What is a team? Do teams only exist in sports? Of course not. As a matter of fact, often one of the best and tightest teams that we can be a part of is our family. It is important to me that Team Krugh sticks together. We are loyal to and supportive of each other, and we make sure that we take care of our teammates. For me, it’s nice to know that my family has my back!
Whether your team is your family or a group of old friends or another group of people you feel have your back, you should feel the same way about your work team.
Teams in general are a part of every organized activity – whether in the military or non-profit or for-profit organizations. Teams are a building block of larger organizations and help make organizations successful. The foundational elements of a team are the people who share a common goal, vision or mission. Without people and a shared purpose, a team won’t come together.
So, what makes a good team? This is a question that many people grapple with. Think about sports (on any level). Coaches are always trying to find the magic formula that turns a group of talented individuals into a championship-winning team.
In business, we try to do the same thing. Creating those magical teams has many positive outcomes: a safer workplace, better quality output, quicker production pace, and as a result, a company with better profitability – which helps everyone. If creating these teams was easy, every team would be a Super Bowl team.
The creation of a high-performing team to me is less about the skills and more about the attitude, chemistry and mission. Not everyone on a team will have exactly the same skills. Furthermore, skills are trainable in most instances; attitude, chemistry and mission, however, are not.
Why attitude? Your attitude is something that is inside you and formed by your experiences. My can-do attitude has been formed in me since childhood. I have always believed that “I CAN” even though sometimes the path is blocked with “YOU CAN’T.” Throughout my life, I have learned over and over again that there is always a way to move when faced with a seemingly immovable object. You can go over, under, around or through. You just have to have the grit and determination to find the way!
Don’t you want someone on your team with this kind of attitude? My answer is yes!
Okay, what about the chemistry part? In this case, chemistry is the non-tangible connection that people have (or don’t have) together. Chemistry is the “soft side” of the human relationships that form teams – things like respect, friendship, accountability, trust, free communication and focus. These are critical aspects of team engagement; they determine the strength of the bonds between the team members.
Think about your favorite sports team and think about the players. Your team can have the best individual players in terms of statistics but still not win. Why not? You may want to blame the coach, and that might be a part of the problem. However, if the players don’t have good chemistry, then they probably won’t win. They definitely will not be as good as they could be. Good teams focus on using the strengths of the team to overcome weaknesses and win.
As I look back on the high-performing teams that I’ve been a part of, the attitude and chemistry carried a lot of weight, but the mission provided the central purpose for our team’s existence. The mission, whether to win a Super Bowl, to conduct a military mission or to build destroyers, acts like a magnet. It is the compelling reason that drives cohesion within the team. If the mission isn’t compelling, then the team will not do as well. This is sometimes called believing in the mission. Your commitment to the mission, along with your attitude and the team’s overall chemistry will indicate the outcome – often even before your team acts.
There is a lot more to cover in relation to team development. However, I wanted to start by talking about these concepts – concepts I believe are fundamental to solid team formation.
See you on the deckplates!
Safely Execute High-Quality Work
Chuck
President, General Dynamics Bath Iron Works