Individual commitment to a group effort–that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work” Vince Lombardi
I think leadership is all about building great teams. That, in the end, is all personal — how do you think team involvement changed who you are today? I think it humbled me. When you finally discover that your success is dependent on help from and cooperation with others, that almost every decision you make can’t go anywhere with out followers and suppoerters. You feel a sense of pride, trust, and responsibility when your team is aligned and focused on the shared vision or dream you all want to reach. In the Five Dysfunctions of a Team, by Patrick Lencioni, presents the case for building effective and cohesive teams. He observes the obivious that building a team is hard work but also simple. Sound confusing it is. The author’s argument is focused on critical factors for ensuring success such as, courage and persistence. Of course individuals need to bring motivation and factors such as courage and persistence to the team. Yet to build an effective team producing desired results needs much more than just courage and persistence. One of critical factors for building an effective team is to pay attention to the selection of individuals who make-up the team. Then we need to assess how the individuals will fit to together and assess their readiness to work together in a collobrative and synergistic way.
Here are a few questions for you to ask as you undertake the development of an effective and productive team.
1. Does your team have the right members who bring unique strengths and and talents for achieving the vision, solving the problems and finding opportunities to be tackled?
2. Is your group really a team or just a collection of independent people meeting together to share information but have no shared goal or purpose?
3. How does your team handle disagreements and conflicts –focusing on different points of view and styles or ignoring and burying differences ?
4. Are team members clear on the expectations and task at hand?
5. What are you doing to measure the team’s readiness for team problem solving, interpersonal conflicts and reporting results of their work? What training do they need to work together and succeed in their mission?
