Teamwork: A Lesson from the Super Bowl

Watching the Super Bowl last night brought to mind a valuable lesson in teamwork.

However, the lesson didn't come from the game itself. It came from a simple statement made prior to the game in a recorded intro spot about teamwork.

During the overlapping voiceovers touting the value of teamwork, a simple definition was announced:

Teamwork... A cooperative effort by members of a group to achieve a common goal.

Now this is a fairly straightforward definition, and on the surface doesn't seem profound by any means. One might even say it's common sense. If that's the case, then why doesn't it feel that way on many project teams?

A project team includes the core members, key stakeholders, and anyone in an organization who's involvement or cooperation is needed to achieve a goal. The problem right off the bat is that most teams struggle with agreeing on what the goal is. If they do reach agreement on the goal, the next challenge is to make it a cooperative effort to achieve it.

If every project manager posted the above definition of teamwork on their wall and shared it with the project team and stakeholders during the project kickoff, perhaps it could serve as inspiration toward further dialogue.... and launch a true "cooperative effort toward a common goal."

Engagement is the answer to many a team's struggles, and this view of a team seems to embody the concept.

Perhaps this definition is pretty profound after all.