The Team, The Team, The Team

Teamwork makes the dream work, but how do teams actually work?

I spent this week learning about and obsessing about teams.

I had the opportunity to study Team Coaching up at Brown University in the ACT Leadership program.

It was intense.

I have always been fascinated by teams.

Song-writing teams, sports teams and my stock in trade — executive teams.

As professor and historian, Yuval Harari puts it in his excellent book Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind:

"The ability to cooperate in large groups gave Homo sapiens a decisive edge over all other animals and is one of the key reasons why sapiens became the most powerful species on earth."

Or as Apple co-founder Steve Jobs put it:

“My model for business is The Beatles. They were four guys who kept each other's kind of negative tendencies in check. They balanced each other, and the total was greater than the sum of the parts. That's how I see business: Great things in business are never done by one person, they're done by a team of people."

There is much to unpack and discuss when it comes to teams. Way more than this blog post can hold.

That said, here are a few questions about teams that might help you.

For example…

What’s the purpose of your team? Why do these people need to be assembled?

Who are these folks and what complementary skill-sets do they bring? And can they think conceptually, beyond their area of expertise?

Oh…and what are you all trying to accomplish?

And, importantly, how are you doing so?

In the ACT/Brown Team Coaching model there is also a real emphasis on assessing and helping with the dynamics and interactions of the team. So you must look for and continually ask…

How is the team functioning?

Over the last week I’ve been surprised at how the quality of the dialogue between team members can dramatically effect the quality (and the quantity) of their work.

So simple, it’s almost naive.

But if you lead a team or you are on a team, ask this simple question: “When we talk, do we actually listen to one another?”

Think about it.

And if you have a team meeting this week, take the time to slow down and just listen to your teammates.

You’ll be amazed at what you can accomplish.