This week we continue (and conclude) our discussion regarding how to develop a healthy and productive team. As we have affirmed, doing so is the goal of every leader that values teamwork as the strategic method of developing organizational effectiveness.
Previously we highlighted three core attributes that are essential ingredients for developing (and maintaining) an effective team: mission partner, fellow worker, and committed colleague. On the one hand, simply building a team with these components will produce a successful team climate.
On the other hand, long-term success is achieved by maintaining a balance of emphasis, such that all three elements are functioning effectively within the team culture. Keeping this long-term view as the objective, here are several clues to actively diagnose and lead in order to maintain the climate of a healthy team (once health has been established):
Mission Partner: If team members begin to demonstrate increasing self-centered behavior or express self-centered requests, there may well be a deficiency of commitment by these individuals to the organization’s mission – and a corresponding lack of focus on the “greater good” of the team as a whole. In such cases, it may be timely to re-introduce content that emphasizes the core mission of the enterprise.
Further analysis can include questions such as, “Does every team member know the mission statement? Do they each truly believe in the inherent value of the mission? Do they observe commitment to the mission in the behavior and focus of leadership?” The answers to such questions will provide a clue to help determine if emphasizing mission-centric-motivation is in order. Again, the goal here is to restore balance and health to the team.
Fellow Worker: When team members begin to communicate in terms that sound like the team is divided, leadership must act. Left unchecked, behaviors can deteriorate into a climate of “we” vs. “they” which can become a deadly and divisive cancer to team effectiveness. A healthy team only speaks of “we.” The word ‘they” is reserved for discussions about competitors, never fellow team members. Accordingly, if “we-they” communication begins to emerge within the team, it is likely an indicator that individuals have begun to lose respect for teammates whose function is different than their own.
In such a case, it may be timely to focus on the value of diverse roles within a unified team. There are a number of corrective measures that leaders can utilize to address this effectively; the key is to take leadership to limit the spread of the dysfunction that will occur if such a climate is allowed to grow (we have previously provided several ideas on how to accomplish this which you can read by clicking here).
Committed Colleague: Do team members seem to be isolated from one another relationally? Or are they well-connected and seek opportunities to serve each other? Is there a growing “It’s not my job” climate, where people are increasingly unwilling to help one another pick up the slack from time to time? If such questions cannot be answer in the positive, leadership may need to provide a season of concentrated emphasis on furthering the health of interpersonal relationships among the team members.
Certainly leaders cannot “require” that members of their team like each other; yet the leader can take steps to foster positive interaction and collegial relationships among the team. As Vince Lombardi pointed out when expressing the reason for his unparalleled success as a professional football coach, “Teamwork is what the Green Bay Packers were all about. They didn't do it for individual glory. They did it because they loved one another.” While Lombardi’s summary may seem like an extreme statement, his point is well taken: a truly healthy team will demonstrate an appropriate level of regard for one another at a personal level – and such a climate will contribute favorably to team health and effectiveness.
In summary, it is important to keep in mind that all three of the ingredients for strong teams – mission partner, fellow worker, and committed colleague - must be kept in balance. By monitoring the climate of the team and being alert to symptoms of deficiency in one of the three core attributes, the observant leader will be able to provide corrective emphasis as needed in order to maintain a consistent equilibrium of team health.
And at the end of the day, a healthy team will be a productive team – and can contribute powerfully to organizational effectiveness.