"Teamwork is more relevant now than ever"
The principles of teamwork are about to become increasingly valuable at different scales. Photo by You X Ventures on Unsplash
This week I was speaking to a friend and client (same person) who is a partner at one of the big four global consulting firms. As we reflected on the unique circumstances that we all find ourselves in, he said the following:
"Teamwork is more relevant now than ever"
He's right. As we explored this, we realised that this was true at many levels. You can see the principles of teamwork are about to become increasingly valuable at different scales:
Our work teams will benefit from us working collectively, sharing information and staying connected despite being remote
Our organisations will benefit from our teams operating more cohesively across departments and divisions
Our cities will benefit from us all making sacrifices and taking decisions that put all of us before anyone of us (and choosing not to stockpile toilet paper)
Our nations will benefit from health and economic decisions that rely on different sectors cooperating with each other - suppliers, health workers, schools, transport as well as business
Our world will benefit from countries moving away from a nationalistic approach and taking a more holistic approach to the recovery and learning to be better prepared for these events on a global scale
The way that we are going to get through this (and we will) is together. No one company, industry or even country is going to be able to do this alone.
Here is an excerpt from my upcoming book that has been written for months (this bit, not the whole book). It seems very relevant for us all at the moment.
It has been said by anthropologists that “human history is largely a story of people working together in groups to explore, achieve, and conquer” *. If we look around our world, it's clear that we couldn't have achieved what we have on this planet by working independently.
Can you imagine how long it would take one individual to build an office block? What about to build something like Sydney Harbour Bridge, Taj Mahal or the Eiffel Tower? To construct an Airbus A380 aircraft, design a smartphone or tunnel from the UK to mainland Europe? Most of those things would be effectively impossible - either physically (the labour required would require living longer than we do) or intellectually (one person couldn’t know everything that they needed to).
It’s not too much of a stretch to say that humanity is built on teams.
It is worth taking some time to reflect on how much of our way of life has benefited from teams and the behaviours that come from working as a team - like information sharing, trust, co-operation, teaching, and learning.
* (Kozlowski & Ilgen, 2006, p. 77)
Right now, each of us is facing disruption and need to change the way that we work. A huge part of the way forward is leveraging the fact that all of us are better, smarter, more resilient and capable than anyone of us is. For teams and leaders, the current challenges are numerous. You may be experiencing some of this list, none of this list or any number of others not on the list:
Maintaining morale among team members (many of whom are feeling anxious and unsure)
Shifting to completely remote teams (with nobody in a central location)
How to communicate with and across teams as information changes rapidly
Across the next few weeks, I am making myself available for you to explore what's going on for your teams together. The link below will let you book 30 minutes with me to have that conversation (naturally we'll do it over Zoom!). Sometimes just speaking to someone with a different perspective or hearing that others are struggling with similar issues is valuable. It's free. You set the agenda.
Set up some time to talk
You can also reply to this email if that's easier and I'll reply as soon as I can. In the coming weeks, I will explore more ways that can help in the current environment, but this week I figured that the best way to help was to simply offer my time and attention for when it can help you and your teams.
Some questions for you to consider this week:
What is one way that you can help others that you work with at the moment?
What is one way that others can help you at the moment?
What assumptions have been challenged by current events?