Fostering teamwork is a top priority for many leaders, 
according to Suzanne Willis Zoglio, Ph.D., the author of Teams 
At Work: 7 Keys to Success, The Participative Leader. There are 
obvious benefits: increased productivity, improved customer 
service, more flexible systems and employee empowerment. 

   A team is a group of people working towards a common goal. 
Generally, the objectives that a team sets out to accomplish 
can't be effectively achieved by individuals. Think of it this 
way: TEAM = Together Everyone Achieves More. 

   Within a business, every employee serves as a crucial member 
of the company's team. No matter where you are on the corporate 
ladder, you add intrinsic value to your organization through 
your strengths, talents, gifts and other assets. 

   Some companies are taking a more impersonal approach to 
evaluating the assets of prospective and current employees. 
They employ high-tech data mining programs or personality tests 
to "crunch" information about employees' skills, qualifications, 
experiences, workload and performance to assess their integrity, 
loyalty and satisfaction. Or, job candidates are being analyzed 
to predict their potential fit within the company's culture.    

   This non-personalized approach to evaluation provides a 
quick, automated way to size up individuals. But it leaves less 
room for human instinct, which can be an important barometer of 
an employees true value. 


Realizing Your Own Strengths, Talents and Gifts

   Despite what any data mining software may construe, your 
contributions as an employee form an integral link in the chain 
of your company's success. And it's important to understand the 
true value that you lend to your corporate team. 

   Whether you're part of a companywide or smaller work group, 
you should understand your role and responsibilities as a valued 
member. Picture yourself as a single, unique Lego building block 
that can help form a wonderful creation when connected to other 
pieces. But you have to be willing to add your block to the 
pile, so others can build on it to produce a masterpiece.

   It works the same way with our skills and talents. All of 
us have different abilities and unique perspectives that can be 
instrumental in solving complex problems. For example, if you're 
an excellent organizer and coordinator, you should be open to 
using these skills to produce a smooth work flow within your 
department or project work group. 

   At the same time, you should acknowledge and appreciate the 
contributions of other members of your team. Rather than hinder, 
try to help teammates employ their skills to the fullest. No one 
person knows and can do everything. Think of these quotes 
relating to teamwork: 

§ "Coming together is a beginning. Staying together is progress. 
  Working together is success."  Henry Ford

§ "We must indeed all hang together, or, most assuredly, we 
  shall all hang separately." Benjamin Franklin

§ "If I could solve all the problems myself, I would." Thomas 
  Edison, when asked why he had a team of twenty-one assistants

§ "The strength of the team is each individual member...the 
  strength of each member is the team."  Coach Phil Jackson - 
  Chicago Bulls

§ "None of us is as smart as all of us." Ken Blanchard


How To Help Build A Winning Team
   
   So how do you help build an effective team that contributes 
to a positive, successful work environment? Here are four tips 
to help you: 

Contribute. Everyone is responsible for the success of their 
team. At group meetings, for example, be an active participant 
who contributes valuable content. If you're not familiar with 
the discussion topic, silently observe the team's process and 
find ways to facilitate its progress.  

Communicate. Good communication is essential to success in the 
workplace. We've all had experiences of hearing the wrong 
message, assuming incorrectly, misinterpreting others' behaviors 
and feeling offended. That's why it's important to use clear 
communication, as well as active listening skills with fellow 
team members. Don't just seek to be understood, but also seek 
to understand. 

Be Committed. Commitment equals buy-in. A good work team needs 
to agree on and believe in its basic purpose - its mission or 
reason for existing. Work teams that have clarity of purpose 
can easily visualize their connection to organizational success. 
With strong commitment to move toward the same goal, the team 
creates a synergy - a force that is greater than the combined 
energy of its individual members.

Be Supportive. Good work teams are like close-knit families. 
They require acceptance, nurturing, patience and support. They 
won't always agree and often need to compromise their personal 
preferences to achieve the best results. Effective work teams 
need continued support and feedback to stay focused and to feel 
good about what they are doing. For a team to reach its full 
potential, members must be able to share their thoughts and 
ideas, and to see that these are valued and heard.