Is your team 'playing in time' or are you 'locked in'?

Have you ever felt like your team 'gets work done', but that there could be more? I'm not talking about more work, necessarily, but MORE teamwork or more ____ (something?) that you just can't put your finger on? It sounds to me like while the people on your team know what needs to be done and how to do it, they are each just 'doing' it. While the end works to the credit and value of the whole, it is really missing quite a lot.

I'm not ashamed of my rock star dreams ( I wrote about them in a past article) and have enjoyed playing an instrument since I was 16 and playing in bands since I was 17. This 'side gig' has taught me a lot about teamwork, communication and how to get a group of adults working together - REALLY TOGETHER.

And a quick edit - I just read that Tom Petty has died. If ever there was a band that inspired me to play and makes me want to play better/tighter together it was The Heartbreakers. Rest in Peace Tom. Thanks for all you gave us!

To help explain how good teams can work even better I'm going to break down how songs are recorded. Let's put the old school and new school into two different types, each with its own value, but definitely with a different product/outcome. Back in the day (I'm going to hit 40 next week, so I can say that now, right?) a band would get their songs ready and then go into a studio and play them and that performance was recorded and then edited and added onto. Today, however, with the ease of digital recording songs can be put together as piecemeal. A producer sets a guide track that gives the unwavering tempo of the song (with a click-track) and parts of the song can be recorded from different locations across the globe, with the players never having to meet face-to-face. Both get a song, but only one can really capture that 'something else'...

The modern way of recording is favored because it is considerably cheaper than the old way. If you don't need to pay a day rate for a studio that is well-equipped and large enough to hold a band and have no need to schedule four or five players to be in the same place at one time, plus an engineer and a producer, You have instantly removed some cost and the headaches associated with syncing calendars. It allows a recording to come together while a band is touring, or as the inspiration for a new song hits (because all you need is the material written out in some way that others can play to).

With a click track, there is no question when the song will start and when it will end. With a little counting (a basic skill every musician should work to master) a seasoned player knows when to stop and start again for emphasis (I call those 'pulls' and 'punches') on all of the parts (which are either written out in musical notation or in one of a few forms of other sheets) and can nail his or her track in one or two takes (if they've got the musical training to read sheet music). When the producer is happy with the product (which may just be several takes, each with its own great parts and not-so-great parts that the engineer will cut and splice together digitally to create a near-perfect track) that player is done and the next gets to work, whenever and wherever...

Once a drummer, a bass player, keyboard/synth player, guitar player, and singers have cut their parts (gradually adding on, so the next player can hear and play along with the previously recorded parts),each track is 'fixed' by combining all the possible takes so that it is perfect. Then the song is edited and mixed and voila! A song! This 'team' individually knew how to do what they needed to do and were given clear and specific enough instruction to make the end product a reality. With great precision, the engineer, editor and/or producer made the material as close to perfect as they could. You got an inexpensive, perfectly synced recording of great individual team members contributing as instructed and edited. Many great songs have been recorded this way, and many lackluster ones as well.

What is missing? Every aspect is digitally micro-managed! If it was technically 'perfectly synced' isn't that the best you can do? Maybe, but what makes this product something that may be missing 'something'? The product comes from people 'playing in-time' together - that is, filling in their parts without an emotional connection to the music or the other players.

Look at the old-school way bands recorded. They spent time writing the material TOGETHER. They worked on the parts that each would play, they worked out harmony vocals and who would play solos on what parts TOGETHER. They played the songs until they were comfortable enough with them to hit the studio. They then spent days playing the song over and over until the producer and artist felt that they had captured 'the sound' of the song. A few more passes would be added (overdubs) so that vocals and solos could be cleaner, and it would be edited and mixed.

And what did you get? Technically speaking, you got an expensive, sloppy, slightly imperfect version of a band playing their song. Even if the band was very tight and played very well together, the tempo would likely vary (often speeding up just a little as the song got more exciting) and there may have been slight blips where someone came in just a tiny bit early or held onto a note just a little longer than the rest. Besides 'errors', the song would have something else that you don't get doing it the modern way. The band would be 'locked in' together - that means that even though the tempo didn't remain perfect, the players all felt the change together. Punches would hit so hard together that future listeners would feel it because the team members would not only know their part, from rehearsing together they would know the other members' parts and as they came to the big hit/punch they'd look each other in the eye, goading each other on to get it right. Pulls were often accompanied by an anticipation that was palpable because the team members were all relying on the drummer and/or their ability to count and come back in together without the assistance of a machine giving them precise beats. The something was magic that only comes from playing TOGETHER.

Which is better? I guess it depends on what part of the business you are in. As a player and a fan, I prefer it when a band records in a studio together - even if only for the drum tracks, bass and rhythm guitar parts. You cannot capture that energy by playing apart.

Let's get back to your team. If they perform as individuals, each dutifully giving you what has been communicated as expected of them, the team will complete work and finish projects, for sure. But what would happen if your team learned more about the other aspects of the work/project? Could they get 'locked in' together and create a rhythm and style of work that made people notice? Might they blow away the expectations because they are more involved in the work and how each part makes the project a reality? Could the team be energized daily by making real connections between each other and realizing that at the end of the day they could go to sleep proud of how they have contributed to something bigger than themselves? All of the above. You can do it the modern way and try to manage the people and the work, or you can get great teams together and let then thrive in a way you never thought possible (I'm talking to you, micromanagers...).