With many business creating teams to complete tass there are often time when we find ourselves working as part of team, rather than on a more isolate, lone wolf kind of project. When we find ourselves under these teamwork circumstances then we need to be at our best to ensure that we are in fact being a good team player. one that is contributing to the project and the work being done instead of being hindrance or somewhat of a hurdle that must be overcome to complete the tast in an effective timely manner. What I think you need to remember is that when we are working alone we are essentially the entire machine, but as a member you are a single part of an excellent machine that has to fit and work with the other parts to make the team machine function. Relating your team to a machine is an excellent way to look at it because without one part, the other may not work, and vise versa. Team co operation is key to make all parts run smoothly to maximize unit success.
By highlighting and discussing the various ways that we can work best within a team environment, perhaps there will be areas in our work that will recognize where we have some room for improvements. When you are working on projects where you are more riding solo, then you know what bothers you and what issues that arise are ones that will prove problematic to your progress. Having said that, when you are in a team, you cannot so easily recognize what the roadblock is. So you have to be able to read the situation, and work with the other team members.
Working in a team environment can be hugely rewarding, or endlessly taxing depending on the way each member of the team integrates themselves into the atmosphere. You want to get out of the experience that which is equal to what you put into it. In order to do so, you need to work with your teammates and not think you can do it all yourself. You need each member of the team to come to the table ready, and willing to work as a member of that team.
Going to work each and everyday can be very stressful and at times we don't even want to crawl out of bed. I see my parents go through it sometimes, and often I don't feel like going to work after school. The top to two things people in their work want are being recognized as a contributing member and recognition and reward after their accomplishments. I feel with those two key important things, people often feel more positive about going to work. People want to know that what they do at their job has value to the company, marketplace or better yet the project. This can strongly relate to team work as recognition from others keeps a positive team. The leader has to communicate that every person in the group and the work they do has value to the success of the team. Some roles may be obvious to us, meaning without them the team would not be successful or reach full potential but reinforcement that "you are doing a great job, keep up the work" or "your great accomplishments help the rest of the team with their tasks" is often things workers like to here.
Recognition and rewards can come in many forms. Accomplishment on tem projects needs to be publicized, and individual accomplishment within teams should lead to actions that make it clear that team participation and success lead to opportunities. One other thing about rewards and recognition is they can get lost in the overload of work and stress. As we all know people tend to get very busy while at work and often don't have time for some things. Schedule regular review times - at least monthly, to determine who should be recognized and rewarded and make it a very public ceremony or meeting. If you cannot name people off the top of your head congratulate and thank the team as a whole and evaluate how the team is performing. Just hearing that helps people stay positive and strive towards the next goal.
Review the essentials and copare them to the goals you set at the beginning of the project, then change what you need to change in order to improve success. Doing so will ensure that you are accessing what could be done better in order to make every succeed in the role they are working. I personally feel the "one positive and one negative" is a great reminder. For example:
"You forgot to attach the cover page on this letter, but the content of the letter was very well written."
This is getting the point across to the member of the team, that yes they forgot something, but you do recognize the work and effort they have put in. A simple positive statement is often a reward we like to here. We don't always want the negatives, but following up with the positives often is a lot more beneficial and in the end, a more positive approach to lead your group in to the future with a great outcome. Below is a funny little video clip that we can all understand what a reward is to our employees. It doesn't have to this big, but something as small as a lunch can relieve the stress off people and make them feel recognized for their hard work and efforts.
Each and everyday we constantly hear about the great leaders around us - soldiers politicians, sports figures, explorers, business people, etc. However, have you ever sat there and realized how these people got to where they are today, and what type of skills they used or learned in order to gain that leadership role. We all tend to strive to do the best we can do when it counts, but what is that extra step in the process to put you head and shoulders over the person sitting in the next cubicle in your office? You can be a leader without being the boss.
I would suggest that a leader is someone who influence or controls the direction in which the organization or group he/she belongs to move in. This can be done by example, rather than just power; by the ability rather than position. I feel in teamwork we always designate a team leader to organize everything, but each member has their own unique leadership characteristics that shine. The leader in a group is teh person who can best see or understand what needs to be done to meet the group's needs. They are the person who can most clearly see the way forward, and what it means to the group, in other words the person that can take charge and push each member one step ahead. I would say the leader acts, rather than just talk. They don't just tell others what to do, they show them by example what needs to be done, and why it is important.
I often hear a lot about "vision" these days from school, and work, but it is seldom explained why this is important. You can relate this to yourself, or my example is being a Manager at my part time job. I had to take that leadership role and invision what I can do better. But what does this mean? Vision should paint a vidid picture of what the future is meant to look like so that every member of that group knows what they are moving towards, and therefore their own personal contribution towards getting there. A leader enables, rather than just controls and enabling is at least as important, if not more so, than the trendy "empowering".
A strong leader brings out the best in the team, but also the best in themselves. Always striving for that next step in becoming a stronger person. They help create an environment where each person can offer the best of themselves. Where the sum total of these individual gifts delivers just what is required, without waste. Not everyone is born to be a leader. Some of us grow up being very shy, and dont like to express what we feel will benefit others, and we tend to stick to ourselves. However, people change over time, pick up better skills, and for lack of better terms, grow up. Anyone can push themselves to be a leader with learning the right skills, they just need to work hard and access the proper skills for the job.
Whether you see yourself as "the leader" of your team or "a member" of your team, you are in a position like the others to influence others around you. I feel that each person in a team has the opportunity to make clear statements, influence others and strive for perfection. This doesn't necessarily have to the the "team leader".Take a stand for the improvement of your team! There are many different ways a member of a group can do so.
Simple reminders to your team members of the vision you see for your team and what you see as being possibile for your team. As I talked about a few blog posts ago, distinguishing roles is a very important piece to the puzzle. Keep reminding people of that great goal you set at the beginning of the project, because the more times it is drilled into people's head the more drive and passion they will have to reach it. Simple question such as "What do you need to grow to the next possible level, what will assist you on completing this task to the best of your ability?" As a member of the team looks for ways to develop and build the inner strength of your team.
When was the last time the team had a meeting that was dedicated to enhancing your teams relationships, not necessarily the specific roles and goals of the project but building connection among the different group members?
When was the last time your team went out for lunch together, or did another fun activity?
These are little things that each of the group members can be thinking about throughout the period you are working on the task. Dont overwhelm the leader. Yes, the leader has great responsibility, and has the final word, however if each group member or even a few take their leadership skills to the next level, and organize a small meeting, or get together colleagues for a lunch, or what ever it may be, creates a more positive working atmosphere. This doesn't mean jump in the hot seat, and try and take over. What I am saying is, each member should be think about what they can do to benefit others and not just themselves. Complete their task to 110% but also assisting the rest of the team is important.
The depth of the commitment of team members to work together effectively to accomplish the goals of the team, is a critical factor in team success. The relationships team members develop is very important keys in team building and the success of a team project. In order to find out the commitment levels of each team members, the team needs to distinguish a team leader to asses the commitment level of each team member. I feel that it is important for a leader to ask each member some of the following questions to get a feel for the commitment level, because the bottom line, with no commitment in a team, then things will not run smoothly and be completed to the best of everyones ability.
Team Choice - Do all of the members wants to participate as a team, and have indicated tasks. Do the members perceive that they had a choice about working on a particular team?
Team Mission - Do the team members believe that the team overal mission is important, and reachable? Are members committed to accomplishing the team mission and what the expected outcomes may be. For a team mission to be successful the members want to feel as if they are part of something bigger than themselves. They need to understand what the mission is and how to reach the goals set. Team commitment comes from team members knowing the expected outcomes and where the outcomes fit in the whole organizations plan.
Team Members Need to Feel Valued - Do the team members perceive their service and part in the project to be valuable to the organization and to their own careers. Do the other team members accept them as a person and their skills, and feel that they can work together in order to complete the task at hand.
Challenge, Excitement and Opportunity - Do the members feel challenged by the teams opportunity. This can reflect on their work ethic and can reflect the level of commitment to complete the job. If it seems challenging to the member, they will work harder at completing it, vs taking it for granted and not enjoying it, which end results in 50% effort.
Recognition - Does the team have a record for personal recognition. When tasks are completed and the effort put in. Members need to feel recognized for the work they put into the task. Successful milestones is very important to workers, and gives them the confidence to push forward and keep working on the task.
Below is a video that shows the importance of team commitment, and how a team can be very successful with a strong leader and a very committed team to complete a task.
When creating a team for a project or task, everyone is giving a direct role to work on. With everyone working on a specific task, positive and negative feedback is needed in order to produce a successful end result, better know as constructive criticism.
In order to benefit from constructive criticism, the first step is to focus on behaviours, and only the behaviours. As you may have noticed from your own experience, criticizing a person’s characteristics or personality traits very rarely works well. If ever. Criticism specifically focussed on behaviours is much more likely to be understood and accepted. Criticism based on our behaviours is easier to accept than criticism of our personality or characteristics because it is based on "what we do" rather then "who we are". This supports the statement we often hear especially from our parets "you can change what you do, but not change who you are." Meaning, you can change your actions but not your personality.
An example:
When you interrupt me in front of a client it causes a problem (Behaviour)
Would probably feel easier to accept than
Your arrogance is causing a problem (Characteristic /Personality trait)
Criticism that is seen as being objective is always easier to understand and accept. Changing the behaviour or giving constructive criticism is very important. The statement above is cut and dry, frank but at the same tile relatively comfortable and informative, it gets the point across. Criticism is also based on facts vs. assumptions. You cannot assume you know everything about someone. Assumptions can be argued against, and facts cannot.
When I talk about there being three errors in the report you gave me - thats a fact
When I tak about your lack of interest in your work - thats an assumption
Constructive criticism makes a project better. It gives truthful facts and errors in someone work but giving them constructive feedback to make it better benefits both yourself and the team. It's difficult to disagree with facts, its's easier to disagree with assumption.
Unfortunately Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an excellent role model. He was an inspiring mentor, a business leader and most importantly and inventor. Apple would not be the company it is today without Steve Jobs and his work skills, creative abilities, and utter brilliance. I personally think Steve Jobs was one of the most motivating people I have ever learned about. From his early years of co-creating the "Blue Boxes" (which were devices to make free long distance calls), or working at Atari and creating video game systems, or even to the beginning of Apple, Steve built teams and was ever so successful. Everything was running so smoothly for Jobs and his partner Wozinak, until Apple hit a huge major set back. Many workers were laid off, the company was going under, and Steve was loosing his team. The Apple III did terrible on sales and was out sold by PC products. Steve had to come up with a plan, a new idea, and lead it into the future.
While doing research, the first thing I found out was, Steve was brought back to his feet by building a team. We look at Apple now a days and see how large the company has become. You walk in to a store and see a unison of blue shirts all working together. In my eyes, so much different then any other store. Whether it is loading software onto your new Mac, or answering questions about the new iPad, the Apple store is always helpful. I recently bought my Mac from the Apple store, and that is why I can speak for such a great company, but it wasn't until today with the passing of Steve Jobs that I wondered where it actually all came from. His team.
Following my blog posts, as I stated in my last discussion a very popular quote that I heard - "2 brains are better then just one" Steve was an intelligent man, but with the help of an Apple team, we see the products being sold today. Through many career paths, changes, and set backs, Steve ended up back in Apple in 1997. He was named interim CEO of apples, however apple posted huge losses. He would go on to re-organize the company and once again built a new team and turn it back into a money making company. As I have said many times, Apple would not be where it was without the best leader I personally think in the world. He lead his team through failure and success, debt and payoffs, and in the end turned the Apple company into a multi-billion dollar interim. This is a great example to show how simple team work skills and the leader abilities of some people, we see how successful one can be.
My hat goes off to Steve Jobs. He will be missed by many people, and the new generation of Apple workers will have to work extra hard to achieve the things he did. I found him a huge inspiration, a mentor and a role model to building a business and pursuing your goals and dreams. If you have some spare time on your hands, just google some videos on him, the speeches he made, you will understand my strong passion for such an inspiration. The video below explains my blog in a nutshell, and why Steve Jobs was such a success
Have you ever been a member of a high performing, smooth running team? A team that set a goal so unimaginable, and achieved it? It was probably an experience you are likely never to forget. Most likely within your team people trusted one another, worked cooperatively, enjoyed the task at hand and achieved that goal that was set ever so high. Clear goals is a very successful key towards successful team work. Clear goals are critical to ensure that everyone on the team is heading in the same direction. Much time, money and energy are put into projects and tasks, and can be all wasted if everyone on the team isn't reaching for the same goal/outcome. Without goals in a team, not everyone will be on the same page and a task/project will not be completed to best of everyones ability. This happens because without a distinguished goal, how do you know when to stop? How will each team member know when enough is enough? With a goal posted up for everyone to recognize, almost unachievable, with hard work and dedication your team will be on top by reaching it.
Defined roles help teams organize and clear cut who is in charge of which tasks. Usually members of a team have a fairly clear idea of what their roles are in order to complete the project. Roles helps individuals set their own goals and strive towards them. When a major project is given, each person clarify's what task they want to complete and work on the task at hand. Depending on the size of the group, titles should be given to each individual. Example shown below:
Simple questions should be asked among your team.
Who is going to take charge, lead the project?
Who is going to organize the tasks, keep people on task?
Who will evaluate assignments, and completed work? Will it work within the task, will it reach the set goal?
Who will tie the project together, who says the project is complete?
Many more question should be asked within deciding roles. Having a distinguished role doesn't mean that person cannot take part on other tasks. This is more of a title, so each team member knows who to go to if they have questions or concerns , or something revised. There are many steps to completing a well rounded team. Creating a goal, and assigning roles will send team in the proper direction. Remember when setting a goal, that everyone agrees on it, and it is something hard to reach but realistically reachable. Re-access everyones role, and gather each member to check in, call a short meeting, and you will soon find your team on the path to success.
