"If only you...then..." When those four words fall out of a team member's mouth the toxin known as 'blame' begins to enter the life of the team. Avoid it at all costs! It will poison team members creating resentful, isolated, and insecure people. Rarely, if ever, is one person the cause of a team's failure or success. We have a tendency to do both, either blame someone for failure or reward one person as the 'game changer' that ushered in the team's success. It's not that easy nor is it realistic. Success and failure happen as a result of millions of small actions and choices by everyone on a team. Simply put, it is unfair to point at one person. Organizational culture that celebrates failure as well as success will create teams that support one another and avoid the blame game.
3 tips
Get comfortable with mistakes as much as success - The pathway toward success is littered with various dead ends, mistakes, and bad ideas. When asked if he felt like he wasted time on thousands of bad experiments before he finally invented the light bulb, Thomas Edison replied, "No. At least we know 2000 things that won't work." As a kid when I messed up, my mom gave me perspective, "Hey. It's not the end world." There are big mistakes, but they never usher in the end of the world as we know it. We all make mistakes. Take a deep breath and move forward together.
Motivate positively - Criticism is a poor motivator. No matter how much people think it works, it never does. It simply pushes people away and eats away at relationships. It creates a negative atmosphere in which to work. Do you know what motivates individual members of your team toward success? Challenging work? Appreciation? Choices? Recognition? Approval? Assurance? Value? Quality Answers? Guaranteed, when you understand what motivates others on your team and communicate in their language the team wins and a positive synergy results.
Let the leader lead - A few years ago I helped coach a middle school football team. One day at practice, one of the players messed up a blocking assignment. Joey, one of his fellow teammates, began to tell him off until Mark, the head coach, stepped in. "Guys!" he said as he walked over to Joey, "Knock it off. I'm the coach, you're the players. When there is a mistake, I'll take care of it and help to correct it." Mark reestablished his role as leader and Joey's role as player. By doing so, the team could focus on working together toward success, knowing that the leader would deal with mistakes and reward success fairly. No one was ever made the scapegoat for a loss or the star player in the win.
Mike Weaver, is co-founder and facilitator with The Group Mind, http://thegroupmind.com We help organizations discover creative solutions to vexing problems, and improve team performance. Our workshops are engaging, insightful, and create lasting positive impacts with everyone involved. Visit our website at the above link for more information about teambuilding with The Group Mind. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mike_Weaver |  |
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