Command and not conquer

When I got my first 4x4 Jeep I thought I could go anywhere – no hill or deep mud or snow would stop me. I felt unstoppable, invincible almost. It was the definition of freedom, I was free to go where I wanted without having to depend on anyone. To make a long story short I quickly got my Jeep stuck, in almost no snow at all, and there I was stuck until I finally gave up and asked for help. A “normal car” towed me and a group of teens in a school trip gave me a push to free me.

Quite embarrassed but thankful, I surely felt stupid on how convinced I was to my control over the Jeep and other environmental factors. Not to mention who helped me out of the mess, kids on a school trip!

So, to summarize this story, I got in over my head convinced on my own ability to deal alone with whatever challenge that would arise. I was very wrong and I got a group of different people to help me out – I needed help from others.

Cooperation and collaboration is very important in most situations, but you should not need to suffer problems to discover that you need help from others.

Many studies show that collaboration between people is the most effective way to move your company forward.

Cooperation and collaboration is very important, but why is it sometimes so difficult?

Here is a good discussion on the topic

People are different in many ways. Different background, opinions, experience, sensitivity and social skills – all these different things affect the way people are and behave.

The emotional part can be hard to handle and people can get angry, scared, unsecure and defensive.

What can be done to try to avoid collisions between people and get them to work together in an effective way - Should you just order your staff to work together and enforce that with penalties of some sort if they do not obey?

The answer is no, Say hello to the new management style. Here are a few tips on how to build up your team in an effective way.

Trust

People want to feel that they are trusted to perform their work, lack of trust will create insecurity and hold back empowerment.

By trusting your people, you will gain more empowerment and that increases engagement and productivity.

Always assume that people are doing the best they can with their work.

Vision

Have a clear vision on where you want to go, but keep in mind that you will need to continuously work on how you will get there.

Share your vision with your co-workers and try to get everybody involved with working on how you get there.

Respect

People deserve respect and even though people do not agree with everything the discussion or debate should always be based on equal respect - if not you will get nowhere.

Invest in building up mutual respect among your people because different opinions and a healthy constructive debate will give you the best results. Here is one study that supports that claim.

Communication

Misunderstandings and assumptions are a waste and can result in painful projects and can affect people and projects in a negative way.

Clear communication channels and short status meeting (daily stand-ups) can help you reduce long and tedious meetings, making work more enjoyable for all while at the same time, eliminating unnecessary meetings.

Visibility

Different types of work can be unclear or misunderstood by people, especially when you have a team of people with different skill set or background then this can be confusing.

Break down the work in small increments and have them accessible and preferably visible to others – this will increase understanding within your team and give people a more holistic view of the work involved in various projects.

CoreMotif knows team working and can help you reinforcing your team and assist with various challenges.

Drop us a line with questions or thoughts and we will be in touch.