I’m a big fan of teams, not because they are perfect, but because they are often the best option for achieving results that would be impossible for individuals.
I’m also a fan because teams can bring a sense of purpose or meaning to almost any task, no matter how menial or difficult. A good team can redeem even the most challenging circumstances. And in the best circumstances, a good team can achieve unbelievable results.
But good teams are not easy to build, and not every team can or will achieve the status of a good team or a great team.
In my twenty years of experience working with dozens of teams from the inside and the outside, I have found four things that good teams have in common. If your goal is to build a strong team, I would encourage you to consider how you can deliberately build towards these four.
1. Good Teams have a history
Good teams have a history. Team history comes from two sources: shared experiences and shared stories.
The shared experiences are the times when the team, or significant portions of it, did memorable things together both work-related and outside of work. What kinds of experiences are memorable and count as team history? Often, they are experiences that take team members outside their normal routine or outside their emotional comfort zones, such as trips out of town, regular lunches or special dinners, challenging assignments completed together, and being together in sickness, trauma, or bereavement.
The shared stories come from team members voluntarily opening up and sharing important moments from their personal experience outside the team. Through shared stories, team members get to know each other on a deeper level. Depending on what each person freely decides to share, the team may come to know about early life experiences, family challenges, personal setbacks, treasured memories, meaningful life goals, and so on.
What can you do to build team history? Leaders and team members cannot force a team to have history (and it may not happen quickly), but you can look for and/or create opportunities for history to happen. For experiences, try planning a team trip, budgeting for a weekly lunch, or encouraging attendance at significant life events outside of work.
For shared stories, try using a tool like DISC to prompt awareness and communication or bringing in a facilitator to create a safe, professional environment for opening up. You can also model this voluntary behavior by sharing your own meaningful personal stories (not the ones where you are always the hero!).
2. Good teams have a cause
In addition to having a history, good teams see a future together, because they have a cause to work towards that is bigger than themselves.
The deepest sources of meaning for human beings are other human beings. While achievements can sometimes be inspirational on their own, most people find deeper meaning through connection with others, especially when that connection helps people or builds relationships between people.
I have found teams to be remarkably adept at talking together to discover and create meaning in their work, but that kind of conversation does not often happen on its own.
What can you do to connect your team to a cause? You can create the space and agenda for them to have a real conversation about why their work matters. Whether you do this yourself or bring in an outside facilitator, your team members need time to reflect individually and then discuss collectively how their work affects other people (both inside and outside the organization). You will know they have succeeded when you hear people become energized and demonstrate an emotional connection to a cause bigger than themselves.
3. Good teams have permission
Good teams have permission from each other to do three important things that they would not allow most other people to do.
Good teams have:
- permission to get up in your business.
- permission to laugh at you.
- permission to lead you.
In a typical employee relationship, people may resist or avoid giving constructive feedback to others. But on a good team, everyone knows that every member has permission to get up in each other’s business and give uncomfortable feedback. They have built enough trust to know that this is done out of genuine care for each other’s best interest and in service to the team’s goals. It’s a demonstration of mutual accountability.
Good teams also have permission to laugh at each other. Laughter on good teams is 100% free of barbs or passive/aggressive behavior. It does not sting or hurt, because it is never used as a substitute for complaints (see feedback above). Permission to laugh at each other (including jokes and pranks in good taste) is a demonstration of vulnerability and safety within the team.
And good teams have permission to lead each other. While the team may have a default or designated leader, the members give each other permission to lead whenever necessary, based on skills, expertise, or other factors. Permission to lead means that there is no battle for power. Each team member is willing to follow another when that is in the best interest of the team.
What can you do to build team permission? You can’t force it, because permission is given freely by each individual. But you can talk about your vision for how the team will function and help the team become aware of behaviors and thoughts that work against the three permissions. You can also show the way by giving this permission to others.
4. Good teams have your back
Finally, good teams have your back.
When this element is in place, you will hear people say things like: “I know my team is there for me.” “I can count on my teammates.” “We always support each other.” “My team will be there no matter what.” “Even if I’m having a bad day, my team won’t let me down.”
Having each other’s back is more than trust, it is a commitment to serve one another even when it’s hard. That commitment provides the security of knowing that others will not let you fail. Few things in this world are secure or certain—the concept of job security itself seems elusive. But a good team can create an environment of security for each other that is based on mutual commitment.
Building Commitment
What can you do to build team commitment? First of all, you need to not be afraid of it. I’ve known leaders who were constantly worried about an “us-vs.-them” mentality from their teams. Certainly, we don’t want an adversarial climate between teams and company leaders, but leaders should not be afraid when they see a strong commitment between team members that they may not be a part of. Instead, leaders can encourage an “I’ve-got-your-back” mentality on teams by consulting team members before making personnel changes and by allowing teams the time and space to gel.
Before you dismiss the four elements of good teams, let me ask you: would you want to be on a team that has those four things? Would you be empowered to do your best work in that kind of team environment? If it’s inspirational to you, chances are that teams in your company would find these four elements inspirational to them.
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