It Takes Effort to Build a Team

Back (way way back) in college, I had several classes that involved working in small groups. It wasn’t long before four of us who were working towards a Public Relations degree teamed up.

We had a strong group.

We worked within our strengths, and we balanced each other in our weaker areas. We had an agreement as we started; we would be honest in our critique of each other’s work, understanding that our comments were designed to help the person and create the best presentation for the team.

Honestly, it wasn’t easy at first. When you bring an idea or draft to the team, feeling pretty good, and then they pick it apart; well, that can be deflating. The key is remembering that we are working as a team, and when our focus is united, it’s easier to hear criticism. We all had moments when we were “lovingly” challenged to push a little more complicated.

I really enjoyed working with the group. We learned to share and hear criticism in a constructive way.

Our entire team wasn’t always together in our marketing classes, and finding the missing piece to the group was difficult. It was during one of these groups we learned a key lesson.

Three of us were from the P.R. group, and the fourth was a Marketing major. Let’s call him Bill. We were about a third of the way through the project when Bill disengaged from the group. He was phoning it in.

Bill was late to meetings. He sat quietly and didn’t contribute. He would have excuses why he didn’t have his assignment, and when he did have it, it appeared to be thrown together.

We decided to challenge Bill on his part. Honest critique. Bill admitted he was disengaged, and his reason caught us totally off guard.

Bill challenged us. We had worked together so closely that we really didn’t bring Bill in. We had our own language, our own “ways.” Bill never felt a part of the team, and honestly, we didn’t realize it because we were so wrapped up in “our way.”

We apologized to Bill and made a conscious effort to bring him in. Our project was successful, and we learned a valuable lesson about teamwork.

Inclusion is a conscious act. It doesn’t happen if there’s no effort. Here are some tips for creating an inclusive team:

• Know your team members – not just their names, know some details of their life
• Make the effort to talk to all your team members regularly
• Ask your team member for suggestions or ideas to help the group
• Let different team members assist in a team meeting
• Identify your key leaders and challenge them to work with you to include everyone
• During the team meeting, tell a “little known” detail about a member and have the group guess who it is – “This person enjoys hand carving walking sticks.”

This list could go on, but you get the point. Make the effort to bring everyone into the team. As your people see you being inclusive, the odds are pretty good; they will model your actions. The results will be a strong TEAM.

Please schedule a call today for more on DREAM4 and its impact on organizational well-being and leadership development