How To Unify Your Team Around A Shared Goal

By Brad Schow, COO, HTG Peer Groups

Working in a silo is easy: taking a task, rolling up your sleeves, and getting something done. Check it off the list. That’s great for some things.

What about when what you’re doing is bigger than you? More often than you realize for what you’re doing it is more important that your team comes along for the ride than for you to get it done in a hurry.

Accomplishing things as a team is a much tougher proposition than doing things yourself. Communication, coordination, and shared understanding will take precedent over your desire to just get it done and move on.

It’s not about you.

So how do you accomplish a goal as a team?
I learned through years of watching individually talented people going full speed ahead on their own agenda at their own speed communicating in their own way that there is a key. They would get to the end of what they were doing and everyone around them would begin to thrash out of frustration. “You did what?!?” “Why didn’t you do it this way? I’m working on that, which is now not going to work!”

Usually this single-handed effort left people alienated, frustrated, and produced a product that, while “done” could have been much better with a slightly different approach. Often times this done task ended up creating more work in the future that could have been avoided if other people know what was happening and could slightly influence the direction from the start. That key to unifying your team around a shared goal is what I call “thrashing early.”
To unify your team around a shared goal — no matter how big or small — get your team (anyone affected by the outcome or needed during the process) together at the very beginning.

• Describe the goal.
• Cast a vision of what the end product will look like.
• Get their buy-in and understanding as to why the goal is important.
• Define the key outcomes and discuss how it might affect them.
• Let them know what role you will need them to play to accomplish the goal.
• Respect your teammates enough to let them know what you’re working on, where it fits in the priority list, and that you value their opinion.
• Let them help you paint a picture of what the outcome will be.
• Invite them into the process. Connect with them early, let them “thrash” and catch on and catch up to what you’re thinking.

Taking some time on the front end of a task and getting everyone on the same page with what you’re doing and why will create better work, better culture, better relationships, and save time in the long run. You just have to remember it’s not about you.

Brad Schow is part of a team of coaches and consultants serving the IT industry. Prior to joining the HTG Peer Groups staff, he spent 20 years helping grow a solutions and managed services provider. His path of technician, service leader, operations leader, president, and partner give him a unique perspective that allows him to relate to a broad spectrum of business challenges. Schow’s company was a member of HTG for many years. He credits much of the success to the peer group experience and the relationships that grew out of HTG.  He loves investing in people, thinking ahead, building teams, and helping others find success. You can reach him at bschow@htgpeergroups.com.

This article originally appeared at http://htgpeergroups.com/blog/entry/unifying-your-team.html