September 2, 2015
There are 3 Important Pillars in Teamwork: An Excerpt from The Serenity of Accountability by Tom Bandy
“Remember teamwork begins by building trust. And the only way to do that is to overcome our need for invulnerability” ~Patrick Lencioni~
Teamwork
Having a culture of accountability implies an organization that works together. Teamwork is the mechanism that enables it to overcome individual limitations and fears to produce results that cannot be achieved otherwise. It requires members to share, trust, give time and contribute to an overall purpose.
1) Purpose
Team work is a natural desire for many – we want to belong to something of which we are proud. The teamwork required for accountability starts with a vision. Team members that share this vision will naturally enjoy the benefits of having a team working to fulfill it. Such a purpose helps to drive healthy competition. It requires individual talents yet demands adherence to a share a code that puts the group first.
2) Trust
Trust comes from consistency over time. Building a track record of delivering on promises is a great way to build trust. Ironically, making mistakes can also be a great trust builder. Everyone makes them, but not everyone deals with them with integrity. The willingness to admit mistakes saves time and creates trust. After one admits to a mistake, it is much easier to change behavior to avoid repeating the same mistakes. Such changes improve processes and increase productivity. Once the fear of reprisals for making a mistake is removed, there is less inertia to perform new tasks or take on a difficult assignment. Nonetheless mistakes are never fun to admit and share. When they do occur, great teams focus on the future – how to resolve the issue and how the entire team can avoid them going forward.
3) Time
There is no way to avoid taking time if teamwork is to be promoted. It takes time to listen and debate an issue. It takes more time to address performance that is not optimal. Taking short cuts to save time always make things worse. Leaving unacceptable behavior alone sends a message that accountability and responsibility to the team are not critical. In order to have a team participate time is consumed in emails, calls, messages or meetings. How else can the team listen, share clarify and analyze plans, problems or situations? Thus the challenge to teamwork is the regular work pressure that takes away time, focus or energy from the team activities. Not taking enough time to address issues early means there will be time later to address it or the consequences of it Teamwork is the key for organization growth as problems can be solved faster by
- Bouncing ideas
- Resolving impasses
- Using different perspectives
- Sharing knowledge
- Matching skills and tasks
- Improving inefficient methods
- Balancing work loads
- Eliminating wasted work
For a limited time, BandyWorks is offering the just published white paper, The Serenity of Accountability for free. If you would like to 3 important pillars in teamwork, then you may want to read more. The book discusses accountability. Simply call (804) 733-8844 x 2 and ask to have a copy sent to you today!