Whether it’s a band, a baseball team, or a small business, chemistry is at the heart of what makes teams great. Much of modern business thinking is centered on understanding the chemistry of what makes effective teamwork tick. And the best way to learn … is by doing, as Confucius says. But beware the characteristics which destroy effective teamwork.
Build a team whose members have diverse backgrounds and mindsets. This broadens the creativity process.
Each person will contribute different thoughts and ideas, which lead to unique conversations when everyone comes together. The education, background, and experience of individual members lead to a creative group.
Team members will learn from one another. Different perspectives lead to new skills and effective innovation strategies. The result is a stronger team equipped to take on new challenges and quickly solve problems of all sizes.
An important leadership competency for any size organization, the ability to build and lead high-performing teams is especially critical in small-to-midsize businesses. Here, people must work closely together, wear many hats and work effectively across the organization to get tasks accomplished quickly enough to remain competitive.
Nothing really prepares you to be a leader. In most cases, you get the opportunity to lead by being good at something else. However, while being a strong performer gives you the credibility to lead, it says nothing about your ability to lead. Leadership is a skill in its own right and, for the most part, it’s one you learn on the job.
In order to understand the characteristics that could destroy effective teamwork, it is helpful to first define a team. Here is a simple but effective description from The Wisdom of Teams (Harvard Business School Press, 1993.)
“A team is a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable.”
Note, however, more often than not, there are more characteristics that can destroy teamwork than make it better. These are the ones you really need to recognize and avoid. Let’s discuss them:
No clear goals
Sometimes, organizations are in such a hurry to move on their projects that they pull together groups of people without first deciding on the goals and desired outcomes.
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In his book, Team Renaissance: The Art, Science and Politics of Great Teams (Old Man River Publishing, 2013), Richard Spoon explains that without a clear sense of what the team needs to accomplish and how a successful outcome will be defined, it’s impossible to assemble the right group of people to get there.
So decide on team goals and desired outcomes first. Use it for clear direction for the team you select. Start at the endpoint: What is the outcome you want and why? Leave the team flexibility to develop the best way to get there.
Poor team leaders find a way to avoid appropriate risk-taking and experimentation for change. They look at first time mistakes as failures … ones to avoid at all costs. Certainly defeats opportunities for learning and teamwork.
Destroy effective teamwork … lacking open communication
Communication is the close brother of chemistry. In any team, communication is crucial to building a sense of camaraderie between members. The manner of communication — how freely and frequently team members communicate —determines the effectiveness of the team. Put simply, the more freely you talk to your fellow team members, the more comfortable you are in sharing insights and ideas. This is just one major reason why modern businesses emphasize communication and collaboration tools.
The most important part of communication is listening. Hands down in my opinion. Listening is not just a way to find things out. It’s also a sign of respect. So send the message that your conversation partner is valuable. Listen like you mean it. Demonstrate that you’re listening. Paraphrase, re-state and react to what you hear. Ask for clarification. Get involved.
Lacking defined roles
Roles often shift somewhat once the team is assembled, but before starting, if you don’t understand the skill sets and thinking styles that are needed on the team, you will be in a big hole. If a team needs to develop a new product for the market, that team will need a detail-oriented person (the task-master), who is methodical and can keep the team on track.
The explorer will be more of a big-picture thinker who can help the team see what is possible. The number-cruncher will take charge of measurement and metrics. It’s possible your team will have other roles to fill, but you should have a good handle on those roles before you begin staffing.
Once you have a plan for those basics, don’t neglect to choose the strongest team members to carry out the project.
No common goals
A chief characteristic of any successful team is that members place the common goal above individual interests. That is very difficult if no common goals are defined. While scaling individual targets is great for personal morale, teams succeed when they understand, appreciate and work with a common purpose.
No accountability is a cardinal sin.
No accountability
Without letting the team knowing the boundaries of their accountabilities, introduces many unknowns. Teams need to accept responsibility as individuals and as a team. Without accountability, they may blame one another for team mistakes and failures. No one should spend any time, useless time, in personal justifications. They should celebrate their successes together and recognize special performances and contributions that each team member makes to the total work of the team.
Discouraging differences in opinions
Agreeing on a common goal is essential. But it shouldn’t come at the cost of suppressing alternative ideas and opinions. Discouraging divergent opinions within a team erodes team performance; a diverse team needs to be its competitive advantage.
Diverse opinions stir the imagination and new ideas. Imagination and new ideas stir creativity. Unless the status quo is threatened and questioned, you won’t find those crucial “out of the box” ideas.
Lacking collaboration
Close collaboration is a trait shared by every successful team, whether it be the Apple leadership team or Lennon-McCartney of the Beatles fame or Jordan-Pippen of the Chicago Bulls fame. A team that is missing this ability weakens the team’s performance. The idea is simple enough: the more you collaborate and the more you communicate, the more you create.
No internal team trust
Team members who cannot trust one other or who don’t believe in the process and goals of the team seldom find success. Effective teams focus on solving problems. Trust is an adjunct of effective communication; there can be trust between team members only if they are allowed to air their views freely. This is the reason why organizations often undertake team-building exercises that put team members in positions of trust.
Across industries, building an effective team is a process, not a destination. A great team is like an organic being, continually growing and changing to adapt to situations and challenges arise. Remember … teamwork divides the task and multiplies the success. So know what to look out for in terms of characteristics that destroy effective teamwork.
What do you do to get your teams in the right frame of reference for top performance?
Please share an experience or two with this community.
If you are looking for additional resources for innovation, one of my favorite experts is Kate Nasser. You’ll find lots of good stories and examples to learn from her blog.
Need some help in capturing more improvements for your staff’s teamwork and collaboration? Creative ideas in running or facilitating a team workshop?
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More reading on teamwork from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
The Story and Zen of Getting Things Done
Lessons Learned in LIfe … Class Continues Daily
Are You Looking for an Extraordinary Fast Track Career
Mike Schoultz is a digital marketing and customer service expert. With 48 years of business experience, he consults on and writes about topics to help improve the performance of small business. Find him on G+, Facebook, Twitter, Digital Spark Marketing, and LinkedIn.
