Teams work only when you do: five ways of helping your team sail or fail

Today's work environment with its high stress, high change and "lean and mean" theme can often resemble a circle of hell aptly depicted in Dante Alighieri's classical poem, the Divine Comedy, wherein hell is described in Dante's Inferno. A more timely example of today's work environment is the daily Dilbert cartoon renderings by Scott Adams. A truly humorous look at people and their interactions on the job. It's tragic comedy at its best.

However, the work environment can also reflect a seamless interplay between people and technology, committed to either producing a quality product; delivering a value added service or pushing the edge of discovery in science and technology. Going into the 21st Century the ability to develop and maintain such work environment will distinguish leaders from non-leaders. The new jargon will sound something like: NETWORK EFFECTIVE and EFFECTIVE TEAM INTERPLAY. Falling to grasp these concepts and putting them into play will relegate individuals, teams, organizations, companies, corporations, cities, states, counties, regions, countries, nations, hemispheres, alliances, planets, solar systems and galaxies to a constant state of playing catch-up. Okay, I got carried away....a little, maybe.

More and more, every day, in business, as in competitive athletics, coordinated team efforts typically mark the enduring success readily recognized in sports and in business. The Chicago Bulls; the USA Women's Olympic Gold Medal winning Basketball, Soccer and Fast Pitch Softball Teams; Microsoft; Monsanto; Georgia Tech's College of Engineering; Nordstroms; Nike; the new FFA; Boeing; the new US Postal Service; the new New York Yankees; Tommy Hilfiger, Southwest Airlines; Toyota; the University of Illinois Colleges of Agriculture, Engineering and Biotechnology; the Mexican American Opportunity Foundation in LA; Saturn; Coca Cola; Frito Lay and Xerox come to mind as a few examples of familiar entities with established or growing high name recognition based on outstanding performance, quality products and/or services and highly effective networks.

Again, two key underlying themes, endemic in past, present and future success are effective NETWORKING and TEAM INTERPLAY. I regularly speak on high school and college campuses, as well as to professional and technical organizations, across the country, on the subject of: "The Face of the Future: Careers For the 21st Century". In that presentation I ask the question: "How many of you have worked on a team or on a group project where three people did all the work and eight people got all the credit?" Invariably everyone raises their hand and/or nods yes. The real worker bees can be easily recognized because their experiences have left indelible negative impressions on their psyches. Some even groan in remembrance of their hard work in the midst of an ineffective team effort. Quite frankly teams and the "team" concept can go down a road leaving everything in its path damaged. Like in the old TV game show Password--when it's negative and yon say "team", I say "time out". When a few do all the work and many ate carried by those few and you say "team spirit", I say "Which team?" When the team favors some over others and you say, "get with the program", I say, "Which program?" Oh, don't even get me started on bad team impact on its own members. Frankly, many "teams" never fully welcome or engage all of the team members. So the term "team" should be situationally defined. Yet, I'm the eternal optimist. There's hope for funky teams to become great all around performers. My recommendation is PAY ATTENTION to what comes next. Yes, you have come back to reading the latest and greatest issue of Hispanic Times magazine and I've got something for you. FIVE WAYS TO MAKE YOUR TEAM SAIL OR FAIL. You only have to decide whether you are going to become part of the solution or stay part of the problem.

First, let's state the obvious, then work back to process. The reality check is that the team concept (in the business setting) by itself assumes much that is linked to the "team" is positive, wholesome and supportive. Well, no. Not really and not always. Hence, this article. The rant and rave for and against Affirmative Action has its roots in team workings. It either does or it doesn't. That is to say, teams are either inclusive or exclusive. They either allow and promote open access and total team participation or they squash it, block entry and play favorites. Preliminary to the discussion of teamwork and team effectiveness are the factors of: opportunity, access and commitment. Absent these, the concept of "team" is flawed because the subject is inane and without substance. My discussion, therefore, underscores these concepts and does not assume they are issues well in hand or behind us. We must continue to struggle with parity, access and genuine fairness. That said, I propose to launch into my subject. Teams Work Only When You Do: Five Ways of Helping Your Team Sail or Fail.

Now to the subject of teams and work and teamwork and making it work even better. There is an old Hopi Indian saying that expresses the obvious - One finger cannot lift a pebble. Sharing a work load, particularly as the work becomes dramatically more complex than lifting a pebble, suggests that doing the work in concert with others will minimize the workload and possibly allow for more creative approaches to getting the work done. In this context, it has always been my contention that the underlying cause and effect for effective team interplay and team success rests with the individual's performance and their 'interplay' on the team. Now, I define INTERPLAY in the workplace as the active and supportive partnering of professionals working toward a common purpose, result or effect, e.g., customer satisfaction and/or an 18% ROI. Now, good performers are not necessarily great team players. The was a time early in Michael Jordan's professional basketball career, that he was labeled a ball hog and a bad team player. Today, after four national basketball championships, Michael Jordan emphasizes effective team efforts. Jordan takes a leadership role in pushing for better team play and demands 100% involvement from his teammates. For better or for worse, good and bad teams are here to stay. However, if you want to make a positive impact on how the teams you play on work, please take note of the following:

Five Ways of Helping Your Team

Sail or Fail

#1). TO SAIL - Do Passenger Unloading--For those people who are sick of doing more work than their peers, they must stop the train, and through general consensus, disconnect and unload the "peer passengers" who gel carried but never pull their own load. To FAIL - In this effort simply keep loading extra passengers who are on for the ride. Their shear weight and inactivity and your capacity to suffer silently will assure you of eventual team failure.

#2). TO SAIL - Participate in the Team's Decision Making Process--Doing so opens the door for your true commitment to agreed upon goals and processes. TO FAIL - do not participate in any decisions and complain loudly on the team's leaderless-ship and its mis-direction. In fact, make an effort to persuade your team-mates to follow you.

#3). TO SAIL - Actively support and communicate with your team partners. Get involved with process improvement and ways & means of finding efficiencies and leveraging internal and external networks. Look for needs improvement areas and seek and offer assistance in addressing personal and organizational short-comings. TO FAIL - be ultra-competitive. Give no advice and offer no assistance. If someone crashes and bums make sure your butt is covered and accounted for.

#4). TO SAIL - Promote a team spirit and a positive goal and vision related enthusiasm. Always opt for a leadership role. Compliment others who take similar approaches. Such enthusiasm is contagious. TO FAIL - simply drag into work. Avoid taking or getting any additional responsibilities. Clock in at 8am and out at 5pm. It all pays the same. Give nothing extra.

#5). TO SAIL - Stay adjustable, flexible, mobile and nimble. Change is the name of the game. Customer, technology, global and personal demands will drive you to make regular and on the spot adjustments. Your ability to adapt in mid-stride will mark your growth and survivability. TO FAIL - Coast. Kick-back. Stand still. Have the working world adjust to your needs and timetables, or else, don't play. Show them who's the boss.

This is a very big and important subject: Teams. Please let me know if this was helpful. I'd also like to hear about some of your ideas. Constructive criticisms and what not.

Conclusion

I will conclude by saying that as working professionals we must consider striving for exceptional performance and related results. When the momentum of being a top performer, in whatever realm we operate in, is coupled with others operating with a similar fervor, commitment and big picture focus--the end results will be much better than if we did it alone. More can be much better. And better access to better diversity in people will underscore a vastly untapped force of nature that, by its diversity, will bring results and the potential for better results to heights only glimpsed but never truly seen before. As one who has glimpsed the quality and potential of building better teams I invite you to join me in making it happen rather than in waiting and hoping that it will eventually happen.

The peace Corps established two programs to assist current serving and returned volunteers pursue graduate education. The Master's International Program offers U.S. citizens the opportunity to earn a mater's degree by completing preliminary academic course work at a participating institution, and then serving two years as a Peace Corps volunteer. The Peace Corps Fellows Program helps provide scholarships or reduce-cost tuition at one of nearly two dozen universities. While in school, Fellows commit to working for two years in an under served community--building on their service as Peace Corps volunteers to tackle some of America's toughest problems. They teach in public schools, staff public health facilities, and work on community and economic developmental in local communities.

Recognizing the superior learning experience of Peace Corps service, the National Program on Noncollegiate Sponsored Instruction (PONSI) offers academic credit for certain kinds of Peace Corps training and service.

EDUCATION BENEFITS OF PEACE CORPS SERVICE

Juan Garcia called Peace Corps the "University of Life" because of all he learned a s a Peace Corps volunteer. And just like a university, the Peace Corps helped Juan recognize other educational opportunities. Through a special program exclusively for returned Peace Corps volunteers--the Peace Corps Fellows Program--Juan received his master's degree from Ohio University.

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