Vision and goals are the heart and mind of your company. Teamwork is the engine that drives physical performance - products, service, productivity, costs, pricing and marketing.
Your company can’t guarantee successful, integrated performance - but if you don’t provide organizational leadership that coordinates effort, you do guarantee failure.
To read the rest of this article from the Denver Business Journal, see:
Team Agreements Keep Companies Healthy
http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/1997/06/16/smallb5.html
The structure and the teamwork guidelines must enable employees to work more effectively and efficiently. Guidelines, flexible enough to accommodate to changing situations and to benefit from creativity and different styles, take precedence over individual preferences.
To maintain consistent performance, the following agreements must be honored, from the CEO to the lowest supervisor and employee:
- Stand-up clearly, directly, matter-of-factly and firmly for the company standards and teamwork guidelines. Take sides with the standards, not the personalities.
- Hold everyone accountable for great teamwork and human skills, as well as technical competency. Teamwork can’t be maintained when top leaders loot the company or when employees can use threats of lawsuits to blackmail the company into violating its standards.
- Hire, train, encourage, demand, evaluate, and reward good will and good cheer. Have consequences for ill will, laziness, etc.
Someone unhappy with these agreements can try to change them according to your policies and procedures or he/she can leave. Someone generally unhappy with life cannot be allowed to infect the whole company. A healthy body must isolate or remove foreign objects.
Chain of command and chain of communication aren’t enough. You need specific guidelines for proactive teamwork policies and procedures. There is no “perfect” set. Some of my favorite ones are: - see original article.
In order to have a coordinated and well-functioning corporate body capable of obtaining the success you envision, you must provide an appropriate structure, an integrated system, effective nutrition, and consistent training. Teamwork keeps the body healthy, and aligns effort.
The best way to develop team agreements for professional behavior that will stop harassment, negativity and bullying is to hire Dr. Ben for personalized coaching and organizational consulting.
Design and implement an effective plan that eliminates the high cost of your low attitudes. To get the help you need, call Ben at 1-877-828-5543.