Business cannot be done on your own, we always need people to plan and execute. This group of people, who are with us, is collectively called our Team. Team and organization are synonymous. It is a group of people working towards a common end. Since we cannot run a business in isolation, we have to create and manage a dedicated team. On other hand, we must understand that team work and relationship are two entirely dissimilar things. Working together in a group is called team work. The emotional bond between the team members is called team relationship.
The entrepreneur by virtue of being the owner is at the top of the organization. We create hierarchy in the organization for the smooth functioning. However, in most organizations we forget the basic concept of hierarchy. Hierarchy, designations and levels are made for the distribution of work and smooth functioning of the organization. Trouble begins when people start associating their ego with their designation. All the employees of an organization are team members irrespective of their designations. Different designations mean different job responsibilities not a junior and a senior relationship. It is upon the entrepreneur to understand and become a member of the team rather than feeling above the team. Once we as heads of organizations pass on this message by acting, other members will also follow.
Essentials of Effective Team Work
All organizations have departments and each department is an individual entity in itself. It is commonly believed that targets are specific to individuals and department. But there is another fact to it, that all the departments and their targets are interrelated. We can use the example of a clock here, each gear and instrument in the clock works individually but it cannot work independently. All the parts are interrelated and even if a small and insignificant looking gear stops working, the whole clock stops. To give you a daily example, the functioning of organization gets severely affected the day the office assistant is on leave. So, all members and their work though individual cannot be called independent. In an organization you are always part of a team and your work always affects other people and departments.
Building a Strong Team Relationship
Building relationships takes time. For illustration, if we look at our childhood friends. It took us years of being together and supporting each other that today we have such deep relationship full of trust, respect, love, communication and faith. Similarly, we have to work towards building team relationship in our organization. Team Work is a give and take process. Each member has to give what they want from others, like support, respect, help and love. Simply put, team is a two way relationship.
Cooperation and Coordination
Cooperation and coordination makes teamwork effective and prolific. It is only when teams and departments cooperate and coordinate with each other will there be better results. If two teams are pushing a table from opposite ends it will only end up wasting energy and resources where we know the end result will be zero. When the teams coordinate with decide who will do each other and what, then the functioning would be smooth. With this if the teams also cooperate with each other the results are definitely going to better than expected.
It is only natural that some people are closer to us than others. Everyone tends to get attracted to people with whom their thinking and nature matches. However, as the head we should also make it a point to spend time together with every member of the team. People should be encouraged to share their feeling with the team. This will bring in honesty and it will also bring the team closer. A perfect team is like a group of friends working for their own business. When the team is together and motivated, they will have a sense of ownership and will give their best. An organization should be like a large family doing their own business.