It has been surveyed, researched, and proven that teams are more successful than individuals working independently. Most people like other people and enjoy the company of others as it makes them feel better. Teams win.
While organizations and groups are best-intentioned and will strive to optimize the teaming, we have conflicting motives and objectives, lack clarity in our direction, and perform poorly. Team members are often surprised at the resulting lackluster results and, in hindsight, can pinpoint the reason for failure.
One factor alone rises above all as the cause of failure: poor team communication. Good communication is necessary when collaboration and interdependence are essential. Any team should answer when, where, how often, and who must participate in team discussions. If we do not talk, we cannot expect to comprehend and cannot expect to make progress as a unified team.
While regular meetings suggest a communication protocol is in place, the content and form of those discussions are critical. To assume, direct and instruct, we fail to communicate. Devoid of questioning, clarification, the input of all members, and critically confirming a shared understanding and agreeing on a path forward, we generally fail.
The prohibitor of good communication is the preservation of our identity, the need to establish and maintain our position, and in many instances, assume power. It is this need where communication fails. An inability to allow others to take the lead or permit those with insight and a differing opinion to speak, but more so for us to hear. We insist that others should have been more vocal and present only when we flop.
Team success requires us to accept the team’s identity above individual ego. When we do that, it is more straightforward to hear, contribute freely, and agree on the ideal resolution for a problem, making communication easier. When we remove the ego conflict, all these elements are more apparent; the team wins, as do we, with all our egos intact.
