Teamwork Tips

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Here are some helpful leadership links that I’ve stumbled across. They’re just a variety of websites – they ain’t directly leadership related, but I can tell you that they can help you in your leadership role to no end!

Leadership Resources
More Leadership Resources

Even More Leadership Resources
Extra Leadership Resources

These links point mainly at my user profiles on those sites – It’s the sites themselves that are interesting. As IBM CEO Thomas J. Watson Jr. said in his book, “Father, Son & Co.”, “There wasn’t a single, solitary and extra special soul in the company who grasped even a hundredth of the potential the computer had.” Try a couple out, become a user and see whether you get any results!

Strong, positive teamwork is defined by a leader who has a vision and the ability to inspire his or her team to work toward the realization of that vision.

The leader is not threatened in the least by the expertise and diversity of his or her team. Rather, a good team leader engages his or her teammates in a discussion about what quality looks like, what is needed to perform and complete the job, and empowers the team members to always strive for quality improvement.

Let’s break all that down into its component parts. The first is a clearly defined leader. I believe every team must have a leader. There must be someone who is in charge and makes the ultimate decisions.

Team members may take turns being the leader as long as everyone is clear who the leader is on any given day. Another variation of that theme is to have certain people be the leader for projects that are in their area of expertise. However, in every event, there can be no question among teammates who is the leader for that day or project.

The leader needs to have a vision. This is similar to Covey’s second habit, “Begin with the end in mind.” A true leader creates the end product twice—once mentality and then in its actual form. It is impossible to lead toward a fuzzy vision. People are simply not inspired to follow uncertainty.

Having the vision is not enough to inspire teammates to strive toward the same goal. A good team leader knows how to help each teammate see how the end product or service will be useful and what, exactly, their individual contribution is toward that end.

How does the janitor contribute to fans’ enjoyment at a professional baseball game? By providing a clean, neat bathroom experience—that’s how. If the janitor sees himself as a critical cog in the big picture goal and he receives positive recognition for it, then he is more likely to perform his job with enthusiasm.

Another component of being able to inspire one’s teammates is having a clearly defined mission that everyone, preferably, has had a part in developing, but if not, then at least team members can agree to the previously established team mission.

This becomes important in times of conflict between team members. When there is a dispute to be solved, it is helpful to have an already established way to measure the solution. Solutions are always held up against the mission and whether or not it will move the team closer or further from the ultimate goal.

The other advantage of having a mission that has been agreed upon by all team members is that it can enhance cooperation. One of the most difficult things to manage on a team is an individual ego. There can be petty jealousies and a competitive spirit that can kill the cooperation of the best team. The mission statement is a way to minimize this potential for disaster.

The mission remains the focus that everything else is compared to. An individual’s action is either helpful or hurtful to the mission and dealt with accordingly. The group’s goal must always be placed above any individual’s desires or ego. Jealousy and backstabbing have no useful place on a team.

A good leader is in no way threatened by the expertise and diversity of his or her team. The best leaders are always seeking information from the front line people who are doing the actual work. Without information from team members, the leader’s hands are tied behind his or her back.

It is also critical to use team members in their areas of expertise. Leaders can’t know everything about everything. There will be team members who have skills and abilities that surpass those of the leader in certain areas. A good leader will ask for help when it is prudent.

This is also a time to value diversity. Having a team made up of people who all do the same jobs in pretty much the same way really has no value. One person could more easily do the job than assembling a homogenous team.

The value of a team comes from its heterogeneity. Getting feedback and suggestions from people who do things differently is what will spark the creativity and the genius of the team. This is what masterminding is all about. Tap into the wealth that is already there.

Finally, a good leader holds the bar high. He or she does not ask his team to be average or mediocre. Average and mediocre can be easily replaced. The leader asks his or her team to collectively do their very best and when they are done, the leader asks them to always strive for continuous improvement. The work is never done. The team should always be evaluating what has been implemented and be comfortable making suggestions for ways to do it even better.

Previously, I mentioned that a good leader empowers his or her teammates. Creating a need-satisfying environment does this. Team members must get along and know that the leader and the company have their best interests at heart. They must feel important, listened to and respected. They must have the freedom to make choices within the context of their assignments and they must have some fun in their work.

It is also critical for team members to feel safe. This means that they are not fearful in any way. The team leader is critical in fostering this environment for the empowerment of the entire team.

This post is probably the most important Teamwork Tip on this website. Think of it as a turbo-charger that will boost the effectiveness of every teamwork tip you put into practise.

Live By Your Own Techniques. How can you lead your team into working with enthusiasm and energy if you don’t work with these qualities yourself? How can you encourage a culture of continuous improvement if you never come up with new ideas yourself?

People hate obeying hypocrites. As a member of a team, there is just nothing more enfuriating than being bossed around by a team leader who manages to ignore every piece of advice that comes out of their own mouth! The only thing you will achieve by living by a different standard to your team mates is in building resentment.

By acting in line with what you expect from your team mates, you create social pressure that encourages them to act in the same way. For instance if the team leader on the job starts working long hours near deadline, then other team members will feel like they’re slacking if they don’t do the same. On the flip side – when you openly breach your own standards, you are planting in your team mates head, justification for them to behave against your wishes with a detrimental effect for the team.  You could condense this point into this one maxim: ‘obey yourself as you would like your team mates to obey you’‘.

Let us focus on the practical application of this turbo charger in relation to enthusing and inspiring your team mates. How do you show enthusiam without looking over-eager?

1. Pay great interest in your teams work and compliment individuals for thorough work.
2. Display your enthuasiam in manner and tone of voice.
3. Be punctual and well organised.
4. Visibly dedicate higher-than-average time and energy to the project.
5. Encourage improvement and creative thinking by constantly striving to improve your own work

So there you have it. Display confidence in your own techniques by becoming a beacon of example to others, and let the infectious power of inspiration and energy spread across the culture of the team! This technique along with other Teamwork Tips on this website will hopefully allow you to focus more on your own work than worrying about the short comings of other team members. If you live by your own strategies, your skill as a leader will improve several-fold, leaving you with piece of mind and a more productive team.

If you’ve ever wanted to use your leadership to lead your team more effectively, or simply have more fun at work; the most effective way is by filling your team with energy and inspiration. Look no further than these Teamwork Tips. In the next week I’ll be writing about a few key strategies to enthuse the teams you live and work in. Today’s article is on the importance of talking in terms of your team mates dreams, and using this to enthuse them towards their goals. After all, members of your team won’t need chasing up if they believe they’re actually pursueing their own dreams! Here’s how to drive your team into that brilliant state of mind.

Speak in terms of their Dreams. A carefree retirement, running their own business, getting married. These are probably 3 of the most common long term goals of members of your team, and unfortunately, none of these seem quite in line with what the needs of the ‘team’ are.

As well as having these goals, your team mates will probably have some form of  ‘plan’ in their mind as to how they wish to achieve them – and you can bet this action plan won’t help your organistation…right? Thats where you’d be wrong. These ‘alternative’ goals can actually be used to benefit your team and increase productivity. You simply need to apply the technique below.

To start putting this Teamwork Tip into practise, you need to be talking to each member of your team individually and in your conversation, explain to your fellow team mates that their current task will take them one small yet significant step closer towards their dreams.

Easier said than done? Well read on for an example of this technique in practise.

Imagine that your team mates desire is to leave your company and take up a higher position in a rival firm. This is a fairly common vision, so would be helpful as an example. You need to look at the task in hand and examine which elements would help your collegue achieve his move. The answer of course lies in the transferable skills that they would gain from the current task. You could describe in detail how this would boost his CV and give them an edge over other applicants. The key action that will really cement this attitude in their mind, would be for you to visbily tailor the work they are set so that it would fit his transferable skill needs more closely. For example you could give him extra responsibility, noting that he would be able to directly refer to this in his CV. You see how you’d actually be doing the opposite of what most team leaders would do, namely isolate and discourage the employee’s move? You are taking the opposite action, and that’s why you’re getting the opposite result – motivation. The more you speak in terms of the other persons dreams, the more attention you will capture, and the more effectively you can manage your team.

To conclude.

• Understand your collegues long term goals
• Analyse what benefits in the current task are available to help them achieve the goal.
• Be seen to tailor the work you give them to better fit their needs

If you carry out all three steps, your team mate will without doubt become far more focused on their work. They won’t be working for money, or due to pressure, but because of their own internal drive to succeed at enabling their deepest desires to come true. And that form of motivation, is priceless.

If you’re looking for a source for Teamwork Tips, you’ve come to the right place.  Teams are often mixed bags of different types of personalities, skill sets, and egos. Competitiveness is a characteristic that varies between teams, but for some, can be their downfall if handled incorrectly. Today’s article is on the importance of using the natural competitiveness that is inherent within us all, to create that positive working attitude which will increase the productivity of the teams you work in.

2. How to handle competitive team mates. Competitiveness is often seen as a negative characteristic; often associated with immorality, aggression and self-centred behaviour. Part of this stigma exists for a very valid reason, but there’s no denying that competitive spirit is a brilliant motivation tool. Humans are hardwired to be very competitive creatures. In life we naturally we have to compete for everything, including jobs, partners and even restaurant tables! We all have a competitive spirit to some extent, although it is more prevalant in certain people than others.

But firstly, lets take a quick look at what competitiveness is. From a teamwork point of view, there are actually two types: Constructive and Destructive.

‘Constructive’ Competitiveness.

Constructive competitiveness occurs when the individual is competing against an ‘outside’ threat that is remote from the team, for example, another team or company. Constructive competitiveness also covers when the individual competes against themselves. This type brings a positive benefit to the team because if the team succeeds, the competitor is too remote for there to be any negative consequences for the team. For instance if a marketing team for Loreal successful bring a product to market; beating the equivilant team from Procter and Gamble, then from Loreal’s point of view, it’s win win.

‘Destructive’ Competitiveness.

Destructive competitiveness occurs when close peers, collegues or family compete. So for most teamwork cases, this would include competition within the team. While it’s true that some leaders could pull this off well, on the whole you’ll do well to avoid it. When both competitors reside in the same team, then it guarantees that the team will feel the effects of the winner and the loser, which effectively cancel out. As pressure increases, team members may start withholding infomation from one another, or even subtley sabotageing or undermining the other’s efforts. In this kind of environment, success is only a selfish gain, and the overall effect on the team is negative. Enron encouraged this level of competitiveness by routinely laying off those who featured in the lowest 10% performing employees.

How to encourage constructive competitiveness

If you want to unleash the competitiveness in a positive way within your friends or collegues:

* Give your employees a solid reputation to uphold
* Compare your employees to their external rivals and challenge them to beat them.
* Set your worker a tough goal to meet, and support with praise.

Our natural competitiveness will instinctly take over once the right challenge has been set. No-one can resist the opportunity to prove an admirer right, or accept a tough personal challenge and excel above others.

Remembering my warning before about destructive competitiveness; a ‘rival’ to beat must exist outside of your organisation, or so remote from the individual that there will be no negativity between them. If you successfully set your own friends or team mates challenges such as these, you will fill them with a sense of motivation and enthuasiasm that would only come them taking on a competitive challenge and personally striving to win!