Why we thinking is the key to effective teamwork - Viewpoint Viewpoint careers advice blog

Why “we” thinking is the key to effective teamwork - Viewpoint If I was to ask you to name an example of a successful team, which one would immediately spring to mind? Perhaps a high-performing sports team such as Manchester City Football Club or the New Zealand All Blacks? For many of us, high-performing teams like these are the encapsulation of good team work. Then, imagine I asked you what makes these sports teams so successful. Your immediate response might be that they are all motivated by the same goal â€" to be the best, to win. It seems obvious, doesn’t it? But, in reality, when it comes to the world of work, ensuring each member of a team has their eye on the same prize, is deceptively difficult to achieve. Why “we” thinking is the key to successful teamwork In his TEDx Talk, ‘Teamwork Reimagined’, Kevin Cahill â€" Executive Director of The W. Edwards Deming Institute â€" shares two different types of thinking within teams: “Me” thinking, when one or several individuals are more concerned with their own success than that of the team “We” thinking, when all team members share a common motivation or goal Cahill’s theory has also been discussed by Robert Akerlof, Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Warwick, in The American Economic Review in which he defines “we” thinking as “a mode of thinking in which an individual takes a group’s goals as his own”, stating that this way of thinking facilitates individuals to act as a collective. In fact, Akerlof further built on this point by suggesting that when individuals take pride in their team, they are more likely to exercise “we” thinking, rather than “me” thinking. This is because team members who have pride in the group are invested in the outcomes of their collective action, resulting in a team of aligned thinkers who are working towards the same goal. But it’s not just Cahill and Akerlof who have identified “we” thinking as the key ingredient to successful teamwork, in fact McKinsey state that “there is a 1.9 times increased likelihood of having above-median financial performance when the top team is working together toward a common vision.” This highlights to us that it’s not only up to leaders to encourage “we” thinking among their employees, it’s up to every team within an organisation to ensure they are exercising thinking in “we” terms. How leaders can instil “we” thinking in their teams We’ve established that a team of “we” thinkers will be more successful than a team of “me” thinkers. So, what are the steps leaders can leaders take to instil this kind of thinking within their teams? I’ve shared a few of my thoughts below: Ensure every individual understands the organisation’s wider purpose. In the grand scheme of things, what are your team members coming to the office every day to achieve? People come to work for many different reasons; sometimes this is purely to pay their bills. They don’t always put a lot of thought into the higher purpose of what they do, and how they personally contribute to the team. But without this knowledge, how can they possibly understand what their true purpose is at work? This will lead to a culture of “me” thinking, as these employees will not be aware of the common aim of the team, and so tend to only focus on themselves and their own work. Therefore, leaders need to proactively define, articulate and communicate the purpose of the organisations they lead. But this requires careful thought, as it’s more than simply describing your business’ responsibility, such as selling a product or providing a service. In fact, Alistair Cox, our CEO, recently wrote about the intrinsic human motivation to find a sense of purpose in our work, and how this purpose means “we are able to find solace in the fact that, collectively, as part of a team, we are better able to have the positive impact on the world that we feel we need to make.” Having recently updated our own organisational purpose, we’re happy to say that every member of our team knows we are all about helping people to succeed and enabling organisations to thrive â€" creating opportunities and improving lives. But are you and your employees as clear about your own firm’s purpose? If not, be sure to clearly define and communicate your organisation’s purpose. This needs to inspire a culture of “we” thinking so it should be something that feels authentic to your business, that you know will motivate your people. Some of my favourite examples include Nike’s purpose, one that clearly outlines the company’s passion for inclusion and diversity: “To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world”. Another great example is NASA; “To improve life here, to extend life to there, to find life beyond”. I’m sure you’ll agree, these both inspire and clearly communicate the purpose of those organisations. Create a team charter. Once the purpose of the organisation is clearly defined and articulated, then a team charter should be agreed on by all. This is a document you create together with your team, outlining the team’s direction as it relates to your organisations wider purpose, making sure all members agree and understand your focus. The charter needs to cover a range of sections, including: the overall team purpose, the desired end results, the plan of action, as well as the duration or time commitment before the goal will be met. This, in turn, will encourage a culture of “we” thinking among your team, as they will be aware of their “north star”; the guiding principle and motivation behind every task or project they take on. Continuously communicate your organisation’s wider purpose, and the team’s aim. Once you have created your team charter as a group and everyone is clear about what the aim is â€" this needs to be at the heart of all decisions made, so your team members should be routinely reminded of it. Perhaps it would help if you printed the team charter and pinned it up in your office space, so that your team can see it each and every day â€" further reinforcing its importance. Perhaps the aim of a senior leadership team could be to achieve increased diversity among their workforce. Or maybe a customer services team’s aim is to improve the time it takes on average to respond to customer queries or complaints. Whatever the aim is, it needs to be outlined clearly in your team charter, and relate to your wider organisational purpose. Then, it can be embedded into all daily tasks and duties, and underpin every project your team work on. Even if some members work remotely, you should still ensure everyone is clear about what the collective team aim is â€" despite the fact they’re not in the office seeing the team charter print out every day. Virtual or remote teams may be a fact of life in today’s digital age, but as Matthew Dickason, Global Managing Director at Hays Talent Solutions, explains, it’s still perfectly possible to unite a remote workforce. One of his pieces of advice to achieve this is to ensure you have a clear communication strategy; “regular and inclusive conversations will enable you to communicate common goals whilst establishing the skills each team member contributes toward achieving them.” Share your calendars and schedules. This might seem to be a very simple step, but it’s also one that â€" as this article explains â€" can help to bring your team closer together in mindset, instead of leaving each person focusing on your individual goals, and forgetting about the wider picture. As John Hall, co-founder of the Calendar scheduling and time management app, puts it: “Calendar sharing is just one way you can use technology to break down barriers between workers”. Without calendar sharing, employees will only be aware of their own responsibilities and timings, which therefore creates communication barriers between team members. This simple method quickly breaks down these communication barriers, enabling employees to be more aware of and mindful of their co-workers’ current demands or priorities, meaning the team will more likely think, and act, like a successful group of “we” thinkers. And by being open around what you, as the team leader, are personally working on, you are reinforcing the importance of the “we” thinking culture to your team. Deal with failure positively, together. A team of “we” thinkers shares both its successes and failures. Rather than a gold medal for one person, achievements are equally celebrated â€" but this only works when the same approach applies to failures as well. By accepting and sharing the responsibility of failures equally, nobody is left to collect the proverbial wooden spoon. You can then refocus on the next task as one â€" with nobody left behind. If you think back to the example Cahill used of the Apollo 13 mission, if one person tried out a method that didn’t succeed, pinning the blame and punishing this person would achieve nothing. Instead, the team would learn from this and quickly bounce back, trying out a new method â€" proving that when a team employs “we” thinking, and continues to strive towards their shared goal regardless of who’s at fault for a mistake they will succeed. Identify each of your team members’ strengths and make them aware of these. When delegating tasks or giving a project, a good leader will provide their team members with reasons why they’ve asked them to work on a particular project or task, whilst reiterating what the overall team aim is. Founder and CEO of collaboration platform Do, Jason Shah, has written in an article for Forbes: “If you’re going to get someone to work on something, don’t merely tell them that you’re going to assign a certain project to them: tell them why. Tell them that they have certain strengths, and you think that they would be a good fit for the project. Tell them why you think they’ll do a good job of seeing it through from start to finish and why they are more than capable of handling it.” By identifying and outlining your team members’ strengths, you will be able to get the very best out of your team. However, make sure you remind them of why their skills are beneficial for the team as a whole â€" not just why these qualities make them so great as an individual. This will reduce the chance of encouraging “me” thinking, all the while keeping them focused on the aims, purpose and goals of the team. Once all team members understand where everyone’s strengths lie, it’s more likely they will collaborate on projects and tasks, joining forces to create the best work possible â€" rather than only relying on their own skills to fulfil a task. A team member that understands when they might not be best placed for a task, and that someone else on the team may actually have a better suited skill set for it, is a prime example of a “we” thinker; identifying how the team, as a unit, can achieve their aim. Develop your compassionate leadership skills. Christoph Niewerth, our Germany COO, stated in his recent blog that a compassionate leader possesses “the skills, vision and dedication necessary to build a supportive and collaborative culture, in which all employees thrive in the long-term.” Without building an environment in which your team feel comfortable and supported, you will unknowingly be building a culture of selfishness and independent work. Ultimately, the teams that you manage are collectives of individuals from all walks of life, with different strengths, weaknesses and philosophies. By embracing these differences and focusing each member of the group towards a common goal, within a supportive team environment, you will enjoy much more triumph and success than a disjointed team of individuals. How to ensure you’re in a team of “we” thinkers As I said earlier, the responsibility for instilling “we” thinking is not just down to leaders each team member has their part to play in ensuring everyone is clear on the goal. After all, our goals at work aren’t always as clear as those of the Apollo 13 mission or of Manchester City Football Club. In this situation, then, it’s crucial for everyone to establish and understand precisely what they are working towards, so that the team is as effective and successful as possible. Here are a few questions you can ask yourself to ensure you’re personally playing a part in ensuring you work in a team of “we” thinkers, not “me” thinkers: Do you know what your team’s key aim is? If not, organise a meeting with your manager to learn what the aim is, or perhaps recommend they run a team charter exercise. Speak to your co-workers, too, about what they think the goal is, so that you can establish whether you are truly all aiming for the same thing. Once you’re clear about what the overarching aim is, it’s important to always keep this in mind, through every task you do. If you were part of a sports team and your next big competition was coming up in a year’s time, you’d know that everything you work on â€" whether that’s your individual skills and strengths, or team communication â€" was to help you in succeeding and winning that competition. Relay this same ideology to your work team, knowing that daily tasks, no matter how small or large, all add up to achieving your overall team aim. Is your team a unified or disjointed one? If you feel that it’s disjointed, take it upon yourself to improve the dynamic, by bringing the group closer together and, most importantly, building an inclusive team culture. Suggest regular team catch-ups to your boss, or perhaps you could have lunch breaks together from time to time. Simple activities like these will start to build up the relationships and friendships among your co-workers, helping you to understand each other better and create a supportive and collaborative environment in which you all feel comfortable and confident. Do you support each other? This takes us back to intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivations; if you see a teammate struggling with their workload, do you offer to help, or do you watch them suffer while focusing on your own tasks? A true “we” thinker will be intrinsically motivated (meaning they are guided by the shared goal of the team, rather than focusing on personal gains such as a bonus or pay rise), perhaps identifying that some of their current responsibilities are not as critical as something their teammate is struggling with. They would therefore realise that, for the good of the team, they should shift their focus to help their co-worker. What kind of team player are you? This isn’t a question with a one-word answer! Indeed, this Psychology Today article outlines 15 qualities that make up a great team player, categorised into the four ‘dimensions’ of identity, communication, performance and regulation. By understanding what kind of team member you are and intentionally becoming more self-aware, you’ll be able to identify areas where your qualities would be best used for the good of everyone else around you. For example, are you the type of team member who gets along well with everyone and can detect conflicts? Or perhaps one of your strengths is negotiation? If so, use these qualities to bring the team together. As I’ve mentioned, when a team’s members understand where they fit into the group dynamic, they are more likely to behave as a unit of “we” thinkers â€" being able to identify how each person’s abilities and talents can be best used for the good of the team. If you have followed the above advice in an attempt to shift the dynamic of the team you’re in from “me” thinking to “we” thinking, and it hasn’t worked, it might be time to think about changing roles. It’s vital to be in a supportive, high-performing team one that inspires you to collaborate with your co-workers whilst aiming for your shared goal in order for us to ultimately be successful. If you find that your colleagues are more focused on their individual goals, you shouldn’t be afraid to make the move necessary for not only your career, but also for your enjoyment of your work. Never underestimate the importance of good teamwork In order to achieve successful teamwork, it is essential that all members take it upon themselves to improve their capacity to work in a team, and think in “we” terms â€" no matter what their role; from entry-level new starters, all the way up to business leaders â€" after all, as Slack put it, “if you want employees to collaborate, start by leading by example.” I said at the start of this blog that we” thinking and working towards the same goal can be a difficult thing for a team to achieve. But, by putting the above advice into practice, you’ll be able to ensure the team you manage, or the team you’re part of, is as unified and successful as possible. Did you find this advice useful? You may enjoy some of the  related content  below: Eight ways to become a more compassionate leader Why you should always ask your team how their weekend was Work friendships are great, but could yours be inadvertently holding you back from finding a new job? Afraid of having honest career conversations with your employees? Being a perfectionist is good for your career, right? Are you a bad listener? Here’s how to get better Is your team addicted to work?