The Soft Science of Being a Part of a Team

"Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships." – Michael Jordan

You often hear the term “team player”, but what does it really mean?

Teams can achieve magnificent things if everyone on the team is working towards the same goals, or they can fail miserably when team members are divided.
Starting with the smallest family unit or military squad and ending with your company, great teamwork is the basis for success.

What do great teams all have in common? What makes them so special?

Here are 5 things great teams do extremely well and that you can start implementing in your team today.

Listen to each other

Great teams value each member of the team and listen to what they have to say. From new ideas to better ways of implementing processes, each team member is equally important, and their opinion is heard and treated with respect.

Respect each other’s opinions

Great teams don’t put people down, they build them up. A team meeting should be a safe environment where people are free to express their opinions without judgment.
Great teams are awesome at fostering such environments and great team members are great at encouraging different opinions.

Brainstorm together

Brainstorming is what great teams do best! They meet and generate new ideas and new solutions; exercise open mindless and creativity and decide on a roadmap that is collectively regarded as the best way forward.
They get buy in from all the members of the team and are not afraid to go back to the drawing board to adjust.

Set clear areas of responsibility

Each of the team members knows their area of responsibility and concentrate their effort on performing their duties. Large projects are always divided to small tasks and small tasks are easy to perform well.
If a team member is only thinking about their tasks and not the big picture, they are more likely to succeed in their efforts.
Once 100 percent of the team have succeeded in their area of responsibility, the project is done!

Succeed or fail together

Great teams know that success depends on every member of the team succeeding. A failure of one is a failure of the entire group.
If a project fails, great teams don’t play the blame game. They understand that a team member failing is a result of lack of support and support should come from everyone on the team.
They also don’t let failure slow them down. They learn and adapt.

Conclusion

A great team can make or break your company. The art of team building requires great leadership.
You can hear my thoughts about leadership in the following podcast: https://avocetcommunications.com/podcast/gal-ratner/