Friday, July 19, 2013

The Hidden Benefit of Teams



Being part of a close team at work or in sports is special. The camaraderie, support, and understanding when something goes wrong is not taken for granted. It is usually earned through hard work and reciprocal support of the other team members.

Work Teams
When we find ourselves working in a real team environment it is terrific. The fear of retribution is replaced with support for taking risks, making mistakes and knowing that trying harder the next time is the norm. Room for error is part of the culture and is used to help others avoid pitfalls as new ideas are tested and implemented.

One of my favorite mantras is that "...we're going to try new things....if something doesn't work, stop doing it...no one is going to get in trouble..."

That is a clear message to the team about the support they have from me.

Sports Teams
The evidence about sports teams gelling has been documented many times. What I find most interesting about the sports angle however, is not what happens on the ice, field or court. What really makes a team special is what happens "in the room." 

The connection between the players in the locker room is what truly tests a team's character. They know what to do when they're "at work" playing the games; but do they support each other when mistakes have occurred, or accept room for error from their teammates?

The good teams do...and that connection often translates in to wins.
 
Blogging Teams
Unlike typical work and sports teams, blogging team members are often spread far and wide. In some cases, team members have never met, or even spoken on the phone. Yet, blogging teams...effective ones...find a way to bring a level of support and camaraderie that is quite astonishing.

Consider this: if you were supposed to work with a new employee, but your only communication was a few emails, no phone calls, no FaceTime and the only image you had of the person was their avatar from twitter, would you be okay with that? How about in sports? Forget it! It's pretty tough to run the power play if your teammates aren't in the arena.

I am blessed to be part of one of those effective blogging teams. My teammates do something far beyond writing good content, sharing their perspectives, and challenging us all to elevate our leadership games. My teammates offer support, encouragement, compliments, helped family members get new jobs, and reach out to connect on issues that have absolutely nothing to do with blogging at all.

How many of our "normal" friends do that? I think I'm discovering a new definition of friends.

How About You
I would encourage you to check out my teammates over at Performance I Create. They are not only a good group of bloggers; but more importantly, they're damn good people too.

I'd love to hear from you.

No Excuses.





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