How to make teamwork part of work culture

One for all, all for one Each member of a team has a commitment towards that team

Whether in business, sports or any activity where more than one person is involved, teamwork is the mantra for success. 

An individual however brilliant and innovative cannot ensure success of an organisation where a number of people work together. While managers recognise the need for teamwork, some of them expect a team to function successfully without any inputs from their side. They believe that such teams to work ‘automatically’, as it is the natural way to function when people come together. If it were so simple then every organisation could have flourished without any help from the top managers. But the reality is different on the office floor. 

While at some organisations, teamwork is satisfactory, in others it exists on paper only with team members pulling in different directions frustrating the goal of the top managers.

Experienced managers are aware that teamwork needs careful nurturing and encouragement all the time. There is no magic wand that makes members join a team and work harmoniously with each other. A statement like, “From tomorrow, all employees will form teams and work together to fulfil the goals of the unit,” is not sufficient to usher in teams. Any fiat from the top is not appreciated.

“Fine, the boss wants us to form teams. And so let it be,” would be the stoic acceptance of the order from the top. 

However, there is little enthusiasm to work together in a spirit of understanding and cooperation. Much more needs to be done to enthuse the employees to work together harmoniously. It is what the top managers do and set examples, which could form the basis for cooperation at lower levels. 

Work culture

A person works for himself first and then only to the organisation that he belongs. This is a reality that cannot be ignored. “How come the employee is paid so much and with so many facilities provided for him, yet he thinks about personal benefits more than the organisation?” is a question asked by supervisors and managers, though they themselves would be thinking exactly the same way. Gone are the days when a person joined a company and remained there for life. With limited job openings that was but natural. Thus loyalty to an organisation was never in doubt. A person would resign from a job due to compelling reasons such as the necessity for relocation in view of family commitments or some young person would decide to study overseas.

 Teamwork is part of an organisation’s culture nurtured by top-level commitment, dedication and example. If, for instance, the Board of Management were a divided house with each director having his own agenda, then it would be difficult for the spirit of cooperation and teamwork to spread in the organisation. The commitment to teamwork should start at the top and be visibly evident at all levels of management and supervision. Teamwork could be headed by the manager or the supervisor concerned.

Each member of a team, be it a formal one or an informal one, has a commitment to the team he is a part of. However, there is no rigidity about such an arrangement. It is possible that the same team member could also be a member of another multi-disciplinary team working on a specific project. Sometimes, a team is informal in nature with members working together towards a common goal without a formal set-up. This is generally the case in a number of departments where the manager guides his team and the members.

Incentives

A member of a team may ponder what lies ahead for him while working in a team. Often the reward is self-satisfaction for being part of a successful team. If, for example, a team is charged with bringing out a new product and it succeeds in its goal, within the budget and within the time span, there is happiness and a sense of achievement, which may not be measured in monetary terms or other benefits. Another example would be a mountaineering team aiming to scale a peak. Not all the members of the team might be fortunate enough to climb the peak. 

It is the support and logistics team, which helps the team succeed. Thus each and every member of the team is happy that he could contribute to the success of the team. It is also true that those climbers who were successful in reaching the peak as well as the team leader hogs the limelight and get noticed, which is a fact of life. However, the importance of such support is recognised by one and all. Unless it is a total solo effort, every team would depend upon other members of the team to play their allotted part. This is where teamwork is so important in the success of a team, whatever might be the venture. All the members have to vibe with one another for best results. There has to be joy and enthusiasm for working together. 

Incentives to those teams which have exceeded the expectations are given in the form of cash bonus, merit certificates or some novel schemes like paid vacations and so on.

This would involve the entire team and its support staff too, though the amount cash to these may be slightly lower. Sometimes there is heartburn among those top performers in a team that they are the main driving force behind the team’s success and so they should be rewarded more handsomely than the others in the team. This might sound logical, as it is the inspiration of the ‘star performers’ that distinguishes such an outstanding team from an average performer. That is why in some sports events the ‘man of the match’, that is the one with outstanding performance gets cash award and a trophy. 

But ‘winner takes all’ is not always applicable as that would come in the way of good teamwork. For instance, if only the top performers are rewarded every time to the exclusion of other team members, an unannounced informal non-cooperation might start to the detriment of the entire team. That is the reason why incentives have to be given judiciously as not to upset the star performers or other members of the team. Any incentive scheme has to be open and transparent and appear to be so to at least the majority of the people concerned. 

(The writer is a Consultant Q & M)