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There are tons of materials out there about the secrets behind an effective team, but a blog I read occasionally just had a nice article on the issue. I figured a few excerpts would be of some use to the gamers here.
From #47 - Teams and stars
by Scott Berkun
How good teams work
The magic word for teams is synergy: a group whose combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual effects. It’s the difference between thinking linearly (2+2=4) and geometrically (2x2=4, oh wait). To the inexperienced, synergy is impossible. How can 5 people, working together, produce more work than 5 individuals? There are at least three ways: trust, communication and pride.
Trust: If we share a foxhole and I trust you to watch my back, I can apply 100% of my resources to the problem at hand. My focus is greater because you are there. It may also turn out that my task, reading a map in Greek, is something you can do better than I. If I trust you to read the map (while I watch your back, of course) you can do in seconds what would have taken me hours. And then if we switch, I watch your back, or translate your German map for you, we both work much faster at our individual tasks that possible alone. With enough trust we are both willing to make sacrifices for the other without fear and can work faster than others, even when under stress.
Communication: In nearly every war movie there’s a scene where a unit of troops is directed into action by their sergeant, using only hand signals. They talk, ask short questions, and confirm orders with a few short movements of fingers and palms. If they do it right, they all move with complete understanding of each other’s movements and can predict where everyone will be and what their responsibilities are. Communication is leverage: a team of people can act with the clarity and speed of a single mind. And when there is doubt or disagreement, it’s the quality of communication that enables quick negotiations and improved decisions.
Pride: We are social creatures. We work harder when we know others are depending on us. Good teams merge self respect with respect for the team. People want to do well not only so they look good, but so the entire team looks good. There is a new kind of pride that is larger than any individual and if it’s done right, it feels better to help the team succeed than it does to succeed alone.
These three things, trust, communication, and pride are obvious in the abstract, but difficult to practice. Any time I’m called in to help a struggling team, one of more of these attributes is in trouble and often the cause leads back to the person that hired me. The blind spot of many managers is their own behavior: they can’t expect their team to develop the right trust, communication skills and pride if they don’t develop these things on their own, in their own lives. Before a manager can ask his team to trust him, he needs to grow and reinforce his trust in them. (And if he himself has never been on a trust based team, it may be impossible for him to create, much less lead one).
Full text at scottberkun.com
From #47 - Teams and stars
by Scott Berkun
How good teams work
The magic word for teams is synergy: a group whose combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual effects. It’s the difference between thinking linearly (2+2=4) and geometrically (2x2=4, oh wait). To the inexperienced, synergy is impossible. How can 5 people, working together, produce more work than 5 individuals? There are at least three ways: trust, communication and pride.
Trust: If we share a foxhole and I trust you to watch my back, I can apply 100% of my resources to the problem at hand. My focus is greater because you are there. It may also turn out that my task, reading a map in Greek, is something you can do better than I. If I trust you to read the map (while I watch your back, of course) you can do in seconds what would have taken me hours. And then if we switch, I watch your back, or translate your German map for you, we both work much faster at our individual tasks that possible alone. With enough trust we are both willing to make sacrifices for the other without fear and can work faster than others, even when under stress.
Communication: In nearly every war movie there’s a scene where a unit of troops is directed into action by their sergeant, using only hand signals. They talk, ask short questions, and confirm orders with a few short movements of fingers and palms. If they do it right, they all move with complete understanding of each other’s movements and can predict where everyone will be and what their responsibilities are. Communication is leverage: a team of people can act with the clarity and speed of a single mind. And when there is doubt or disagreement, it’s the quality of communication that enables quick negotiations and improved decisions.
Pride: We are social creatures. We work harder when we know others are depending on us. Good teams merge self respect with respect for the team. People want to do well not only so they look good, but so the entire team looks good. There is a new kind of pride that is larger than any individual and if it’s done right, it feels better to help the team succeed than it does to succeed alone.
These three things, trust, communication, and pride are obvious in the abstract, but difficult to practice. Any time I’m called in to help a struggling team, one of more of these attributes is in trouble and often the cause leads back to the person that hired me. The blind spot of many managers is their own behavior: they can’t expect their team to develop the right trust, communication skills and pride if they don’t develop these things on their own, in their own lives. Before a manager can ask his team to trust him, he needs to grow and reinforce his trust in them. (And if he himself has never been on a trust based team, it may be impossible for him to create, much less lead one).
Full text at scottberkun.com
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