Teamwork: Fostering Success
Teamwork is essential in creating any success or achievement. Whether in business or sports, togetherness and camaraderie built on a culture of working together towards a common goal are paramount. The greatest companies or teams in competition all have this secret recipe for success. Individuals as well benefit greatly from the power of teamwork, although not directly competing together, all the best individual athletes or artists have a cohesive team and hard working group behind the scenes powering their way to a successful end goal.
The importance of having a great team cannot be understated, but what makes a great team and most importantly what makes a team work seamlessly together as a well oiled machine to generate the most efficient and impactful output.
To build a great team one first must start with the right players, contributors or employees. The team is the people that comprise it. Getting the right individuals with specific intangibles who create great work and put in effort is imperative. This occurs at the outset of forming the team, hiring or recruiting the right people out of the gate is of grave importance. Having to replace or change out an individual within a team during the start of a project as well as during one, is indeed challenging and can create a seismic change in culture and dynamics. Also having to find a replacement to get up to speed and acclimate is a big challenge within itself. Which adds more emphasis on recruiting the right individuals from the beginning.
To do this take more time with the hiring process, ensure the correct personnel are recruited one at a time then add more to the team building around that individual and so on Imagine the ancient Greeks constructing the Parthenon, they start by creating one strong, robust, structured, supportive, detailed column. Then they erect another alongside it, just as strong and maintaining all the same structural integrity of the last, in similar form. This is repeated in perfect succession until the weight of a massive and grand scale can be supported atop this spectacular edifice.
The same principles apply to team building, start with one strong column then bring in alongside one with similar traits, spirit and drive, eventually, in unison, the team is formed to support the weight of the common goal.
Just as the engineers did when building the structure, inspect, craft and scrutinize carefully each supporting column. The same in finding the right people for your team, it may be laborious at the start however those support columns carry the weight of success or failure.
The French word for team is l’equipe, the origins of the English word equipped. A group must therefore be equipped with the right tools and cohesiveness to even take on the moniker of team. The most important of these tools is motivation.
Heart, drive, perseverance, belief in the common goal or cause; motivation is a combination of all of these. A team can have the correct personnel, and work seamlessly with each other, however a lack of motivation nullifies all.
How to motivate a team and keep them in focused spirits, does not lie in intermittent rewards or compensation, perks or internal competition. The key to motivation is making the team a part of the goal, creating unity where each member, co-worker or player is on the same path, the belief they are all chasing the same objectives together, and that it takes all of them to get there and once success is achieved, they may share in its rewards equally. No man above another, no one person for themselves, team, mission and unit always come first.
This mindset is fostered through shared work and collaboration, unilateral feelings of reward and hardship. Something goes wrong, it’s all hands on deck to help rectify the issue. A plan is being drawn up; everyone gives their input before putting it into effect.
Projects are worked on by every member of the team, if some individuals are not experts in particular areas as most projects differ, they are still to be involved in some capacity just as each player on a field plays a certain position, the still provide input to reach the general objective. Involving the whole team just as in sports, even if only one player may have the ball on a set play, every player on the field is in motion contributing to it’s success.
In summary, the team is key to building success at any level. Create yours meticulously, and with intention. Motivate by growing a culture of togetherness through collaboration from every member, have them share in the hardship and success of each phase of a business. Create the feeling of us versus the world, because in every case that’s exactly the way it is, go to battle with those who would fight not for you, but alongside you.
For personalized guidance for your business on this topic and others contact us.
- Vince Calace
Founder - Venture Business Development