What Do You Owe Your Team?

Survival tips for people who dread teamwork

Not since TQM (total quality management) arrived on the scene in the 1980s, has a trendy management style been resisted by so many and lasted so long.

Despite press hype, not everyone--certainly not a majority--believes teamwork is effective enough to warrant the effort. Least enamored of it are younger workers, entrepreneurs, introverts, and many physician managers who think teamwork is time consuming.

Whatever you think about working on a team, chances are you will be assigned to one (or manage one) sooner or later. When that happens, you will have to play ball and pretend to like it, or find another job.

What is your responsibility to the team?

It's not enough to be productive. Teamwork demands consideration for the feelings, styles, and sensibilities of others. That's the greatest challenge, the emotional component. You can't humiliate, insult, or castigate team members (however deserving) because you'll be working with them for months. You can't be honest at the expense of kindness. It's a highly political situation.

Discretion is vital, especially when discussing team business with non-team members. In the workplace, much of what people say may be repeated without embellishment by the grapevine. However, what people say about fellow team members is almost always taken out of context and subject to interpretation.

What gets most team members into trouble isn't what they say in the privacy of team meetings, it's what the grapevine says outside of the meetings. Offhand remarks such as "Carl was really Johnnie-on-the-spot with his research" becomes "Carl is great to work with." Or, "Ellen is usually late to meetings" morphs into "Ellen is terrible to work with." There is no middle ground.

If you're in a teamwork-obsessed organization, learning to play your part isn't just a political necessity, it may be a survival issue. Here are some tips.

Keep a positive public persona

Fume in private. You won't survive unless you can fake a strong interest in teamwork. Depending on where your management draws the line, you may position yourself as merely cooperative, or you may have to demonstrate unalloyed enthusiasm or even ecstatic submission. Find the line and move as close to it as you can.

Be a team booster in meetings, in private conversations and in the grapevine, unless you're prepared to leave. Use the buzz words. Your bosses may not be completely sold on teamwork but they will look for indicators that others are psychologically on the team.

The most obvious signal is the use of "we" instead of "I." Petty as it seems, managers believe the I/we indicates the player's mindset and commitment. Your commitment is being scrutinized constantly. At the first sign you've mentally checked out, you may be pushed into the next layoff pool.

Keep your word

If you say you'll do something, do it. "Team" suggests that if you don't do what you agree to do, someone else must pick up the slack. Most importantly, when people don't perform it slows the whole team down.

You will never realize how quickly your reputation can take a hit until you blow off a team meeting. You will find everyone has forgotten how much help you've always given, your reciprocity for favors and your loyalty. They will focus on your failure to meet team obligations. Even patients aren't a useful excuse, unless it's a true medical emergency.

Never mind that your teammates didn't want to be there either. Not attending will weaken your influence and alliances.

Appreciate differences in style

Many team players just put in face time at team meetings.

They are marking time until they can go off on their own and get the work done.

For instance, Freddie never says a word in team meetings but he never misses a deadline and his work is good. We can live with Freddie.

Liz has a different approach. She's of the "nail it down" school. She does nothing until every detail is set. That's nitpicking. Details may be Liz's security blanket or she may be deliberately obstructing or slowing things down. It's a classic passive-aggressive tactic. It's the team leader's responsibility to gently curb Liz and keep her on track.

What the leader can't do is speak to Liz publicly. The best bet is to privately ask her what her strategy is. Don't ask why questions because they sound accusative.

Does Liz understand the effect she has on team-mates? Once she understands they are put off by her need for detail, she has two choices. She can blow them off and say, "I have to do what I have to do," or she can take account of their needs.

How can she refuse the team leader's entreaty to be more cooperative with her team members? Isn't that the team-minded thing to do?

A word of caution for the team leader: Exhortations to "think of the team" only work if the team leader is never seen, or even suspected, of non-team behavior. Teams are fragile. Once the "all for one and one for all" cover is blown, it's difficult to rebuild team spirit.

Pick your battles

Don't argue unless it really matters to you personally or affects a project's outcome.

If an issue matters enough that you're willing to fight for it, bring it up. Team etiquette dictates that someone who is completely against a course of action must be heard, possibly several times.

For instance, the team believes they'll end up using banners on the hospital's website as part of the new product line introduction, but Sue thinks banners are worthless. She wants to be heard. The team must listen as a show of support even though all are convinced that the head of marketing wants banners.

Some disagreements may include a private chat with the team leader. Marshal your arguments before you begin. Don't argue on emotional grounds. Logic and facts must support your position. You may not win, but your arguments will be remembered if the plan tanks.

Be honest and diplomatic

Team members must be twice as diplomatic to each other as they'd be if they were merely co-workers. The team will only work well, or even work at all, if every member keeps everyone else's sensibilities and sore spots in mind.

For example, there are certain phrases that older workers hate and consider rude. But young workers use them frequently. They include:

* ". . . and your point is?"

* "Work with me here," meaning, "Don't you get it dummy?" Naturally, no one said the word "dummy" out loud. But it's implied.

Likewise, younger workers have no patience with baby boomers' long explanations of things. And a request such as, "Would you mind doing that?" is likely to be answered by workers in generation X with "yes," or the request may simply be ignored. "Say what you mean and let's get on with it" is the younger generation's credo.

You already know what aggravates a co-worker. People remember slights and affronts forever. The only way to get through team meetings is to practice civility and kindness.

Learn to save face

Never allow a team member to lose face for an error or off-the-wall opinion.

Assume everyone is doing the best they can and never fail to publicly give people the benefit of the doubt. Just because Josh forgot his report two days running does not make him a jerk worthy of public denunciation. Yes, he may be passive aggressive. Or, here's a thought, he may be forgetful. How about a call or an e-mail before the next team meeting reminding him to bring his report? You don't have to be the team leader to be helpful to others on the team.

Grind your teeth if necessary, but cooperate. You may hate the group process, but don't reduce your effort below what's necessary to get the result. If you're a team member, your performance appraisal will evaluate your participation as well as your results.

Your boss is likely to ask for examples of how you contributed or encouraged the team, not just how well you executed your part of the assignment.

If team meetings really try your temper, suggest scheduling as few as possible. Spend more time solving problems one-on-one with team members. Who knows? Maybe you'll be a hero to other members who also view team meetings as a near-death experience.

Learning to play on a team can enhance your career especially if your organization views teamwork as a religion. Your comfort level will increase over time. But if you're truly an individual contributor, you'll never be as comfortable as those who emotionally buy into teamwork.

A final caveat: There is no hierarchy. Even the team leader is merely "first among equals."

Marilyn Moats Kennedy is managing partner, Career Strategies, Inc., and a long-time member of the ACPE faculty.