The term “team” is ubiquitous in our culture. There are sports teams galore bringing together everyone from young children to professional athletes. A family, whatever its composition, is a team. At the office, there are deal teams and trial teams. We conduct much of our business now on Microsoft Teams. Throughout our lives we are members of countless teams. Those teams have varying life cycles, goals, levels of functionality and success. However, they are all intended to harness a small group of people’s varying talents and skills and bring them together to achieve an objective that the individual members could not achieve alone.
In the army, a soldier is a member of several groups within the army, such as a battalion, a company and a platoon. At the most fundamental level the soldier is a member of a team––four soldiers with a specific mission. Each of us is part of a small core team at our respective firms. Unfortunately, it is easy to forget that we are part of a team and to take for granted those whom we rely on most. Here are some thoughts on how to avoid doing so and to further develop the group of people most important to our success.
Your team members perform their responsibilities and duties, but they may not understand the larger purpose and how they, and their work, contribute to the success of the team. Tasks are what you do. Purpose explains why those tasks matter. Someone who understands their purpose and role is more likely to strive to excel in their work. For example, one person’s job includes managing and curating your matter files. This is often a tedious and thankless task, and the person performing it over time can be prone to burnout or not giving the work the attention needed to maintain well-managed files. As the person who relies on that team member doing a thorough job, you know problems caused and time wasted when a file is in disarray. Rather than allowing your team member to hear your sighs, mutterings and stern looks when you cannot find what you need to do your job, consider the ways in which a well-maintained file contributes to the success of your team and then explain that to your team members. Tell them and remind them. Then honor their work. When they understand and remember the positive difference their contributions make to the team, they will be motivated to strive for excellence in their work.
You can understand your purpose within a group and still not feel like a member of the team. Team members who believe that their team supports them and has their backs have the freedom to focus on excelling rather than not failing. Do team members know that the other members value their work and are invested in their success? Is everyone brought into the “circle”—that intangible sense that they are considered part of the group. Is there a healthy level of social connection unrelated to the tasks at hand? For example, are you demonstrating a sense of care and concern for the important aspects of their life outside of work that they are comfortable sharing with you? Showing an interest in those things can make your team members feel more engaged and create the type of team social capital needed for the deadlines and stressful times at the office.
We instinctively celebrate major achievements and milestones—passing the bar, landing the big new client and winning the appeal. Not only are those achievements few and far between, but they are also always the result of multiple smaller successes. Those smaller successes are usually unrecognized, even by the person who achieved them. Noticing those small successes along the way can be a great motivator. Consider making it a practice of periodically recognizing some of the small achievements that you notice in each team member’s work. It could be a brief that was well written because team members stayed late to produce the best product or the completion of a long-delayed administrative task that was necessary but tedious. Better yet, encourage your team members to periodically reflect on their own small achievements and set aside time to discuss and celebrate them. You are helping people recognize that they are making a difference and contributing to the success of the team.
Let us know the strategies you use to invest in your core team. Good luck!
