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3 Blocks To Effective Team Work
Without doubt, teams working together can produce a better result than any one individual working in isolation. In many ways, anything of real significance can only be achieved through teams. While there may be someone who is attributed with a great breakthrough, the reality is that they generally have many teams of people who help them to achieve the great results.
So if teams are so vital to achieving great results, what are 3 common blocks that stop teams from working effectively?
Block 1: Personal egos
We all to a greater or lesser extent want to be in charge, be recognized for what we do and the results we achieve. Trouble is that, when personal egos become more important than results, people start to take decisions and actions which:
- Are in their own personal interest
- Protect their standing or status
- Might not be in the best interests of the team, organisation or results
If you want to enhance or create effective team working, you need to focus attention on results and not egos.
Block 2: Assumptions
One of the real benefits of teams is the diverse range of views and experiences that they can bring to specific challenges. The value of the benefits can be greatly diminished if people start to make assumptions about others based on their professional discipline. For example, when people think of those in marketing, their first assumption might be that they are all creatives. In reality, a lot of people who work in marketing do things like research, which is very much analytical. Similarly, one might assume that accountants are only interested in money, when in truth most are really interested in business. After all, financial reports are merely a representation of what is, and what is not, happening in business in a common currency called money.
Block 3: Not creating underlying conditions
A house is built on strong foundations. A team is no different. If you don’t create strong underlying conditions or foundations, a team will not create as good results. Think about it, teams need a clear purpose, roles need defining, trust needs to be built, views need to be expressed, to name just a few. If one or many of these underlying conditions is lacking, it is going to impact on results.
The Bottom Line
Teams don’t deliver great results by chance. So what blocks do you need to start addressing to deliver great team results?
Duncan Brodie helps accountants and other business professionals to become highly effective leaders. He invites you to sign up for his free leadership audio e-course
About the Author Duncan Brodie
Since 2006 I’ve worked with in excess of 8,000 accountants and professionals in workshops, seminars and one to one helping them land their next jobs and become better leaders, presenters and business partners. Before that I spent 25 years in accountancy climbing the career ladder from Payments Clerk to FD. I’m a CIMA Fellow, Certified Professional Coach and Team Coach Facilitator.