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.

Engage Stakeholders for Project Success

Some tips on positioning a project for success, including video insights. ... Have you identified your user community? Will you need super-users in the community? How will you incorporate user ideas into solution design? Will you need their help in the testing phase? How else can you keep users engaged before the final cutover? Have you segmented the stakeholder population, looking for evangelists or early-adopters to provide the right buzz? As project manager, you may not have time to do all of this, but identify a role on your project team to take on these actions. They'll pay off. ...

... "ensuring that the right stakeholders have been identified, particularly in an IT project – the user community, and that there's a mechanism for them to be involved in the project design and monitoring the progress of the project as it proceeds. " ...

Via Canada ITWorld: Stakeholder collaboration

Leaderless Teams and Nature: Meet the BioTeam

Leaderless teams are a concept that organizations such as Toyota have had great success with. Yet organizations still can't shake the old hierarchical concepts.

Enter Ken Thompson. Thompson has made a career out of studying nature with the purpose of learning how geese, penguins, ants, bees, dolphins, and other creatures communicate and accomplish their significant "projects" in the form of leaderless teams.

For instance, when geese change formation, it's often because the leader no longer knows where to go, so another goose needs to take over. Collectively, they know how to reach their destination. It's the same with migrating penguins. Each contributor is responsible for communicating key messages, taking over when needed, and acting in what they feel is in the best interest of the group.

This certainly has implications on the role of the project manager. I'm not saying the PM role isn't required, but the role could certainly be reframed or rethought in this context. It would be quite an interesting study.

The link below contains a 15 minute video interview with Thompson, where he explains the BioTeam approach. Also, visit his website at http://www.bioteams.com/. There are some fascinating articles there that offer new perspectives on team dynamics, virtual teaming, and virtual networks. For more on the leaderless approach, also check out the book, The Starfish and the Spider, by Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom, which I blogged about last year on PMThink.

Meet the BioTeams Blogger PodTech.net: Technology and Entertainment Video Network

Don't Do This To Your Project Team Member