Team Work
by Dera DeRoche-Jolet

All together now…at least that’s the way you wish it would work. While each person at your company provides something unique and personal, there are times when working together as a team can accomplish a lot more. With a team, you have the benefit of the combined experience and input of a number of your employees.

Of course, it doesn’t always work out that way. Often, everyone spends too much effort in forming the team with little direction provided afterwards. Everyone starts out with lots of energy but before long they are wiped out. That results in frustration on the part of team members and a general lack of accomplishment. And, that attitude somehow seems to easily pervade the rest of the company.

Before that happens, here are a number of guidelines that you can follow to help make your teams (and your company) more productive.

Have a Goal - Develop a clearly stated purpose for each team at your organization and put it in writing. The mission statement for any team that’s formed should be gathered and distributed company-wide so everyone in the company is kept up-to-date. Also, make sure that each team’s goal and mission statement is consistent with the company’s vision statement

Choose the members of the team carefully - Everyone on the team should be selected for a reason. Know why they have been chosen and what they have to contribute. Once you know the goal of the team, then picking members and putting together an effective group should be easy.

Don’t force people to be on a team - Certain people are often perfect for a certain team. But, don’t force them to be involved. A team not only needs to start out in a positive note but the members need to see value in what the team will be doing and their role in it.

Keep the team size manageable - As they say, too many cooks spoil the broth. Having too many people on the team makes it difficult to keep everyone involved.

Define Success - How will the team know that it has reached its goal? Members must define, in advance, what outcomes are expected. If the target is clearly defined it will be easier to know what the team needs to do to meet those goals.

Set a time period - How long will the team be a team? Periodically, take another look at the team’s mission and team members. Individual members come and go, and the company’s priorities change. Teams need to adapt to that process.

Set the Rules - Set a couple of basic team rules such as who is in charge, when and how often to meet, starting and ending on time, respecting the opinons of others, etc. and stick to them.

Make everyone accountable - The more information you share with team members, the more responsible they’ll act and the more involved they’ll become. Make sure that everyone knows who is accountable to whom. A team is likely to be more efficient if it reports to an individual - and that he or she attends your meetings periodically.

Make meetings meaningful - Don’t waste people’s time. The more productive a meeting is, the more individual members will want to participate. Keep meetings short (60-90 minutes is long enough). Prior to the meeting, distribute an agenda with three or four specific items to be covered. Briefly review what happened at the last meeting - it’s an ongoing process.

Develop a team agenda - What does the team want to accomplish and in what time frame. Team members should be able to state a plan of action along with their goals. If not, then you need to take a long hard look at the basic reasons for getting together as a team.