Why your Team can’t work as a TEAM?

Introduction

Over the past couple of years, a cult has grown up around teams. Teams are considered sacred. The belief of working in teams makes us more creative and productive. It is so widespread that when faced with a challenging new task, leaders are quick to assume that teams are the best way to get the work done. As a result of interviewing and questioning Hackman by Coutu, it was established that the team members do not agree on what the team is supposed to be doing. Getting agreement is the leader’s job. He/she must be willing to take great personal and professional risk to set the team’s direction. And, if the leader isn’t disciplined about managing who is in the team and how it is set up, the odds are slim, and hence the team will not do a good job. Here, I’m going to outline the points or concerns below, due to which teams are bound to underperform despite having extra resources. Some of the issues include a lack of coordination and motivation typically chipped away at the benefit of collaboration. And, even when you have a cohesive team, it’s often in competition with other teams, and that dynamic can also get in the way of real progress. The following are the major points illustrating the reason why a team may not function as expected.

1. You Reward Individual behaviours, not Collective Ones.

As Steve Jobs said, “Great things in business are never done by one person; they are done by a team of people.”Though leaders encourage collective goals, most organizations reward individual merits. Performance review, bonuses, and promotions are individually focused. If you just reward individual behaviours don’t expect people to pursue goals collectively. Feedback is important, a perfect way to get you started; start providing feedback to the team, addressing both collective and individual behaviours in that order.

2. You hire Individuals, not Team Members.

As Farshad Asl quoted “be fast, be first, but never be alone.” Nothing can replace the value of teamwork. The most critical part when hiring an individual is; what role he/she will play within a larger group. But, all organizations seem to confirm if the candidate would fit in. The new hire should stretch the team’s perspective rather than bringing more of the same. That is, don’t just hire a cultural fit look for cultural fitness, instead check what expertise, personality, leadership styles, experience, and background do the team need.

3. Authority is not Distributed

“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” Abraham Lincoln. Structuring work by teams requires distributing authority too. How can you expect a team to behave as such when they don’t have the “power” making a call? I refer to this effect as “the fantasy of being a team.” Team members operate under the illusion that they own the project and when everything is ready to launch, a leader comes at the last minute and changes everything. Making that decision is not distributed is the prominent reason for employees’ frustration, project delays and a waste of money. Zappos, by applying the principle of self-organization has turned its belief that no one is better suited to understand client needs than those who are dealing directly with customers.

4. Organization Charts don’t represent How Work is Done.

“Titles or organizational structures are not the lenses through which we see our peers.” Jonathan Ive. Most work is developed by teams yet organization charts don’t represent this reality. Organizational structures are an overly complicated way to hierarchically link individuals in order to visualize team collaboration. The modern organizational needs a smarter roadmap to clarify how work gets done. Organization charts don’t represent the fluidity of how teams operate, but rather a rigid layered approach to dividing roles into two groups, managers or direct reports. Knowing what people are up to, that’s the mindset behind it. A chart represents a hierarchical operation that is no longer relevant. As an empowered team of teams carries out the work that matters a new model is required to capture a self-organized decentralized and collaborative way of working.

5. Your Organizational Purpose doesn’t resonate.

“He who has a way to live for can bear almost any how.” Friedrich Nietzsche. Each team needs a purpose of its own, there is nothing wrong with overall organization’s purpose. But people Resonate with things that are connected to their day- to- day reality. Purpose only means something when your entire company is on board. Organizational purposes are important, but having team- specific purposes drive more significant employee engagement. People connect better with folks that they usually work with and the purpose that brings them together. Also, a company’s purpose might emphasize the beautiful aspect of its business. But what happens to those who are in the trenches taking Care of less executing tasks? A team purpose turns any teams into a sexy one.

6. You Silence your team tensions

“Peace is not the absence of conflict, but the ability to cope with it.” Mahatma Gandhi. Many leaders operate under the notion of harmony. They believe that a team that gets along well is more productive than others. A workplace without tension is an illusion. But managers still see them as something negative. And when tensions show up, they either act on denial or try to silence conflicts. Tension is fuel to keep your team at the top of their game. You can learn to address them or ignore them until they backfire. Do you encourage your team to discuss their tension or are you consciously or not, promoting a culture of silence?

7. Your HR system focuses on individual behaviours

“Individualism is what makes cooperation worth living.” Henry Ford. Most organizations excel in putting in place systems to manage people. Unfortunately, most of the times there is a tendency to favor tools that define, coach and correct individual behaviors. There’s an ingrained mentality in most HR departments to find and develop the right people for the right job. The problem is that most C- level executives don’t realize how the way HR system operates hinders teamwork and a collective approach. Coaching a team is recommended over executive coaching. If the team has a problem, it needs to be understood, addressed and solved collectively. Dealing just with the leader won’t get the team stable.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, the way companies operate should change since they are not helping. That’s why teamwork sometimes is an illusion. Therefore, think about what happens to teamwork? When your actions don’t match your words don’t expect your team to work as one.

Also Posted: https://www.cddhesh.com/blog/2019/01/15/reasons-why-your-team-cant-work-as-a-team/