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More on how to create an effective team - avoid "us vs. them"

by Stephen Hawley Martin
for Virginia Business
May 17, 2006

It must be something in human nature that causes groups of people to organize themselves into a hierarchal pecking order. Perhaps it has to do with the stronger males wanting to dominate. No matter what the reason, allowing this tendency a free hand in business can lead to low productivity and gross inefficiencies.

In traditional offices and factories, people come in two varieties: managers and workers. Lower-level managers in particular often can be assertive, aggressive, even intimidating. Peek inside them and you will find they are actually scared to death they might overlook something.

Any lapse in judgment will go with them to the grave.

On the other side of a huge chasm are employees, generally are regarded by the managers, perhaps unconsciously, as unfeeling and unthinking robots. They typically do one particular job, and only that job, all day long. They aren't taught any skills beyond those needed for that job. These employee robots are not even responsible for their own work because someone is always looking over their shoulders and checking it. Naturally, they are extremely frustrated. Chances are, all such an employee will do is the minimum necessary to keep a paycheck coming.

In a traditional company this “us against them” setup can work to a degree, assuming employees are not required to think. But traditionally run businesses are headed the way of the dinosaur. A modern, lean business has to move quickly to keep ahead of the competition. It constantly needs to woo customers and deliver just what they want when they want it. A traditional “us versus them” attitude can bring such a business to its knee. Workers must be able to change jobs or tasks to meet the particular challenges that a day may bring. Because the company is lean, no supervisor is constantly breathing down the workers’ necks. These employees must be able to use their heads, make decisions in consultation with other team members and solve problems as they arise.

Imagine how much better a business would run — how waste would be eliminated and things would hum along — if all the people in a business felt important and that their contributions mattered. Imagine if they each felt a sense of ownership and responsibility. Imagine if only one level of performance was expected from everyone — the highest possible. This is the kind of environment smart managers want to create nowadays. No wonder the companies that achieve it become the leaders of their industries.

My book, “Lean Enterprise Leader: How to Get Things Done Without Doing It All Yourself,” is meant to help a team leader make the transition from command and control manager to championship coach and thereby create this environment.

What makes a good leader? Typically, they are good listeners. They want to know what others think, and they do not believe they always have the best or right answer. They are smart enough to use the intelligence and the experience of others, and they understand a good idea can come from anywhere at any time and from anyone. That’s why a good leader is always asking people, “Why?”

When a good leader comes in contact with an idea that makes sense, he or she recognizes and heeds the sensation of truth that resonates within. You might say the idea or thought seems to “click.” Timid or unsure individuals often will dismiss this feeling. Good leaders are secure with themselves. They see when someone else has a better idea, and they have the self-confidence to put that idea to work.

Good leaders share information. They understand the more a person knows, the higher that person’s sense of ownership of the company and its goals and objectives.

And good leaders do whatever they can to tear down the barriers that help create an “us versus them” attitude.

This means removing needless privileges and status symbols that have traditionally separated managers and employees, such as special parking places, company cars and corporate jets. Everyone should be treated the same.

This also applies to the company dress code. At many companies one group dresses in pinstripes, pinpoint cotton shirts and club ties while another arrives for work in plaid shirts and jeans. That kind of separation doesn’t do anything to create a sense of membership on the team.

As far as offices go, it may be beneficial to literally tear down walls so that people are forced to interact. For example, why should a team leader sit in an office behind a closed door where no one from his team has easy access to him? He should be with the team, pitching in, with his sleeves rolled up.

Many hands make light the load.

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Stephen Hawley Martin is a former principal of The Martin Agency in Richmond and the author of more than half a dozen books including his newest, Lean Enterprise Leader: How to Get Things Done Without Doing It All Yourself. He is editor and publisher of The Oaklea Press, a book publishing business dedicated primarily to helping business executives increase productivity.