "teamwork" initiatives that have employee subjugation as their goal. Employees can smell this particular rat, and the initiative is not only doomed to fail but doomed to backfire.

These initiatives often involve "teambuilding exercises," which, when you think about it, are pretty silly. Isn't the fact that you're all working for the same company, trying to keep the doors open, already evidence enough you have a team in place? Rather than spend your limited resources on artificial exercises, you need to focus on meeting your business goals with the team approach. More about that, in a moment.

In addition to the initiatives, other teamwork traps include:

• Employee performance evaluations that require a manager to evaluate the employee on teamwork. Solution: Get rid of these evaluations. They are never accurate, never timely, and nearly always demotivating.

• Peer pressure disguised as "teamwork." A good team has members of different abilities and temperaments. Squelching input based on a group norm isn't teamwork. It's groupthink.

• Use of the word "teamwork" to mean compliance with the boss. A good boss keeps the team on track, but doesn't need to enforce his will by dint of branding people "not a team player" if they don't comply.

• Outside socialization as a job requirement. The typical employee hired on at the company, and the company hired the coworkers. This does not make those people relatives or the closest of friends. They are coworkers. Requiring them to attend mutual events after work or toss out their existing friendships for company-mandated ones is not teamwork.

So, what's teamwork really? It's the result of an attitude based on mutual respect, the desire to cooperate, and the agreed upon need to meet agreed upon goals. If you are an executive who wants teamwork in your workplace, start by doing the following:

• Be respectful of everyone. Don't look down on people because of their position, education, connections, etc.

• Make the goals clear. Communicate to everyone what is expected, and make sure they understand by listening to what they say.

• Be open to feedback. Genuinely open. If you disagree or don't understand, ask for explanation (in a non-threatening way).

• Ask for input. This doesn't mean pretending, either. Employees can tell when the suggestion box is actually a wastebasket.

• Focus. If the team has clear goals and there's a real reason to achieve them, you're halfway there. Communicate the need to acheive the goals by focusing on those goals in what you say and do.

Teamwork books

Five-star books on teamwork:

• Breakthrough Teamwork: Outstanding Results Using Structured Teamwork
• From Turnover to Teamwork: How to Build and Retain a Customer-Oriented Foodservice Staff
• Managing the Development of New Products: Achieving Speed and Quality Simultaneously Through Multifunctional Teamwork
• Teamwork & Teamplay
• Teamwork: What Must Go Right, What Can Go Wrong (Series in Interpersonal Communication Vol 10)
  

More teamwork books

• Groups That Work
• Groups That Work: And Those That Don't : Creation Conditions for Effective Teamwork (Management Series)
• Health Care Teamwork: Interdisciplinary Practice and Teaching
• Work Place Wars and How to End Them: Turning Personal Conflicts into Productive Teamwork

Business Excellence Resources

Success in business depends on preparation. Those who wing it are those who fail. But don't prepare just in your area of technical expertise. Prepare there, yes. But also:

• Keep learning about your own field. There's a reason why state licensing boards require continuing education. Apply this same concept to whatever areas you work in. If you are licensed as, say, a CPA, then continue your education also in the areas of customer service, productivity, time management, and other areas that will help you do your job better, faster, and at more of a competitive advantage.
• Learn about related fields. For example, sales people should learn about marketing and operations. This helps you when promotions are considered.
• Network. Get to know people. Ask them about what they do. Show an interest.
• Establish your presence in your professional organizations. Join the top two or three of these organizations, and attend meetings. Become an officer in one, and take that position very seriously.
• Play nice. No matter how good you are, your career is going to stall if people don't like you. So show respect and be fair. Don't worry about popularity, worry about your reputation.
• Know your business goals. Often, people let themselves get diverted from their business goals. They start staying busy, instead of focusing their time and other resources on their business goals. Remind yourself daily about why you are doing the job you do.
• Respect your customers. The customer isn't always right, but the customer always deserves your respect.
• Differentiate. Rather than copy a competitor, offer something a little different. But make it something worth the customer's attention. For example, is there a small annoyance that's common in your industry but that you can eliminate?
• Offer value. Don't compete on price alone; that's a race to the bottom. People will pay for value, so provide that and charge reasonably for it.
• Keep moving. What worked even a few months ago may not work now. Don't change your core values (integrity, great customer service, good quality, etc.), but do examine your offerings, business processes, and anything else that affects the price of what you sell or the quality of the customer experience. Do this on a continual basis, and you won't get stale.