The magic of teamwork can be viewed by passing birds that
fly in formation. There is always a bird
that takes the lead while the remaining team of birds flies in the V formation
behind the lead bird. When the lead bird
tires he/she goes to the end of the formation and the next bird takes the
lead. This is the picture of everything
good about teams. From my experience in
working in teams over the years they have produced some of the most incredible
results I could have ever imagined. For
instance, in my previous position with a local manufacturer, I was privileged
to work with a team of people who were told there would be a plant closure in approximately
three months. Also, prior to the plant
closure three quarters of the employees would be laid off, while the employees
who remained were expected to meet production demands. Not only were they expected to meet the set demands,
they were expected to do it safely, efficiently, and within prescribed quality
levels. The most incredible part of this
story is not that these people met the intended goal, but they did it knowing
they were going to be without jobs in just a few months, while maintaining a
spirit of everything that is good in a person. It truly was a demonstration of the best man
has to offer. The evolution of such
results came from the power of varied skills and abilities, the sharing of
tasks, and the synergy that was produced through solutions as a result of brain
storming.
On the other hand, I have worked in teams where a clear
direction cannot be found and with people who were not interested in being a
part of the team. Within these teams it
was difficult to develop trust among team members. This in turn produced difficulties in
achieving desired team goals. Also, the
number of uncertainties found in these teams generated questions and anxiety
around who would and would not follow through on assigned work. Additionally, individual skill level played a
part in an individual’s ability to meet the team’s standards and
expectations. Maximizing individual
contributions at times were difficult due to assumptions made by team members.
Evaluating team members can be grueling. Typically team projects are evaluated by the
end result that is associated with a given team. Individual contributions are supposed to be a
part of the whole. Yet, there are times
where one member may have a larger share of the contribution due to his/her
skill level. In other cases, it may be
that team members are unable to put in as much time and energy into a project,
this then places more responsibility on someone else in the team. Asking team members in a work situation to
evaluate fellow team members can be risky.
I have seen teams decide to sway an outcome by either everyone
evaluating an individual negatively or positively to produce a specific
outcome. If every team I worked on
navigated as smoothly as a team of birds do, I would choose to work in teams’
every time! In a situation like this, how
team evaluations are completed wouldn’t make any difference.
