Well, welcome to the new era in business and life in general. The Corona Virus has introduced new ways of conducting your life, and social distancing is at the forefront of this. The unemployment numbers were just announced, and the results are off the chart. Over three million people have filed for unemployment benefits, with the old “high water mark” being 700,000 back in 2008. How I wish for the good old days. One positive aspect seems to be that people are being brought together with technology and it appears that the world is on pause for this moment in time. Terrorism and overall civil unrest have taken a back seat to Corona. It appears that the world is merely waiting for something or someone to illuminate a path out of this mess. Good news is the 1983 National champions in Basketball was NC State Wolfpack, defeating the Houston Cougars 54-52 at “The Pit” in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I just watched the game on television this last week. Take that Akeem Olajuwon. I think this guy is going to be good, just a hunch.
This leads us to team building. Now more than ever, this concept is essential with many people having to work at home away from everyone. The idea of building a reliable and robust team is of utmost importance at this time. I’m going to revisit this idea of how to build a strong team. At one of my previous employers, I was responsible for making sure our team worked together for a common goal. I often asked myself what is the “secret sauce” in team-building? Ideas I tried before, always didn’t work out, so I started reading articles and talking to people in leadership positions at Buckley Air Force Base. The one good thing about working on a military installation is the abundance of “smart people” at your disposal. From First sergeants all the way up to the Base Commander. I learned by not only asking questions but observing what they did and guess what? It works if applied correctly. Here are my discoveries on the idea of team building. The first and most important step is “Group Buy-In.” Everyone must believe in and support the idea of what you’re trying to do. If you learn nothing else out of this article, remember this major concept because if you don’t, your doomed.
Project Aristotle in 2012
Google analytics department was interested in what makes a great team in business. Google’s Project Aristotle was a multi-year project the company undertook starting in 2012 to examine why some teams thrived while others failed. These findings were both surprising and eye-opening on what makes a strong team and how you go about creating one.
To create a great team, you must provide five qualities, with the first being the most essential.
1. Psychological Safety: After combing through decades of academic research about teams and then scrutinizing and surveying teams at Google over a period of years, the organizational psychologists, engineers and other researchers working on Project Aristotle came to some conclusions. More than anything else, a sense of psychological safety, or a shared belief that a team is a safe place for interpersonal risk-taking, was critical for making the team function effectively.
2. Dependability: Strong teams get things done on time and meet high standards. Each member knows they can trust others to do what they say they are going to do. Inside many productive teams, you tell leaders to always be impeccable with your word. The reasoning behind this is because your team is counting on you. They shouldn’t have to give a second thought to what you are doing at any given moment, because you’ll always do what you said you would. They need to know that when you are running down the field together, they can depend on you, just as you can depend on them. You are in this together.
3. Structure and Clarity: Team members must have a clear understanding of their goals. It starts at the top. Leaders must define what success means to them and understand how each member of the team defines success to create a shared vision, and so every employee knows what’s expected of them in achieving that vision. Things are going to get sloppy if you are doing the Mambo and I’m doing the Cha-Cha. We need to be in alignment and learn how to come together. Trusting your team is pivotable as Project Aristotle found, psychological safety is the foundation.
4. Meaning: Work must be personally important to the team members. It is up to the leader to impart to his or her team the “why” behind what we do every day. What motivates us to get out of bed, to come into work? Remember, customers buy “you” before they ever buy what you are selling, so you need to have the buy-in from your entire team and define your essential mission before you can present it to the outside world. At many of the business schools, you tell business owners and executives, a business is like a child; it is a living and breathing legal entity. We need to surround it with the appropriate caregivers, as we would a child. I can’t be incredibly successful by myself.
5. Impact: Leaders have a tremendous effect on their teams. Truly great leaders maximize their strengths first so they can enroll others in a shared vision for success and inspire them to be at their best. Things are continually moving in life, and we need to keep learning and growing ourselves. We believe that it is essential to always “ASK” of others; this stands for Always Seek Knowledge. When we share what we know with each other, we can create great teams.
Other Factors:
Building the perfect team is based on Group Norms.
“Norms give rise to acceptable and stable behavioral patterns and influence how members perceive and interact with one another, approach decisions, and solve problems (Bettenhausen & Murnighan, 1991).”
Norms determine how effective a group will be and may influence factors like the degree of cooperation. Practical case evidence and implementation steps can help leaders to initiate project groups that will succeed at delivering end goals.
Letting people take chances with mistakes.
So many times, in the workplace environment, people try to distance themselves from mistakes and often like to point out errors others have made in a group setting. If you want to have a team, you must allow your members to make a mistake or two. If nothing else, it can be a learning example for the team as a whole. When you encounter an error, learn and pivot into a new direction. After all, this is how this team operates and succeeds in the end.
As a leader of a group, show caring in both careers and life for your team members.
Like so many other areas of life, being fake hurts your credibility, and people on your team can sense this. You must care about your employees, both in their personal and professional lives. This is an attribute of a leader that can’t be learned. You can fake it for some time, but in the end, your true colors will emerge. You either have it or don’t and if you don’t have it, you better get someone in the position which can lead this team. Being fake kills teams, and you are only fooling yourself. Being a caring leader is a must in this era of virus team building. Showing you care goes a long way in the eyes of your team.
We will stop here for the time being because we have covered a lot of material. It’s important not to gloss over other important factors to come in this blog. If you are like me, I know I start to skim a lot more when you hit the 1500 wordmark. So, take a break and come back for the second installment of building a great team and remember to be safe and wash your hands. Everyone would like to see you again…soon.