Team Thrills

Ed sat up straight in his chair. "Before we begin," he said, "I need to say something. You all know that I've been out a lot these past two weeks and a bit distracted by the situation with my son. Well, the danger's passed and we expect he's going to be fine." A chorus of whoops and table thumps filled the room. Smiles all around.

High performance
isn't the thrill —
the relationships areHe continued, "I'm back now, and I want to thank you all for your understanding, but especially I want to thank Marian. That first day, when I called her…no, wait." He stopped, and turned to Marian, who was seated at his right. "Marian. That first day, when I called you from the hospital, you didn't even let me ask you for help. You just said, 'I've got the ball, Ed. You look after your son. Don't even check your email.'" Ed's voice cracked.

He paused to compose himself — a long pause. He continued looking at Marian. Marian looked back. Silence in the room.

Slowly, he continued. "And I want to thank you for backing me up." More pause. More silence. "That's all."

Everyone applauded. They stood. The applause continued. Marian beamed. Ed beamed back.

At least once in our careers — if we're really fortunate, more than once — we belong to a team that we remember fondly for years afterwards. The team was a high-performing team, and pride did go along with that, because high performance and high achievement are valuable to the organization.

But for most of us, high performance isn't the thrill — the relationships are. We remember the people, and we remember how great we felt to be a part of that team. What was it that made that team so great? How can we make that experience happen again?

Step forward

Teams like Ed's and Marian's achieve alignment of purpose through hard work. If you want to be part of it, you have to be part of it.

Appreciate yourself

When you work hard to elevate your team to the heights, appreciate yourself, whether the team does or not.

Appreciate others

When someone contributes a treasure, appreciate both the contribution and the contributor, publicly and with feeling. Like Ed did.

Appreciate appreciators

When someone publicly appreciates a contribution and a contributor, appreciate the appreciator. The standing ovation wasn't only for Marian — it was for Ed, too, and for the team as a whole.

Ask for help when you need it

When Ed needed help, he asked — or he would have if Marian hadn't offered first. When you need help, ask your teammates. And when a great team needs help, it asks for help.

Great teams don't just happen. The people who belong to them make them great teams. If your team isn't a great team yet, what would happen if you decided, right now, to help make it a great team? Give it try. Let me know how it goes.  Top    Next Issue

The article you've been reading is an archived issue of Point Lookout, my weekly newsletter. I've been publishing it since January, 2001, free to all subscribers, over the Web, and via RSS. You can help keep it free by donating either as an individual or as an organization. You'll receive in return my sincere thanks — and the comfort of knowing that you've helped to propagate insights and perspectives that can help make our workplaces a little more human-friendly. More

Your comments are welcome

About Point Lookout

Thank you for reading this article. I hope you enjoyed it and found it useful, and that you'll consider recommending it to a friend.

This article in its entirety was written by a human being. No machine intelligence was involved in any way.

Point Lookout is a free weekly email newsletter. Browse the archive of past issues. Subscribe for free.

Support Point Lookout by joining the Friends of Point Lookout, as an individual or as an organization.

Do you face a complex interpersonal situation? Send it in, anonymously if you like, and I'll give you my two cents.

Related articles

More articles on Personal, Team, and Organizational Effectiveness:

Appreciate the Moment

Often, we focus our awareness where we aren't or when we aren't. Whether we're in a heated meeting, or blowing out the candles of a birthday cake, being fully present can make our experiences more positive and memorable. Why are we so often someplace else? When we are, how can we come back? Or better, how can we stay fully present when we want to?

Give It Your All

If you have the time and resources to read this, you probably have a pretty good situation, or you have what it takes to be looking for one. In many ways, you're one of the fortunate few. Are you making the most of the wonderful things you have? Are you giving it your all?

Teamwork Myths: Formation

Much of the conventional wisdom about teams is in the form of over-generalized rules of thumb, or myths. In this first part of our survey of teamwork myths, we examine two myths about forming teams.

Constancy Assumptions

We necessarily make assumptions about our lives, including our work, because assumptions simplify things. And usually, our assumptions are valid. But not always.

On Schedule Conflicts

Schedule conflicts happen from time to time, even when the organization is healthy and all is well. But when schedule conflicts are common, they might indicate that the organization is trying to do too much with too few people.

See also Personal, Team, and Organizational Effectiveness and Project Management for more related articles.

Forthcoming issues of Point Lookout

Coming May 15: Should I Write or Should I Call?

After we recognize the need to contact a colleague or colleagues to work out a way to move forward, we next must decide how to make contact. Phone? Videoconference? Text message? There are some simple criteria that can help with such decisions. Available here and by RSS on May 15.

And on May 22: Rescheduling Collaborative Work

Rescheduling is what we do when the schedule we have now is so desperately unachievable that we must let go of it because when we look at it we can no longer decide whether to laugh or cry. The fear is that the new schedule might come to the same end. Available here and by RSS on May 22.

Coaching services

I offer email and telephone coaching at both corporate and individual rates. Contact Rick for details at rbrendPtoGuFOkTSMQOzxner@ChacEgGqaylUnkmwIkkwoCanyon.com or (650) 787-6475, or toll-free in the continental US at (866) 378-5470.

Get the ebook!

Past issues of Point Lookout are available in six ebooks:

• Get 2001-2 in Geese Don't Land on Twigs (PDF, )
• Get 2003-4 in Why Dogs Wag (PDF, )
• Get 2005-6 in Loopy Things We Do (PDF, )
• Get 2007-8 in Things We Believe That Maybe Aren't So True (PDF, )
• Get 2009-10 in The Questions Not Asked (PDF, )
• Get all of the first twelve years (2001-2012) in The Collected Issues of Point Lookout (PDF, )

Are you a writer, editor or publisher on deadline? Are you looking for an article that will get people talking and get compliments flying your way? You can have 500-1000 words in your inbox in one hour. License any article from this Web site. More info