In today's globalized and highly competitive world, one of the greatest challenges for organizations and managers is getting their human resources to “work more as a team”. This aspiration stems from a clear vision of the advantages of having a work team that works synergistically, where the benefits of working together are much greater than the sum of the parts.
We all know countless examples of teams in various times and areas of human existence, which have been able to achieve things that seemed impossible and we know that, although we are very capable individually, there are simply things that we cannot do alone.
As Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonald's, put it, "none of us is as important as all of us put together." And that is the spirit that many managers want to instill in their work teams.
However, when one begins to analyze the behavior of human resources in an organization, we quickly realize that the concept that many people have regarding teamwork is not that it is essentially about “getting along”. That is, that there are not too many conflicts.
It is true that effective conflict management is a necessary part of any teamwork effort. However, the absence of conflicts does not guarantee that the teams will be effective. Not that there will be synergy in them.
The determining factor in effective teams is that they are capable of coordinating actions among their members, achieving a "synchrony" between their thoughts, actions and reactions. And that is what we have to aspire to. To the "synergy" between the members, in such a way that two plus two is more than four.
However, synergy is a result. That is, it is the consequence of what we do or stop doing, rather than something we do.
In order to achieve effective coordination of actions and synergy in a team, it is necessary to go through some previous steps, to achieve this there are various models, one of them is the Foundational Model of Teamwork, which establishes a hierarchy of steps or stages that teams go through on their way to synergy, these being:
Relationship:
This is the most basic step towards teamwork. It is necessary that people get along, that there are no major negative conflicts, but it is not enough.
A fundamental condition in this stage is that a true and sincere relationship takes place between people, it is necessary that each member of the team knows who their colleagues are in reality, what their characteristics and preferences are and that they learn to appreciate their strengths and weaknesses of these in different situations.
It is also necessary for each member of the team to know very well what their own characteristics and preferences are, and when these can become strengths or weaknesses. That you know what you can offer the team and what are the areas where some help could come in handy.
Possibilities:
Once we have a stabilized relationship within the team, it is necessary to understand what are the possibilities that the other members offer me.
Personal knowledge and knowledge of other members allows us to begin to see what are the possibilities that being part of this specific team offers us. What can I gain by effectively integrating myself into it. How it can help me to advance in my personal or professional goals. This leads us not only to know what other people's strengths are, but also to appreciate them.
Opportunity:
Possibilities are potentialities. It is essential to understand them, but we cannot take advantage of them if they are not transformed into opportunities, in the daily work of teams and organizations, the opportunities are multiple. But they are not always recognized.
Therefore, it is necessary to generate the necessary conversations within our team so that they bring opportunities to light, that allow them to be recognized and appreciated.
Action:
Only when a good relationship is coupled with the vision of the possibilities and the recognition of the opportunities does the possibility of coordinating actions arise.
If you think about it, there is no point in trying to coordinate actions with people who do not see any possibility or opportunity at their disposal.
Synchrony:
This is the most advanced step. Very few teams and organizations succeed. Many fewer are able to sustain it over time. When there is synchrony, it is not necessary to coordinate actions. Coordination is not only natural, it is the only alternative.
We can conclude that the essence of reaching synergy and taking actions to get closer to it is to be aware of the steps necessary to achieve it, which will undoubtedly help us to improve "teamwork" in our organization.
