Reflection 4: On Teamwork

Teams have always been a part of my life. I grew up playing team sports, coaching team sports, acting (which requires a certain amount of teamwork), and doing school projects. Four years ago I became a university student. Guess what? More teams. Five classes per term, usually two to three classes had important team projects. Repeat this process eight times and you just might have yourself a university degree.

So what makes good teamwork? A team is a group of people coming together to work to achieve something greater than any of them could achieve individually. One of the major points I always try to drive home when I coach youth hockey players is that a team and its members’ teamwork will be measured by how affectively adversity is handled. If adversity is handled improperly, a team can become a toxic environment in which everyone is worse off.

I regularly see two key pitfalls in teamwork:

1. Lack of trust: When teammates don’t trust each other, the relationship breaks down. If team members can’t trust each other, they turn inwards. They believe they either have to do all the work because their teammates are incompetent, or they are afraid to ask for help with a problem for fear of appearing like they don’t pull their weight.
2. Lack of accountability: This is especially prevalent on teams where there are no defined leaders. Five people of equal standing working together will fail if they do not establish what is expected, and then enforce those expectations.

One of the most important ideas I have learned from d.Studio is the importance of creating a “safe” environment. Trust, openness, and honesty are hugely important. If a team puts time and effort towards establishing expectations and trust when they first get together, it makes the rest of the work much smoother.

In a safe environment, team members can discuss the project openly. They can feel comfortable generating ideas without the fear of having them shot down. At the same time, they can be honest about their opinions. Honesty early can save problems later. I can remember several times where I didn’t speak up about an issue I had and it simply got bigger and bigger. That leads to trust, which is the glue that keeps a team together. If you can trust your team members not only to do their part, but also to be there to help you when you struggle then you will have success.

Every team encounters issues, roadblocks, snafus, quagmires, minor catastrophes, and the occasional brouhaha; when this happens you have two options. Break apart or stick together. If you lay the groundwork of a safe environment in which there are clearly communicated expectations and accountability then your team will stick together, and you might just accomplish something great.