On Teams that Execute Well,
Everyone Gets What the Avengers Got
In the past 18 months, I’ve been closely associated with two different groups. One of them pulled together and accomplished some good work, but the other drifted and slowly came apart.
I’ve been thinking about what makes the difference between teams that execute well and those that kind of bump along.
For the moment, I’m not thinking about the quality of the team members or even the quality of the leader. Nor am considering emotional factors or communication style. I’m just thinking about teams that get stuff done.
On teams that execute well, everyone gets a unique role.
This single factor of unique roles has a decisive influence over whether the team accomplishes anything as a unit or not.
Every Team Movie You’ve Ever Seen
The concept of giving roles to team members shows up in every team movie you’ve ever seen. Marvel’s The Avengers has a perfect and concise example.
In case you haven’t seen it, here’s the setup. The heroes have spent most of the film quarreling, showing off, and acting out of individual self-interest. But an alien attack on New York forces them to come together. The scene opens with one potential leader deferring to another to hand out team roles.
Iron Man: Call it, Captain!
Captain America: Alright, listen up. Until we can close that portal, our priority's containment.
Barton, I want you on that roof, eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays.
Stark, you got the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back or you turn it to ash. …
Thor, you gotta try and bottleneck that portal. Slow 'em down. …
[to Black Widow] You and me, we stay here on the ground, keep the fighting here.
And Hulk? … Smash!
The roles are simple, and they fit each team member’s strengths. Everyone has a job, a meaningful part to play in reaching their common goal. In this case, the goal was also simple: contain the enemy until a better solution could be found.
Here are three simple truths about team roles and straightforward suggestion for clarifying roles on your team.
#1: Roles make all team members feel engaged and significant
When you assign someone a role, they are more likely to participate. Even the best individual players may hesitate to get involved if they don’t know where they fit. As a leader, you may think that members should be able to figure out their roles on their own. But many people face a psychological barrier to giving themselves a role in a group setting. If you will step up and assign roles, you may be surprised at how quickly people jump in and begin work without further instructions.
#2: Roles equalize the workload
Without clear assignment of roles, the load of teamwork quickly gets off balance. One or two will end up doing most of the work, and others will feel left out or happy to do nothing.
Roles equalize work because they clarify responsibility. Without roles, it’s everyone’s fault and no one’s fault if things don’t get done. But if my role on the team is to print and bind the reports, then there is no one else to blame if the reports are not printed out.
#3: Roles help people put team goals above personal goals
Most people are good at more than one thing. In a team scenario, each person could likely make a contribution in several areas. Having unique roles helps people focus in on the few tasks that the team needs them to do.
Without clearly assigned roles, group environments can tempt those with high ego strength to show off how multi-talented they are. Roles communicate that it’s more important to show that you can serve where needed and collaborate with the contributions of others.
A simple suggestion
Ask each of your team members: what is your role on this team? Then listen for three markers: clarity, simplicity, and uniqueness. If one or more of the markers is fuzzy or missing, then your team might benefit from your helping them define their roles.
Remind everyone of what the team’s overarching goal is, and think about where each of their strengths would best serve the team. Then assign roles that could fit on an index card if you were writing with a Sharpie. Make sure that everyone hears what everyone else’s roles are.
You may or may not have the best team out there. But if everyone on your team has a clear role, they are more likely to function as a team and actually get something done.
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