Bizerm?: "Steamwork"

Contemporary management has proven that teamwork produces superior results than the old worn-out traditional management style. Work gets done quicker and with consistently higher quality than in environments where employees are treated more as a commodity than an asset to a team.

Not every team operates smoothly tough. When a team is dysfunctional it does produce the results just mentioned. When this happens, we call it “Steamwork”.

The norm for teamwork is a blend of harmony and healthy conflict. This scenario produces strong, positive progress toward organizational goals. However just calling a team a "team" does not make it a team. A true team is empowered to achieve a shared vision among unified team members.

When General Motors started to deploy their Global Management System (GMS), a modified version of the Toyota employee teamwork system they had difficulty connecting their teams to a shared vision. At one Detroit area plant the younger employees quickly embraced the concept but more senior members had become use to new initiatives that did not play out. Many of these employees engaged in Steamwork.

With “Steamwork” the work gets done, but with backstabbing, animosity, and other divisive actions.

About the author:

Rick Weaver has half a century’s experience in leadership development in retailing. He founded Max Impact Corporation, a leadership and business development consultancy company in 2002. His major accomplishments include working himself from stock clerk to director at a Fortune 50 retail chain and building a $40MM+ construction company in under 5 years. Today he works as an Executive Search Consultant with Patrice & Associates matching management talent with the job culture for which they are uniquely wired.