Make teamwork 'work' for you

The Indian cricket team has often had amazing individual contributors. Its performance has, however, not matched that of the excellent performers within the team. Compare this to the ragtag team in the movie Lagaan who, because of the sheer power of teamwork, were able to defeat the seasoned players in the opposing team.

'Teamwork' was probably one of the first words in management jargon to be overused and quickly become a cliche. And, like most cliched words and phrases, at the heart of the concept lies a powerful truth -- teamwork works and it works wonders.

After the Second World War, Japan was defeated and humiliated; two of their cities razed by powerful atom bombs. It was a country you probably wouldn't bet your money on in 1950. Yet, Japan rose from the ashes. In the decades following World War II, it became the third largest economy in the world. This, despite the fact that it does not have any great natural resources and is rocked by earthquakes and tsunamis.

Japanese companies went on to give tough competition to the tsars of automobile and electronics industry. The 'Made in Japan' symbol suddenly stood for best in quality. American consumers, forgetting the bitterness of Pearl Harbor and the Second World War, were choosing Japanese products over American ones.

This led to a spate of studies into why Japanese companies were outperforming their counterparts in the West. The studies, while identifying numerous socioeconomic and geopolitical factors, identified two intangible traits which gave an edge to the Japanese -- Quality and Teamwork.

Let us try and understand some basic attitudes that would help you become a more effective team member:

What's bigger -- your ego or the team goal?

It seems like an easy call, but many people find it amazingly tough. Teamwork, more than anything else, is a mindset. And it is extremely difficult for us to change our focus from ourselves as individuals to what the team is trying to do.

Most of the time, we are so focused on our own experience and feelings that we tend to ignore what the team is trying to do. If you can shift the limelight from yourself to the task at hand, your contribution and value in the team would increase tremendously. Ironically, when you shift your focus to the team's goal, your ego's needs are almost always automatically met.

The best way to get something...

As a team member, what do you want?

Do you want recognition? Give recognition.

Do you want help? Give help.

Depending upon your world view, you might have an opinion about how 'realistic' this insight really is. Here is a suggestion though, try it. When you 'fight' for recognition or trust or resources, you reaffirm to yourself that there isn't enough of it to go around, leading to a deficient experience.

When you give what you want freely, you tell yourself there is enough of it and manifest that in your team as well.

Your team members really want...

In an organisational context, team members usually have two needs. The first is a need for motivation. The second is the need for competence. Any team member would contribute their best if they want to contribute (motivation) and if they can contribute (competence).

For example: in a game of cricket, I will perform best if I can play the game well (competence) and if I am motivated to perform (motivation). A good team member would identify my immediate need and try to fulfill it. When you interact with other team members, identify what their main need is and try to fulfill it.

If they need competence, coach them, teach them and guide them. If they need motivation, talk to them, listen to them, empathise with them and understand them. If you give a co-worker what they need, when they need it, you will build yourself a fan following.

Be comfortable with yourself

What does this have to do with teamwork? Everything. Can you imagine yourself implementing the insights mentioned above without confidence or self-awareness?

All of us instinctively dislike pretentious people. This is because we know they are trying to be somebody else. The strong message that sends to us is that they don't really like who they actually are. We tend to pretend or try and be somebody else because we are scared, we want acceptance and we want to be liked. Unfortunately, pretending never works in the long run and it usually doesn't work in the short run either.

The millions of verbal and non-verbal signals that you send will reveal the truth anyway, irrespective of what you project. The only alternative is to really like yourself and be okay with who you are. People who win approval and acceptance are ironically, people who do not care much for it.

If you try to adopt the mindsets described in the article you will enhance the effectiveness of your role as a team-member. You will also become a valued resource and feel more comfortable in team settings.

WHY TEAM-WORK is always important????

There are few jobs that don't require us to interact with colleagues in a team. For the most part, we need to work cohesively with others at our workplaces to achieve the organisational goals.

But how many of us can really claim to be good teammates? Here are a few ways to help you become a more effective team member.

• Make teamwork 'work' for you

Participate

Whether it is meetings, brainstorming sessions, conference calls or any other activities, it is important that you participate wholeheartedly. If someone puts forward an idea, ask questions without restraint.

Says Sunita Chauhan (name changed), a developer with a large IT firm, "One of my colleagues had this annoying habit of keeping quiet during meetings, but would pester others later with his doubts and make snide remarks on decisions that had been taken. His productivity and attitude were so poor that he was assigned to another project." Speak your mind freely but, of course, remember to be inoffensive.

Keep the common goal in mind

The formal definition of teamwork is 'cooperative effort by the members of a group or team to achieve a common goal.' The key words here are -- 'cooperative effort' and 'common goal'. Often, individual members of a team seem to venture in their own directions, without considering the overall goal of the project.

Keep in mind that companies are working on moving towards team-based appraisals. A prominent engineering firm is adopting this approach, in which your appraisal will earn you extra points (or negative ones) depending on how your team has performed.

Be open-minded

Often, you may put forth ideas that will be mulled over by the team as a whole and may eventually be rejected. Be broad-minded and confident enough to accept this. Use this opportunity to get feedback on your ideas such that it helps improve your thinking process for the future.

Mrinalini, who works in an advertising agency, says, "There were one or two members in my team who believed their ideas were always the best. When those were not accepted, they sulked and landed up adversely affecting the team morale. They even managed to convince some others that the approach being taken was wrong."

Be clear about your role

At the outset itself, the project leader should assign specific responsibilities to people keeping in mind their relevant skills.

Abhijit Sinha, senior developer in an IT consultancy, says, "When my project started, there were no clear demarcations of roles. Things were going haphazardly, with people just taking up whatever work they liked. As the seniormost person on the team, I landed up doing a large chunk of the work, in addition to guiding youngsters and planning the schedules. I discussed this with the project manager in great detail and he finally sorted out the issue by assigning me the role of team leader and issuing specific tasks to other members."

Help your teammates and your leader

If your peer is stuck with a problem he or she can't resolve alone, assist him in solving the issue by all means. Of course, this doesn't mean you do all his work for him or even that you neglect your own duties completely.

One of the best ways to help your supervisor is to keep him or her updated at all times about the percentage completion of your work. It may be a short daily e-mail, or even a daily status meeting by which you can do this.

Don't be the dominating one

If one person takes up the floor and tries to steamroll others with his ideas, it can only have a negative effect. The team member who does this is usually the most annoying person, who tries to force his ideas and opinions on everyone.

Support your leader

All team members must support their project-in-charge whole-heartedly. They need not be yes-men but, once a decision is taken, they must rally behind him or her with complete support. This is especially true if your leader is a woman.

As a female project leader, I have often noticed a slight tendency on the part of male employees to resent having to report to a lady. They either feel uncomfortable about the idea or are just sceptical of her capabilities.

Don't forget to have fun!

A team should always take the opportunity to meet in a relaxing unofficial environment where there is no talk of a project or its problems, even if it means just going to the office canteen for a cup of coffee.

And always remember the other popular expansion of TEAM: Together Everyone Achieves More.

Is Leadership can be Learn???

Can leadership be taught? The answer is simple. Yes, leadership, like all skills, can be taught. The literature is clear on the essential components, styles, and dynamics. Educational materials and programs abound.

But can leadership be learned? The answer to that question isn't obvious. It seems that leadership, one of the scarcest and least enduring components of human capital, is not learned easily or well.

First things first. What is leadership anyway? According to Al Gini, a lecturer at Loyola University in Chicago, leadership is a "power- and value-laden relationship between leaders and followers who intend real changes that reflect their mutual purposes and goals." In plainer language, leadership is the dynamic that galvanizes individuals into groups to make things different or to make things better -- for themselves, for their enterprise, for the world around them.

The "Great Man Theory" of human history focused our attention solely on the ideas espoused, the actions taken, and the outcomes generated by people in positions of power. Today, ideas and assessments of leadership are more democratic.

Leadership itself is a collaborative function; the leader and the led are seen as in a potentially symbiotic and synergistic relationship. And power and impact are a function of that relationship rather than of a position.

Much of leadership education is devoted to teaching style and technique. Much of what is taught is, in fact, not leadership at all but management. It is entirely possible to learn and even to put into practice what is taught and still fail at being a good leader. The essential components of leadership have remained more or less constant: intelligence, insight, instinct, vision, communication, discipline, courage, constancy.

All can be studied and studied again. The ability to ace leadership principles and practices does not, however, mean that leadership has been learned. Because what is being taught does not necessarily help leadership candidates learn the essentials. Knowing is one thing; doing is quite another.

Leadership 101 should focus on helping people develop the human qualities and capacities required for leading in virtually any endeavor. Here's the course load I recommend:

1. Thinking: Leaders must know how to gather, sort, and structure information, and then connect it in new ways to create intelligence. Today, being informed is confused with being smart.

2. Seeing: Leadership requires vision. And developing a vision requires the ability to see. To look backward and see clearly what has happened. To see what's in front of your nose, the present tense. To see ahead to the next day when the challenges will be greater. To see the future that will become reality.

3. Feeling: Yes, empathy for the led is vital. As Michael Hammer, coauthor of Reengineering the Corporation: A Manifesto for Business Revolution, says, "All change is loss. Even when change is for the better, there is still loss." Leadership is not simply a form of therapy, however. The essential feeling is the one in your gut where morality and certainty live. The right way ahead is not in the data. It is an informed intuitiveness. This is where charisma comes from.

4. Listening: All can hear. But few really listen. And too many people only listen to themselves. How to listen to colleagues and collaborators, how to listen to markets and constituencies, and how to listen to yourself -- all through the endless din of the present, the ominous voices of the past, and the deafening silence portending the future -- is vital.

5. Speaking: The watershed capacity in leadership is unquestionably communication. Through it, people are informed, convinced, united, motivated, and directed -- things that are critical to group enterprise from the inside and to buy-in on the outside. The powers to inform and persuade win the battles for hearts and minds.

6. Walking: The art and science of putting one foot in front of the other, sometimes referred to as "waking the talk," is the "doing" part of leading. Credibility comes from being first through the door to the unknown. Standing in one place, or stepping back while others take risks to make the frontier safe for others, simply doesn't cut it. Moving forward is not a leap or a sprint but a plodding process.

7. Fitness: Leadership requires strength and endurance in all areas -- physical, mental, and moral. Because leadership is a heavy load. Because it is a long journey that drains resources.

Is there a leadership school -- a "leadership boot camp" -- that teaches this stuff? I'm not sure. But to learn much of it, I would suggest a liberal-arts education supplemented with lots of real-world experience and with doing almost anything to make change

Change for the better is appealing; the work of creating it, however, is certainly fraught with social, emotional, economic, and other dangers. In the final analysis, the vast majority would rather study the life of leaders in class than learn the lessons of leadership in the world. Which is why leadership is often taught but so rarely learned.