Let’s Bring It In, Team

When you think of highly effective management structures, you don’t normally think of fire-fighting teams. This is precisely where Stephen Remedios takes us in his article concerning the future of high performing teams.

When each person on a team is highly specialized, each individual is able to work independently yet in unison, trusting in the other’s abilities. Remedios mentions, “They are keen to collaborate, to share, to put their work out for the world to see,” granted there is a deeper purpose in their work. With clear definition of roles and goals, team members are able to hunker down and do what needs to be done.

Stephen Covey Jr. has several examples of how teams work well together when there is an overarching goal. I highly recommend reading or listening to Speed of Trust. In this book, he talks about the ‘superordinate’ goal, which is a meta, overarching goal. He says that when teams work toward the superordinate goal, instead of individual goals, they collaborate better. For example, in his video, he showcases a hospital that had a higher mortality rate than desired. Each doctor thought his or her job was to be the best doctor possible. Once Covey helped them see that the superordinate goal was to save lives, they decreased their mortality rate quickly.

Although fire-fighting and surgical teams have these “ideal” circumstances, Remedios narrows these lessons into applicable tactics for managers. To create these circumstances within your organization:

1. Allow teams to form naturally. Let people choose their projects, which will inevitably decide who they work with.
2. Create open dialogue for each project. If there is not already a peer-review system in place (or a 360 performance review system), start one! Employees work harder when their ideas are subject to review by everyone in the organization.

Have you ever been a part of an amazing team? What made it so great? Leave a comment below.