Tremendous amounts of research have been done to study team behavior and the reasons behind the success and failure of teams. Judging from the wide range of activities that I have been introduced to as 'teamwork', it is well worth reflecting on the difference between a 'group of persons' and a team. The key to success is complementarity rather than competition. The competition is against time and the goals the team sets as criteria by which to measure its achievement.
In the dust, where we have buried The silent races and their abominations, We have buried so much of the delicate magic of life.
~ D.H. Lawrence
Would you accept management lessons from birds?
The behavior of birds is among the most fascinating in the animal kingdom. Take, for example, their use of teamwork during their long and arduous seasonal migrations. When geese migrate, they fly in a V-shaped formation with the leader at the narrow end of the 'V'. The main burden of boring through the wind is on the leader. The birds in formation behind the leader have to make less effort as they are able to glide in the wake created by the vigorous wing-movements of the leader. However, no one bird can sustain the effort required to head of the flock throughout the journey, so there is a systematic rotation of leadership throughout the long flight of migration. Through this team effort, the geese achieve collectively what no single bird could have done by itself without dying of exhaustion.
Judging from the wide range of activities that I have been introduced to as 'teamwork', it is well worth reflecting on the difference between a 'group of persons' and a team. A group represents a number of persons working in the same company, on the same floor or in the same department; each individual is carrying out his or her own assignment regardless of the activities of the other persons. In contrast, a team shares a common goal, regularly exchanges all relevant information, agrees on a common plan of action and each member contributes in the area of his or her greatest strength. Each member perceives the contribution of the other as necessary and vital towards the completion of the goal. The key to success is complementarity rather than competition. The competition is against time and the goals the team sets as criteria by which to measure its achievement.
Tremendous amounts of research have been done to study team behavior and the reasons behind the success and failure of teams. Most researchers agree on the need for mutual trust, complementarity and effective communication. Time and time again, friends, colleagues and clients have tried to assure me that we, Lebanese, belong to a unique species that defies all the laws of human nature. To prove this they repeat the well-worn cliché that Lebanese are too individualistic to work in teams. But every time I time I form a new team, I become more convinced that when we fail to work as a team the fault is with the 'reward and recognition' system being applied and not with our 'individuality' or 'uniqueness'.
Put more bluntly, this means that when advancement is based on factors other than achievements, qualifications and capabilities, there can be no teamwork. This is due to the faulty system which rewards persons for 'WHO' they are and not 'WHAT' they achieve. Aside from that defect caused by the reward management system used in the national and organizational culture, I am fully convinced that we respond to the same laws of human behavior as the rest of humanity. Thus, when the evaluation system is fair and based on a just distribution of rewards dependent on objective and measurable criteria it is possible to build successful teams to the same degree that it is possible in other parts of the world.
Team building has become a fairly scientific endeavor, facilitated by numerous systems, including computer software applications that range from simplistic to sophisticated. As a member of the Team Management Systems International Network and a practitioner using one of the most advanced software tools for the purpose, I am convinced that there are important lessons to be learned from the birds:
- The goal of the team, if kept in focus, drives the team forward with vast amounts of energy.
- When each member of the team is perceived as an able leader in his or her area of expertise, there is no challenge to their presence in the team.
- When the team recognizes that what they can achieve together far outweighs what anyone of them could ever achieve individually a fierce sense of loyalty is built up.
If the birds know that, why shouldn't we?
Fay Niewiadomski founded ICTN (International Consulting & Training Network) in 1993. ICTN provides complete management services to its clients who are among the leading regional and multinational players. Furthermore, she has worked with CEOs, Board Members, Presidents and Ministers of Government and other Leaders to help them meet the challenges of change within their organizations through creative problem solving, management interventions and powerful communication strategies. Prior to founding ICTN, she researched the subject of "Managing Change through Needs-Based Assessment' in large Lebanese Organizations" for her doctoral work at the University of East Anglia in the UK. Additionally, she also held various university positions as a professor at AUB and LAU and as Dean of the Faculty of Humanities at NDU.
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