No Steam in my team _1

The organizational grapevine echoes with the talk of work on team building, teamwork, and personal teams, but few understand how to create the experience of teamwork and how to develop an effective team. Belonging to a team in the broadest sense, is the result of belonging to something greater than yourself. You have much to do with your understanding of the mission or objectives of your organization before you set out to build one.

In an environment of teamwork, every spoke contributes to our success. You can work with colleagues in the organization to produce these results. Even if you have a specific job, and you belong to a specific department, you are unified with the other members of that organization to achieve overall objectives. Bigger image drive your actions, you must be connected to serve the big picture.

It is necessary to differentiate this overall sense of teamwork from the task of developing an effective intact team that is able to achieve a specific goal. People confuse the two goals of strengthening the team. That is why many team building seminars, meetings, retreats and activities are seen as failures from the point of view of the participants. The leaders did not make the team they always wanted to build. Forging a sense of teamwork is different from team building, teamwork approach; when considering methods of organization wide team building approaches.

Executives, managers and members of staff are in general the key to find ways to improve business performance and profitability. For many team-based- horizontal, organization structures - the best planning, involves all employees to create success.

Whatever you call your efforts to improve as a team: continuous improvement, total quality, lean production or work teams, self-directed, striving to improve outcomes for customers; Few organizations, however, are quite satisfied with the results of their efforts at the end of the ordeal.

 

[Dhruv Bindhani]

This article offers a critical and nuanced perspective on the pervasive concept of teamwork within organizations, distinguishing between the broader sense of collective contribution and the specific task of developing effective, intact teams. It highlights a common confusion in organizational efforts, leading to perceived failures in team-building initiatives.

Differentiating Teamwork and Team Building​

The article astutely identifies a fundamental misunderstanding prevalent in organizations: the difference between the general "echoes with the talk of work on team building, teamwork, and personal teams" and the actual ability to "create the experience of teamwork and how to develop an effective team." It posits that a broad sense of teamwork stems from "belonging to something greater than yourself," driven by an understanding of the organization's overarching mission and objectives. This holistic view emphasizes that every individual, regardless of their specific role or department, is "unified with the other members... to achieve overall objectives." The "Bigger image" should drive actions and connect individuals to a shared purpose.

Crucially, the author then differentiates this general sense of teamwork from the more specific challenge of "developing an effective intact team that is able to achieve a specific goal." This distinction is paramount, as the article argues that the confusion between these two goals is precisely "why many team building seminars, meetings, retreats and activities are seen as failures." Leaders, in their pursuit of an "effective team," often fail to realize they are addressing a different objective than fostering a general sense of collective teamwork. This insight is highly valuable for organizations that might be investing in generic team-building activities without clear, differentiated goals.

Holistic Planning and Customer Focus​

The article touches upon the role of leadership in improving business performance, noting that in "team-based- horizontal, organization structures," the "best planning, involves all employees to create success." This underscores a participatory approach to strategic development, aligning with modern organizational trends that value distributed intelligence and collective ownership.

While mentioning various improvement efforts like "continuous improvement, total quality, lean production or work teams, self-directed," the author introduces a note of caution. The concluding sentence, "Few organizations, however, are quite satisfied with the results of their efforts at the end of the ordeal," serves as a stark reminder of the gap between intent and outcome in team-related initiatives. This highlights the difficulty and complexity involved in truly successful team development and warns against superficial or undifferentiated approaches.

In conclusion, this article provides a thought-provoking and essential clarification on the multifaceted concept of teamwork. By distinguishing between broad organizational alignment towards a common mission and the focused development of high-performing, goal-oriented teams, it offers valuable insights for leaders and practitioners. Its critical perspective on common pitfalls in team-building efforts encourages a more precise and strategic approach to fostering genuine collaboration and achieving desired organizational outcomes.