November 5th, 2007

Creating Team

Supervisors, et al, want to create their groups as a team.  But what does that mean?  What are the characteristics of a team?  This is what I see:

1- Everyone knows their job and knows their role.  They are willing and able to do it.

2- Everyone knows that the success of the team is more important than their own.

3-When someone on the team makes a mistake or is incapable of functioning, another member is willing and able to step in, either in the moment (unasked) or as requested.

4- There's alignment on the vision and goals of the team. Members do not have to like one another and they need a way to discharge their differences.

5- There are clear lines of communication.

6- The members have the confidence and ability to cause and sustain rallies.

7- There is one leader (for communication and decisions) and there are many leaders.

Creating team requires an understanding of appreciation and reward for the members and a way of dealing with inadequacy, disagreement and dissension.

Useful Quotations

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.
Ghandi

Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.
Henry Ford

The nice thing about teamwork is that you always have others on your side.
Margaret Carty

The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don't play together, the club won't be worth a dime.
Babe Ruth

Fit no stereotypes. Don't chase the latest management fads. The situation dictates which approach best accomplishes the team's mission.
Colin Powell

Creative Corner

What a Team

We remember these trios –
Tinkers to Evers to Chance
Because of poetry
O’Brien to Ryan to Goldberg
Because of Movies
Reese to Robinson to Hodges
Because of Brooklyn

But all – because they were the
heart
of the team
So were the four horseman,
Those Dolphin eleven –
We now remember few of their names,
Enshrined in unrecognized memory

When I learned to play poker
I learned to be a winner –
Not who had the best cards
But who played
their cards the best

The winning teams
don’t have the best players
They have the players
who play the best

What's Next?

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