The surprise is on me.  Our BLOG two weeks ago addressed the ‘right’ vs. the “wrong” way to function effectively as a team.  Whereas we usually receive comments on some aspect of the message, this time it took on a different twist.  It wasn’t a matter of agreeing or disagreeing with the blog content itself.  Rather it was using the components that make for a successful team creation to evaluate their own organizational experience.

To reiterate in brief, the post provided four guidelines for creating an effective and well-oiled team machine as follows:

• Never lose sight of the ultimate purpose and goal of the work being done.
• Understand that your individual purpose is to present your perspective of the situation based on your knowledge and experience.
• Know that your obligation and responsibility is to the team
• Your ONLY true win is a win for your organization … not your department or yourself.

“Ok.  So if these are components of being successful in achieving the overriding mission of an organization, how do I think we’re doing in the company where I work?”  I am intrigued with the several readers who had a similar tendency to look internally to their own organization.  One, in particular, expressed their view with true clarity and is representative of how others used the post to do some introspection of their own experience.

• Having all heads of organization know and understand the importance of motivation to those they oversee.

• Having heads of organizations embrace the reality that each employee is different as a person and often does different work.  Thus lumping them together and treating them as clones of one another is not going to get the best result for the organization.

• Having a successful team requires that company heads understand what motivates their employees as well as what de-motivates them.

• The business can only be healthy when your team is healthy in their attitude and purpose.

• Finally, reports are management’s internal customers just as external clients are customers of the organization and for greatest effectiveness, need to be viewed as such.

So if we consider the top leadership as the governing body of the company and the constituents as those employed there, it appears that these guidelines indicated by some of our readers might just make for a more successful result.  So maybe … just maybe, finding the individual in the team will enhance the drive and desire of the employees to project positive attitudes and efforts that, in turn, just might raise the level of success the organization will experience.  You think?

Mike Dorman

Don’t you just love how the world puts lessons right at our feet?  I’ve been fascinated by the huge lessons coming out of the recent government shut down, orchestrated by our elected representatives.  If there was ever a perfect example of a dysfunctional team served up on a platter, I’m not sure where we’d find a better one.

Here we find a textbook example of a team losing sight of their real obligation and purpose.  As U.S. citizens we all just came through a stunning and jaw dropping occurrence.  We were all invited … no … forced … to witness a marathon performance of ego.  It’s not like it was free – it cost our country billions of dollars.  Too many, although it was supposed to be about us, it seemed like we were pawns in a game that we could only observe and in which we didn’t get our turn.  And you know what?  It was priceless learning that we can apply to business and our careers.  How often do we get to witness how NOT to work together?  How often do we get to see what being an ineffective team means … in terms of morale, wasted dollars and losing sight of our purpose and the bigger picture? 

It really doesn’t matter what side you supported.  Everyone bears some responsibility.  And so it is when we are part of a team.  What matters is that when we come together as a team we must focus on the decisions that will best serve the company mission, (in D.C.’s case, the citizens of the country) in the best manner.

So following this same approach, how does being witness to the high-stakes game in Washington inform us as to the right vs. the wrong way to approach teaming and decision making in our own organization?  Here are a few to consider:

• Never lose sight of the ultimate purpose and goal of the work being done.  To achieve less than that is an unsuccessful effort
• Understand that your individual purpose is to present your perspective of the situation based on your knowledge and experience.  This is needed information that will lead to the best overall solution
  
• Know that your obligation and responsibility is to the team … to really listen to input from all perspectives as your job is ultimately to help your company make the best and most informed decision
• Keep in mind that your ONLY true win is a win for your organization as that is what you serve in your position … not your department/division or yourself.

That we all were taken on a course costing billions and without any meaningful gain is a gross waste of valued and needed resource … to which we all contribute.  It’s safe to say that this kind of waste is one that no one is willing to shrug off when it comes to the company in which we are a contributing part.  I can’t speak for everyone, however it sure appears that to the extent we all are willing to use the example of D.C. as a litmus test to judge how differently we are doing things in our job and/or business, the more successful we just might be.

Mike Dorman