Good News! You're a TEAM!

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January 2007

Good News! You're a TEAM!
By Jan Richards, J. G. Richards Consulting

You look around the room and think: “OH, NO…do we HAVE to work together? THIS team?”

Yes, you do.

Increasingly, teamwork is the way work gets done in organizations. It can be the best and fastest way to get the input and buy-in of many people when a new idea, product or process is moving through.

You may like the trend toward teamwork. You may not. The bottom line is that, in all likelihood, you need to learn to work well on a team, even if you did not volunteer for it, even if it is the team from, well…

HERE'S THE PROBLEM

Working and managing in teams has its benefits, but also its costs. Here are a few:

Teams are not for every task. They're great for circumstances where many parts of a company have a high stake in the outcome. On the other hand, they're costly when the risks of turf wars or other drama are higher than the benefits of working together. You can waste a lot of energy trying to pull everyone together if you're looking for something – a common goal – that is not there.

Some people aren't team players. It's just the way it is. Trying to get non-team players to play well with others is like trying to load a feisty cat into a cage for a trip to the vet. (Tip: use gravity in your favor.)

Some people say "yes" when they should (or want to) say "no." This is a good first test. If the team is loaded with "yes" people, you may at first think you have easy consensus. However, you may discover a messy, underground situation later. You may also find that crucial information was not brought forward in time to respond to it well, or at all.

You may be working with an archaic or inflexible plan that didn't have a chance of succeeding even before the race began. Plans must adapt and change because the world changes from one minute to the next, in expected and unexpected ways.

HERE'S WHAT WORKS

The next time you're on a team of reluctant players – whatever your role – use your influence to make sure you have these elements of successful teamwork in place, and in play:

A clear game with clear roles and rules.
A clear plan.
Honesty.
Flexibility.

Make it clear what the game is. If the game is clear to all the people in charge (and that isn't always the case), make sure it's clear to the players, and keep the game in front of them throughout the race. Make it clear, as well, what the competition is, and how your success is being measured throughout, and at the end of, the race.

The roles and rules of the game must be clear and make sense. Who's driving? Who's navigating? Who's filling the gas? (And who's buying the snacks?) Are they the right players for those positions? What are the criteria for selecting them: skills, potential, experience, or a combination of all three?

The game plan must be solid, clear and compelling. How long do you expect it to take to get to Phoenix, if that's where you're going? How will you know you're on the right path? How will you know when you have arrived? What tasks are involved in getting to your destination? Who is responsible for each task?

Honesty with yourself and others is critical. At the beginning of the project, honesty in planning sets a solid base. As the project progresses, if you are dealing with fiction, there is no telling what result you will get. Go for honesty throughout, in data, in appraisal of your progress, in analysis of the data, and in "Plan B" if the answer is "Whoa! What's going on here?" An honest appraisal of how much attention, time, energy that each person can and will commit to the effort is critical, too.

Finally, flexibility (or is that "FINALLY, flexibility!") Once you know where things really stand – fact, not fiction – then you can adapt your well-crafted plan, if needed. You don't want to be so adaptable that you can't say no when needed to keep the "idea-rich" members of your team focused on the goal. Put your best problem-dissolving and opportunity-enhancing ideas into play, so that they contribute to the common goal.

It's almost inevitable that someday you will be on a team that has misgivings about its mission. You can help make that reluctant, even recalcitrant team work in ways that are good, better, best - building for itself a legacy of success.

Jan Richards, J. G. Richards Consulting, helps Bay Area companies clarify their vision, goals and priorities, create strategic and action plans, and implement strong and effective process management, adding up to higher revenues, and lower costs. She has consulted for more than 10 years with clients in the high tech, biotech, financial services and Internet arenas. For more information, contact Jan at 408-249-7287 or email jan@jgrichardsresults.com.