This month, we are pleased to share our TEAMWORK support module.
We talk about things going well by using terms like, ‘ as smooth as clockwork’, or going like a ‘well oiled machine’. We like to see such activity when we go into a restaurant to get a meal, or turn up at a hotel, or board a train or plane. If the service breaks down, we expect someone to quickly diagnose the problem and to find a solution.
Your talent will shine where you have a team of people who help you perform at your best. Music pop stars like Elvis Presley, Ella Fitzgerald, Celine Dion and Elton John discovered early in their careers, that their performance relied on the quality of the musicians and the support teams around them.
Your contribution is the most important thing that you can give to a team. You will be selected to do a job because you have experience, skills and qualifications. However, none of those are worth much unless you contribute to the total team effort.
Teams and team work, like most aspects of working life, are going through major transformations. The tradition of teamwork has two elements – the rational and the emotional. Under the first come concepts like ‘objectives’, ‘planning’, ‘budgeting’, ‘training’, ‘time schedules’, and other hard nosed task driven notions. Alongside these have been the more personal and emotional issues such as ‘leadership’, ‘loyalty’, ‘team spirit and ‘morale’, ‘team culture and ethos’, and of course, ‘authority’, ‘rights and duties’.
Resolving problems and meeting new challenges is at the heart of teamwork in all organizations. The Margerison Communication and Problem Solving System provides a way to enable all team members to work in a cooperative way and have a common language for resolving issues. The system enhances the way teams and individuals can move from problems to solutions.
Meeting individually and in small groups, it can be helpful if teams ask each other basic questions, such as:
- why do you work here?
- what do you like and dislike about the job you do?
- what could be done that would help improve your work situation?
- what is your main contribution to the team and the business?