Are your policies affecting teamwork?
Most executives understand the need for their teams to be operating efficiently. They understand that a team where the members work together in a cooperative manner can produce quality products and services for the company.
However, many executives do not realize that policies instituted in good faith can affect teamwork. I know of a case where a company decided that to control costs by controlling wages. The policy that was implemented was to require managers to give a good appraisal for only one person in a team. The idea was this would motivate employees to strive even harder to provide the project with the very best they had since raises were dependent on their appraisal rating.
The policy backfired. Employees realized that it was no longer enough to do the best job that they could do, it was vital for them to be better than anyone else in the team. Many employees stopped cooperating with others on the team. Information was withheld. The result was the project did not complete in time, it did not have the high quality that was expected by customers. and the company lost a lot of business.
Wikipedia defines teamwork as follows: “Teamwork is the collaborative effort of a team to achieve a common goal or to complete a task most effectively and efficiently. This concept is seen within the greater framework of a team, which is a group of interdependent individuals who work together towards a common goal.”
So how is your company encouraging teamwork? Last month we had a post on how a CEO of a fast food chain visited every store and cleaned the bathrooms himself. He showed identification with his employees and their challenges. The result: Employees started operating as a team and profits grew. If you do the right thing for your employees, benefits will follow.
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