Little to nothing is accomplished in an organization by individuals. Teams are essential to succeeding in business and in life. The only reason to form a team is that more than one individual’s effort is required to achieve desired results.
Working on teams is something we all have in common and do regularly in our business, societal, community, and personal lives. Yet, how often do we stop and take note of the effectiveness of those teams in achieving the end results? Factors such as the amount of effort required, amount of time it took, distribution of the workload, level of collaboration, communication, and accountability are as important as the results themselves.
The main focus for most of us, naturally, is on our individual contributions to the team’s efforts. However, we’ve learned that the people on the highest-performing teams pay attention first and foremost to overall team objectives and efforts. So, what does this look like in practice from an individual team member’s perspective?
Understanding that the goals of the team supersede their own
Proactively working in alignment with their team members vs. doing their own thing
Taking personal accountability for their contributions and their behaviors
Constructively holding teammates accountable for their contributions and commitments
Demonstrating genuine acceptance to feedback and openness to giving feedback
Willingly helping others to succeed
If this sounds like your team, I guarantee it’s a high-functioning team. If not, review the list and identify what’s working and what’s not. Embrace what you learn and communicate your findings to your colleagues. Try new approaches to getting the team to work more effectively toward common goals. Give it some time, and you’ll see and feel a difference in how your team works together to produce positive results.