Although most of us see teamwork as a positive thing and our desire for healthy and productive collaboration is real, it’s important for us to acknowledge some of the key things that make working in a team challenging. According to a study conducted by Salesforce, 86% of employees and executives cite “lack of collaboration” or “ineffective communication” as the reason for workplace failures.
To help you be aware of collaboration issues and avoid them, here are five things that make it difficult for us to work with others effectively in a team environment.
We Aren’t Trained to Work in Teams
Most of us didn’t receive much practice with teamwork growing up. Even if we played team sports or were involved in other team-oriented activities, our primary experience with working came through school. And, what was “teamwork” called when we were in school? Cheating! We were told to do our own work and were graded individually on tests, papers, and projects. Group projects in school were few and far between, and often the experience was frustrating because it was hard to get everyone on the same page and make sure they all did their fair share of the work.
After years of education where teamwork is greatly discouraged, many people find themselves lost in the business world where they frequently have to work with a team. Although some organizations promote teamwork more than others, employees are typically still evaluated, compensated, and promoted as individuals, so the incentive or motivation to work collaboratively is often undercut.
We Get Caught in the Trap of “Us Versus Them”
There are so many examples of the “Us versus Them” trap in society stemming anywhere from political and religious debates, to cultural and racial arguments. While these are often upsetting debates for many reasons, it’s sometimes the subtler competitions that can be more insidious, especially inside organizations. It’s the engineering team versus the sales team, or the HR team versus the legal team, or the San Francisco office versus the New York office. In some cases, these divides are almost encouraged by the leaders, the structure, and/or the mentality of the organization.
This is often driven by our human need to belong to a tight-knit and specific group. People want to belong so much so that they identify with a role, level, function, office, region, or some other subset of the company to their own detriment. In the heat of that desire, we forget that we’re all part of the same larger team and, as a result, inhibit the company’s collaborative ability.
We Focus too Much on Mechanics
Tony Robbins, a life coach and philanthropist, once said that in almost every circumstance, “80 percent of success is due to psychology—mindset, beliefs, and emotions— and only 20 percent is due to mechanics—the specific steps needed to accomplish a result.” The challenge is that people spend so much time, energy, and attention focused on the mechanics that they forget to address the psychology and diminish their ability to be successful.
From a team standpoint, mechanics can be described as “above the line” (what we do and how we do it) and psychology can be described as “below the line” (how we think and feel, our perspective, and the overall morale and culture of the group). Since the below-the-line stuff leads to eighty percent of the success of the team, members have to pay more attention to the intangible aspects of the goal and be less obsessed with the mechanics. Being open with each other, trusting one another, and improving their level of appreciation for the team are some important below-the-line things that team members can focus to help their team truly succeed.
We’re Often Separated by Time and Space
One consequence of global workforce and technology changes is frequent separation by time and space. Companies that have offices across the U.S. and around the world, have access to amazing opportunities but also face a myriad of logistical, relational, and cultural challenges. Even smaller companies that may have fewer employees or businesses with employees who work in the same location, sometimes find themselves doing business with people in other parts of the country or the world. This separation can hinder people’s ability to effectively work as a team as there are many nonverbal and emotional aspects to relationships and collaborative communication that we miss when we aren’t sitting in the same room interacting with other team members.
We’re Focused on Ourselves.
Even though we care about others, let’s face it: most of us are self-interested, especially at work. This doesn’t necessarily mean that we’re greedy, it simply means that we’re looking out for ourselves and our own interests. Given the nature of the global economy and the volatility we’ve seen over the past two decades in the job market, there is good reason to focus on ourselves professionally. When we do this, however, we aren’t as plugged into what’s going on with the people around us, because we worry (consciously or subconsciously) that if we pay too much attention to others and the team, it might have a negative impact on us and our career. While this is common and understandable, ultimately it makes partnering with others more difficult. Ironically, in order to benefit yourself, you need to commit your best efforts to the team so that in the end, it benefits your career.
The paradox of teamwork is that for us to fully show up, engage, be successful, and create meaning and fulfillment in our work, collaborating with others is essential. At the same time, there are forces within us and within our teams and organizations, that can cause us to focus primarily on ourselves. It’s important for us to acknowledge these challenges with compassion, and work through them as best we can. Teamwork can be difficult, and often involves a lot of growth for you and your colleagues; however, the benefits of healthy collaboration are important and will help companies develop the collaborative culture that they want.
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