PUTTING
THE 'I' BACK IN T E A M
The
other day I heard a manager say, “So I told him, there’s no I in T E
A M.”
That started me thinking, and I have come to the conclusion that not only
is that manager wrong, but he has put his finger on a major problem.
There is an I in T E A M, and the sooner you put it back in, the more effective
your team will be.
What, or who, is a team? It is you, plus him, plus her, plus me. In other
words, it is a collection of Is. Take the individual players out of a team
and you have nothing. Without 15 players, the All Blacks would have only a
pile of unused jerseys and an empty locker room. There is an I in T E A M.
In the case of the All Blacks, 15 of them.
Of course, a team will not work effectively if individuals put their own
goals ahead of the team’s mission. Indeed, it is recognized that a team works
best when everyone in the team believes that the team’s goal is clear, worthwhile
and challenging. But on the other hand, a team will not perform well unless
each person does their job either.
In the days when I did team-building workshops, I learned that after accepting
that the team’s goal was paramount, the next biggest factor affecting a team’s
performance was the behaviour of its members. Teams where people listened to
each other, took the best ideas from those suggested and cooperated to complete
tasks did well. Teams where people interrupted each other, argued, and tried
to dominate failed.
Over the course of a daylong workshop, the biggest improvements came from
teams where the individual members were prepared to change the way they personally
behaved. In other words, teams did best when people put the I back into T E
A M.
Back in the workplace, I have heard many managers and supervisors complain
that people in their organisation did not take ownership, show responsibility
or were not prepared to be held accountable. Could this be because these companies
have taken the I out of T E A M?
Managers like to talk about how their staff are the company’s biggest asset.
If they talk like that, people think that the company is someone other than
them, and therefore, what they do does not affect their company’s performance.
I tell employees that staff are the organisation, and that without them nothing
happens. This gives people the understanding that what they do does make a
difference.
Make sure your people understand the team’s goal and put it ahead of their
own. But do not allow them to hide behind the team. Make sure they understand
that since the team is them and their colleagues, their contribution is essential.
Help them to realize that how they behave affects the team’s performance. Remind
them of that old saying, “If it’s going to be, it’s up to me.”
And put the I back in T E A M.
|
