5 Teamwork Dilemmas.docx

Working in teams requires a lot of patience and abilities, especially people skills. We have randomly asked a few regular citizens with different professional backgrounds: “What is your biggest challenge when working in teams?”. Among all the answers we have received we selected the five most common dilemmas shared among the respondents. This article is useful to anyone who has to work in a team for school, work, or events, especially if you have a leading position within the group.

Ownership

One of the concerns that most of our professionals shared is the fact that team members continuously fail to take ownership of their responsibility and role. This one seemed a little hard to swallow. However, this is the reality which most of them are facing. To avoid it from happening there are a few things you should consider. First things first. Make sure you are really working with professionals! Not everyone who calls themselves one is truly an expert. Let their actions be the judge of that. Each project should have a list of role and responsibilities clearly defined. Sometimes it is best to have it documented and distributed among team members. If you are putting it in writing it is best to include the activities you are expecting from each one of them in order to have measurable objectives. Finally, team members can start showing initiative by creating a brief plan of action of their assigned activities. A plan of action that aims to success includes both a suitable strategy summary plus a feasible timeline.

Hands-on

Talking about a timeline, a project needs one as much as human beings need oxygen. Without a timetable there is a great chance that your project will have little or no advancement at all. But then again, there is an even greater chance you already knew about this, right? The problem at hand for most of us is not the absence of a schedule. It is about the lack of commitment to meet the terms as planned. Increasing the number of meetings will not increase one’s level of productivity. In order to boost a team’s performance you should provide regular and crystal clear instructions that can be followed through without your presence. You already have a lot on your plate to deal with so you cannot afford babysitting sessions. Please do not take this the wrong way. As a project

leader, you absolutely should do follow-ups on a regular basis. By failing to do so you are as guilty as the one in charge. The strength of mind of one person to act in accordance with set goals.

Lack of trust

Another aspect people seem to have trouble with is the lack of trust. Lack of trust in another member’s skills and qualities as well as in the person you have to work with. In case you are in the position to assemble your own team, may be advantageous since you will be able to recruit people that you are already acquainted with and trust. If you are working with a person for the first time perhaps it is best to strengthen the teamwork by genuinely ask “how and when questions” instead of questioning one’s work. It would show interest from your side and you will automatically have an overview of what is going and what is still pending. This way you will also be able to provide proper guidance and suggestions if necessary. Let’s not forget, that building a relation based on trust is something that takes time. Hence, it would be handier and efficient to be proactive and constantly feedback with your team.

Collaboration

Perhaps you have already noticed that not every issue is due to lack of trust. Have you ever been in a situation where you end up doing most of the work? Or are you one of those who take a free pass during times of hard work? One thing is for certain, even though you trust your fellow team member you might end up doing everything if you do not know your people. You may even end up having both situations. One where some are simply not active and one where some are doing just too much. Rumor has it, that you do not want to have neither one of them! Do not be ashamed, it is completely rational. Those who are taking ALL for the team will eventually burn out and become unproductive. And those with a free pass are simply a baggage that will eventually become too heavy to carry. Being in a leading position, you are the one who has the overall view you should at all times make sure that the workload is evenly distributed and that the input from members is evenly as well.

Communication

As you can see, we have saved the best for last. Communication seems to be the biggest problem that team members are facing day in and day out. For companies it is best and highly recommended to have a well thought communication strategy in place. In regards to long-term projects such a plan is also useful. Opposite of enduring developments, short-term projects requires one to focus more on a to-do list instead of planning activities. Hence, investing time in creating a communication plan is not worthy of your precious time. If you time you can always create one, otherwise you could just have easy and clear agreements. For example (1) what is the official communication channel that will be used, (2) who is responsible for external communication (please assign just ONE person), (3) who is in charge of distributing information internally, and (4) where will all information be stored and accessible. Finally, communication is more than sharing information, it is also about making sure you have been understood correctly. One way to ensure this, requires one to implement the one thing that has been working for centuries now, which is to cut the BS and be straightforward. Facial expressions tells a lot but can be very deceiving as well, so the best way to reassure you have been comprehended appropriately is to ask and explain again and again until everyone start acting in accordance with set goals. As has been said before: “When you are making sure you are on the same page with someone, also be sure that you are in the same book and that all parties now how to read.”