It's mysterious. It's elusive. You know when you have it, but you don't quite know how to get it when you don't. I'm talking about the synergy and triumph that comes with a high-performance team the dream team. It's the group that exudes the confidence associated with winning and the experience that allows it to do it over and over again, the delicate mix of skills, experience, drive and personality traits that create a hand-in-glove fit to achieve superior results. Some of us have never had this kind of experience. Some of us have had it once and will spend the rest of our careers looking for it again. Some are lucky enough to replicate the magic over and over again. What are the components of a high-performance team? How do you sustain cooperation over time? How will the teams of the future differ from those of the past?
Is it possible to avoid teamwork today? Doubtful. Whether it's a team of two or 20, most of us need the cooperation of others to solve a problem or tackle a project. But teams aren't always effective. Trying to blend personalities, diverse backgrounds and diverse outlooks can be disastrous. Dysfunctional teams can be found everywhere. Examples include:
to accomplish the task
Expert Advice
Since teamwork is a tangible reality for most of us and the pitfalls associated with teamwork are plentiful, what do experts say about building successful teams? High-profile basketball coach Pat Riley, in his book The Winner Within, puts it this way: "Excellence is never having learned enough. A few seasons in competitive sports teach you how success can lull people. Teams that stay on top know differently...and they live it; excellence is the gradual result of always wanting to do better." Riley is famous for his ability to set the stage for people to excel. "No attitude lecture can take the place of the environment that leaders create for their people," says Riley. "A sound, energized environment allows excellence to happen because a leader has to help talent want to do its best."
Patricia Fripp, author of The Genius of Teamwork, says true teamwork is rare. "Every business wants to harness this incredible energy, but achieving such a level of motivation and esprit is not always easy. A team is not just a group of individuals who work at the same location or have the same logo on their business cards." To get the right group chemistry, futurist Bob Treadway from
Common Themes in Uncommon Teams
We can see some themes starting to emerge: trust, clarity of purpose, respect for fellow team members. A strong leader fosters team spirit. Teams go through various stages of development the commonly used "forming, storming, norming and performing" comes to mind. The trick is this: How do you accelerate a team's movement through these stages to achieve sustained excellence?
The Operation Cooperation Checklist
The Operation Cooperation Checklist, found in The 48-Hour Rule, is a helpful tool to a solid team foundation. Following the simple checkpoints will accelerate team growth and help your team concentrate on the task at hand rather than the mechanics of building a team.
The checklist includes three phases of team development:
1. Building a strong foundation
2. Getting to work
3. Enjoying the journey
Team members, as well as team leaders, should use the checklist. Most teams tend to get to work without building a strong foundation. These teams have a hard time reaching their goals or sustaining their success. Just as you might suspect, teams without a solid foundation will crumble during the slightest shake up. As David W. Johnson and Frank P. Johnson said in Joining Together, "Every excellent group begins with a dream shared by most members. Group members become the keepers of the dream."
Build Your Dream Team
The Operation Cooperation Checklist will ensure that your team covers all the bases necessary for group success. The final ingredients that must be added to create the dream team are passion for the mission, an unrelenting determination to be successful and a complex mixture of experience, talent, cooperation and competitive drive. These components ensure high levels of performance.
How will teams of the future differ from those of the past? Clearly, the need for teamwork will continue to accelerate. The basic components of building a team will most likely remain unchanged. However, the challenges will become greater. New challenges will include:
time differences
To overcome the new challenges, it will be increasingly critical to lay the proper foundation for teams to flourish. Isn't it about time for operation cooperation at your place of work?
Lisa D. Magnuson is a freelance writer from
