The Missing Element in a Successful TEAM

Having dinner last night with some friends, we found ourselves talking about some issues one of my friends is having with 'office politics.' It seems that one of his colleagues has complained to the manager that he does more work than my friend does. They are all part of the Human Resources "Team," and although they are called a team and are supposed to be united and working together, it really is more of a competition between them. They find themselves vying for attention from their manager, competing and complaining against one another to stand out from the crowd, and even undermining each other's efforts.

When we think of a team, we think of a body of individuals working together as one unit. We can read many quotes about the value of team work and how it always surpasses the capabilities of any one person, yet many people who have experienced it before will turn and run the other way when they are presented the opportunity to be part of a team. I have seen it many times in the corporate world, in sports, in school, and even in everyday life. Currently, my husband and I run a martial arts school, and we hear about it from kids coming to us from 'team' sports where they felt like they were never part of a team and like they just couldn't compete with the other kids on THEIR team. I'm sure you have witnessed something like this before or even been part of it. 

I personally have always dreaded 'team work' and now I am beginning to understand why that is. As a kid in school, I cringed whenever  we were assigned to work as a group or with a team on a project. I have always had an intense dislike for competition and I knew that it always turned into that. In fact, I would try to partner up with the kids that I knew were not very studious or who didn't really care about the project so that I could actually just go ahead and do the project myself. It really didn't bother me that they would receive some credit for it too--as long as I wouldn't have to put up with the competitive part of it all. 

It seems that often times 'team work' is not about teaming up so much as it is about a competition within the team. In this environment, not all members of the team will be allowed to thrive or even survive. 

This competitive model of team work is flawed and can be explained by the often quoted motivational nugget: "There is no "I" in TEAM." The missing element in having a successful team IS the "I"!  Whenever people start to feel that they are not individually significant, they feel the urge to either back out or to compete intensely. Nobody wants to be lost in the crowd or to feel unimportant. So, it becomes fight or flight time. For those who stay and compete, the motivation is now 'stick' rather than 'carrot', and it has been proven time and again, that negative motivation while seemingly effective in the short term, is never as successful in the long run as positive motivation. So even though some will stay in the game, the successful result if there is one, will not be as great as it could have been.
 
How then do we remove the competition within the team? We MUST put the "I" back in TEAM! I know it sounds strange to focus on individuals when we are talking about a team effort, but I believe a team will function so much better if we do just that. Let's make each team member equally valuable and significant to the team by clarifying the significance of each person on the team with specific duties and responsibilities--ones that utilize their talents, strengths, and interests. This small step will remove the competition factor...which will inevitably change everything!

1. Instead of some members of the team falling short on effort either because they don't want to compete, don't care about the project, or they just don't like to work; each individual will flourish and give their whole effort because they understand their significance or they feel 'important' and because they are working to their strengths and interests which feels more like play when we do so and can conjure the best work out of even the laziest person!

2. Instead of undermining or criticizing each other, It will help each individual respect and gain camaraderie with their other teammates because they know that each person does indeed have a specific contribution to make; without which, success will elude the entire team.

3. Instead of team members keeping their ideas to themselves, it will allow each individual to communicate openly with the team members as the threat of competition or betrayal is removed. This wil provide the collaboration needed for the team to overcome any obstacles and to far exceed individual capabilities.

4.Instead of one or two members claiming responsibility or receiving credit for the success of a team effort, each member will feel equally successful when the group succeeds because of their unique contributions.

Replacing the "I" in TEAM can and does work well in business and sports settings, and I firmly believe that it can also work extremely well in everyday life and on a larger scale within the human race.

When we are able to understand our own significance in life--or in other words, what we can uniquely offer our team (humanity), we can thrive as individuals...not having to worry about standing out, but just being oustanding in who we are. When we can see the significance in others, we are more apt to listen to and respect each other, to collaborate, and to assist one another when the need arises. We can work together to overcome obstacles and to evolve to higher levels of thinking, being, and doing--together and individually.

Team work CAN work, but only if we put the "I" back into it.