Working As One

The business buzz words team, alignment and strategy, can be combined and simply stated as “working as one to accomplish a goal.”  On a scale of 1 to 10 how does your team, department, division or organization rate in “working as one” to accomplish a goal?
The benefit of working as one is the powerhouse of productivity that occurs.  Think of any team (sports, business, non-profit) that is accomplishing amazing outcomes.  Every one of them is working as one to accomplish a goal.
Working as One – A true team requires everyone to work together. This means interaction, sharing and openness about all aspects of work. A team shares information. A team pays attention to each member and positions them for success by putting them in a role that suits their strengths and capabilities. A team wins or loses together. There is no place for independence in teams, it’s all about interdependence.
Common Goal – It’s very uncommon to have a common goal! The role of a leader is to clearly define the goal and then repeat it over and over in many different ways. The repetition and consistency ensures that no one forgets the goal and that everyone understands how the overall goal of an organization links to their daily work. When employees understand who their customer is, how the organization makes money and their role in the bigger goal there is growth, innovation and market domination.
Clear Assignment – In order to work together to accomplish a common goal, it’s essential for each member of the team to understand his or her role. This includes what each person is responsible for doing and the decision authority he or she has to accomplish the goal. Without clear assignment of roles, responsibilities and decision making, team members cannot function at their highest potential.
Celebration – If it’s true that “you get more of what you pay attention to,” then why is so much attention paid to everything that’s wrong? As the team moves toward the completion of the goal, catch people doing things well and celebrate them. When the team achieves the goal, celebrate the achievement. It’s in the celebration that momentum for the next goal gets created. Too often we see exhausted people in organizations who haven’t had the benefit of a reenergizing celebration of what’s working.
Watch this video. It is a touching example of what can happen when a group of people becomes a team and gets aligned around the common strategy of serving their customers. Feel the energy of the celebration for accomplishing the goal. See the magic that WestJet created when they worked as one to accomplish a goal.