Many improvement methods, certainly in ICT, suggest that people should start working together. Working together between different disciplines, between different departments, maybe even between different companies. Very often this is called a team. But then you get to know them and you start to doubt: is this really a team? Because it doesn’t sound or look like one.
Just because people are told they now should work together, doesn’t make them a team. I have seen many teams consisting of a lot of separate people, all working for themselves. And I saw some similarities in those groups.
Convincing v.s. informing
You might notice that people spend a lot of time convincing someone that what they want is important. Or that what the other wants is not so important. Sometimes it feels like a fight, where the strongest person wins. And you might start asking yourself: ‘Are we doing what is best or what the strongest person says?’
Then you have another team. People still tell what they find important, but it’s different. They often don’t tell why they find it important and still people seem to believe them. If they do tell, it’s often because someone asked them for more information. Everyone seems to get at least some of what is important for them. Or at least understands why not.
Blaming v.s. searching
The most recognizable form of blaming is “It’s his fault”. But for me, it goes further. I see blaming as every form of communication where you make clear you cannot help with a solution. So also remarks like “It’s not my job”, “I wasn’t trained for that”, “That’s not for our team”, “I can’t help it”. And there are groups of people, where you hear that very often.
Or you have groups of people that are mostly asking questions: “Why did this happen?”, “What can we do to prevent this?”, “Is there anything I can do?”. The conversation about the solution is not to exclude themselves, even if they know they didn’t do anything to cause the problem. Every bit of knowledge and experience present is used to find out more about the problem or find a solution.
Separate responsibilities v.s. a common goal
When people start working together, they might start by making clear who is responsible for what. When there is a topic, it’s almost immediately clear whom you should talk to. And if it’s not, someone will tell you. Everyone is working in their own area, communication between different people is often kept as minimal as possible. The first priority is their own work.
Or they start by talking about what they want to or have to achieve as a group. And when that is clear, they start making clear how every person can help achieve that goal. People get tasks based on their job, their knowledge, and their experience. But, if needed, they know the others will help them. What is important is determined by what helps the most for achieving the main goal.
What you can do
No matter your role, you can start creating a real team. You might not have the power to set a common goal, but even then there are things you can do.
Listen to what other people find important and try to understand them. You will notice that most of the time they will start listening to you. And maybe even to other people.
When there is a problem, don’t go and hide, even if you know for certain you didn’t cause this. Create the opportunity for people to explain why they did it a certain way. Why they think that didn’t work as expected. And offer your help with the solution. They might start acting the same. And, if in any way possible: tell them what you can do better yourself.
If you want to have a real team, don’t wait for someone else. Sart yourself today!