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A good team player has the key to success. Being the smartest,
being the brightest, being the hardest; all of these attributes
that worked so well in business in years gone by, now will
not push you up the ladder quickly. How good a team player
you are and how well you share your knowledge with your colleagues
is the all-important factor in growing your career today.
If you can build a company culture that does not worry about
who gets the credit for something, think about what you could
achieve! To survive in the big bad tough working environment
of today you don't need to have your own people competing
with each other. It is the commercial "enemy' against
whom all their energy should be focused.
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It's not always easy to be a good team member and compromise
your own views for the good of the whole, but it works for
the betterment of the company. You have to believe in the
workings and power of the team and recognize where your own
strengths and contribution fits in. You have to be honest,
both with yourself and with your team members. You will have
conflict within the team and as long as this is controlled
then it can be a very healthy element for both the team and
the development of the business. Progress has rarely been
made by reasonable men; most progress goes against the norm
of the day or the conventional thinking of the day; but that
progress, if harnessed within a team, has many more supporters
and moves much more quickly than it would if it is the struggle
of one man alone.
Research into high-performing teams shows that each member
cares for the development of his team mates. This appreciation
of each other's learning and development is key to the
success of a team and the commitment of each member to the
other.
Companies will always need self-starters and leaders, but
these leaders must have something to lead; this something
today in the most successful companies is well-managed and
empowered teams, which have within them people who are not
afraid to voice their own opinion and yet are as equally willing
to really listen to the opinions of others and to learn from
them.
Over 70% of a manager's time is spent in some form of
group activity, often in meetings with others; relatively
little time is spent in the supervising of single individuals
or on one-to-one discussions, thus the need for team building.
Indeed, the success of individual managers depends on how
well that manager's team or teams improve in quality
and productivity on a continuous basis. In reality, group
productivity is more important than individual task accomplishment.
The most effective teams are able to solve complex problems
more easily than one person can, for many capable minds are
brought to bear on an issue. However, all teams must be managed
well by a capable facilitator who understands that every team
is unique, dynamic and ever changing. Moreover, teams have
behaviour patterns, just as individuals do and, just as children
develop into adults, teams have developmental stages, being
more productive and efficient at one stage than another. A
team goes through a number of stages of development as it
moves from a collection of individuals to a smoothly functioning
unit that improves productivity, quality and human satisfaction
in organizations.
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It is desirable for team members to have the following attitudes;
"I know what I have to do and the team's goals are
clear", "I am willing to share some responsibility
for leadership", "I am an active participant",
"I feel appreciated and supported by others", "Other
team members listen when I speak and I respect the opinions
of others", "communication is open, new ideas are
encouraged and we are having fun working together". Effective
teamwork means that problem solving is more effective because
the expertise of the entire team is available, performance
feedback is more meaningful because team members understand
what is expected of them and can monitor their performance
against expectations, conflict is understood as normal and
never becomes destructive, being viewed as an opportunity
to resolve problems through open discussion. It is vital that
the team is recognized for their contributions to the organization.
The characteristics of high performing teams are that they
have clarity of purpose and are truly empowered by the organization
to discuss and resolve the problems brought to them; they
have free communication and sustain excellent and respectful
personal relationships thereby achieving optimal performance.
As a result of regular recognition and appreciation of their
work, the team morale in a high performing team remains high.
Members of teams must be encouraged to test their abilities
and to try out ideas. This becomes infectious and stimulates
individuals to become stronger performers. However, all teams
must have reasonably disciplined internal work habits and
individual members have to conform their behaviour to meet
team standards and expectations.
Teams soon develop a clear problem-solving process that can
be applied time and again as long as their leader initially
creates a common purpose and vision, pointing the team in
the right direction.
Two men were working at different parts of a construction
site in downtown Bangkok, each having a different supervisor.
A passer-by enquired "what are you doing?" The first
man replied, "I'm trying to crack granite";
the second man responded, "I'm part of a team building
a temple".
One key to team success is that the leader must lead rather
than manage the work of the team, thus, the team must be empowered
to manage itself. The role of the leader is to interpret the
company mission and goals to the team, to articulate those
goals into team goals and objectives, to know how and when
to bring further resources to the team and to assist in establishing
deadlines and standards of performance. In addition, the team
leader must ensure that realistic measurement criteria exist
and that the team performs in a motivating and rewarding climate.
Cross-cultural issues can assail and impact the working of
teams, but it is well to remember that, despite culture, most
team members have similar objectives in life. Objectives that
relate to happiness and health, to success and recognition,
to love and being well-accepted by others. The clever team
leader recognizes and plays upon these similarities while
molding the cultural differences to benefit the team. Thai
team members place a greater focus on personal relationships
in everything they do while western team members are looking
more for personal achievement. The values of assertiveness
and accountability that the westerner has grown up with since
childhood can often be happily tempered with the sophistication
of compromise and consideration implicit in the education
and behaviour of most Thais. The astute team leader understands
the strengths of the values of the two cultures and works
to mould them together for the good of the whole. Being kind,
respectful and always bearing others in mind does not need
to conflict with orientation toward goals and personal commitment.
We have much to learn and appreciate from one another and
there is no better place to make this cross-cultural wealth
work than in a well-led team.
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