Remember that awful feeling in the pit of your stomach when your teacher announced a new group project?
Whether the teacher chose the groups or you got to choose didn’t matter – no one liked group projects.
I liked to work alone because I was the nerd kid who ended up doing most of the work for the entire group.
I always thought the other kids must love group projects. But, no. They hated them, too.
We didn’t realize it, but “group work” is an educational theory to help students develop something beyond learning the subject matter at hand – skills like teamwork and leadership.
You know, to “prepare for real life.”
I’m not sure if that worked as well as the theory postulated it would. But, it is true that teams are an inevitable part of real life: at work, in business, sports, church, with friends and family – every project has the potential to need a team.
We may still be groaning and rolling our eyes on the inside at the idea of having to work as a team, but “resistance is futile:” we cannot simply avoid “group work” forever.
As a business consultant (and as a human!), I’ve worked with many teams over the years, and it is truly awful to be on a losing team.
But, it’s also incredibly amazing to be part of a high-performance team.
How do you know the difference?
One way is to measure is results: is the team achieving what it was meant to achieve?
But, any quick study in human behavior will tell you: achievement is only one measure of success.
You can scare, manipulate, bribe (read: “incentivize”) people into “delivering results” – that doesn’t necessarily mean a great team delivered them.
A “team” that is built using these tactics might accomplish something in the short-term, but a high-performance team delivers more than results – they work together to consistently outperform expectations (…and typically enjoy themselves while doing it).
Here are 5 warning signs that you’re on a losing team:
- People aren’t communicating at all. When meetings/calls are basically a lecture from one or two people, or when team members don’t know each other – you don’t have a team; you have an assembly of individuals. Engagement is absolutely vital to teamwork. If a team is not engaged, it will do subpar work. The “I-don’t-care effect” will dominate the quality of the work. If your team doesn’t communicate, you might be on a losing team.
- There’s no conflict. Conflict is a byproduct of engagement. Engaged teams are invested. When people care, they bring their best work, best instincts and their best opinions. If a team isn’t free to have conflict, it will do subpar/disconnected work. You will start to see wounded personalities and people leaving unexpectedly. Conflict isn’t something to fear! It can be handled in a mature and respectful manner. If there is no conflict (even polite differences of opinion), you might be on a losing team.
- People don’t understand their role. People won’t take responsibility if they don’t understand it is theirs to take. I’ve observed countless teams where people have secretly confessed, “I don’t really know why I’m here.” Does your team have an “organizational chart”? Is the role that you were told was yours really not yours (because someone else is actually doing it)? What is the desired outcome of the team’s work? What are you working toward? If you don’t know, you might be on a losing team.
- Disproportionate Leadership: The team leader controls everything. This is one of the most common root-cause problems with teams. The leader controls meetings, communications, actions, decisions, issues, etc. Team members are not empowered to do anything without the leader’s consent. This is not a “team,” this is an “entourage of task-doers” all awaiting the master’s command. If the team doesn’t have some measure of autonomy, you might be on a losing team.
- Disproportionate Leadership: The team leader is invisible. On the other end of the spectrum, a team leader can be “invisible” – either literally (by not coming to meetings, not communicating), or figuratively (being a passive/non-existent player on the team). This doesn’t mean a leader has to be loud or boisterous, but a leader does need to be present, engaged and investing in his/her team on a consistent basis. If your leader feels “invisible” – meaning you don’t feel you can count on him/her to help your team succeed, you might be on a losing team.
Have you ever been on a losing team? Without naming names(!), tell me about it in the comments below! What did you do about it?