Teamwork Quotes

SYMBIOSIS: Beneficial relationships can develop between very dissimilar things. Example: Lichen (pronounced “liken”) is actually a symbiotic community made up of fungus and algae which, in many environments, could not exist by themselves, but together are able to flourish. Very often, the blending of different (sometimes even opposing) ideas can result in very creative solutions. There is strength in diversity.

Good TEAMWORK is based on: CLEAR GOALS & PRIORITIES – which lead to: CLEAR ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES – which lead to: CLEAR PROCEDURES & PROCESSES – which lead to: GOOD INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS

A farmer who had a quarrelsome family called his sons and told them to lay a bunch of sticks before him. Then, after laying the sticks parallel to one another and binding them, he challenged his sons, one after one, to pick up the bundle and break it. They all tried, but in vain. Then, untying the bundle, he gave them the sticks to break one by one. This they did with the greatest ease. Then said the father, “Thus, my sons, as long as you remain united, you are a match for anything, but differ and separate, and you are undone.”

Skeptics on the new “team” work ethics will say: TEAMWORK: another management fad that attempts to get employees to do more work without paying them for it TEAM LEADER: the boss TEAM MEMBERS: the people who carry out the boss’s orders EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT/EMPOWERMENT: a technique that creates the illusion that management really cares about what I think PARTICIPATIVE MANAGEMENT: an opportunity to agree with what management has already decided Be prepared for the SKEPTICS!!

Fourteen Impact Factors of Self-Directed Work Teams:

1. Self-Interest
2. Belief in the team’s vision
3. Presence of leadership
4. Common values
5. Support and cooperation
6. Duty and responsibility
7. Challenge and opportunity
8. Shared goals
9. New member integration
10. Non-judgmental attitude
11. Motivational atmosphere
12. Global perspective
13. Authenticity
14. Recognition

Most potential teams can become real teams, but not without taking risks involving conflict, trust, interdependence, and hard work. For example, a common team purpose, set of performance goals, and approach rarely arise without conflict. Indeed, quite the contrary — the most successful teams recognize their members’ conflicting views and experiences as a source of strength. Similarly, mutual accountability requires trust and interdependence, which usually do not grow without risk taking. And, finally, most potential teams include members who must develop the skills needed by the team after they have joined the team itself. This, too, implies risks and hard work for everyone on the team.

Teams in the American workplace 60% prefer to work in teams 66% of women prefer teamwork 54% of men prefer teamwork Adult workers spend 61% of time working in teams 90% have exposure to teams, 50% receive team training 72% say that working in teams makes the job less stressful 67% say it makes them feel better about their jobs 66% say it improves quality, productivity and profitability What makes teams successful? 33% – getting along 29% – listening 21% – setting priorities 6% – feeling recognized 6% – having everyone agree 4% – deciding who’s in charge

What we want is performance… What we ask for is teams… What we get is confusion! What we want is performance… What we should ask for is performance… What we will get is performance!

List of the unique characteristics of an effective management team: 1. Understanding, mutual agreement, and identification with respect to the primary task 2. Open communications 3. Mutual trust 4. Mutual support 5. Management of human differences leading to group synergy 6. Selective use of the team 7. Appropriate member skills 8. Leadership: Managing and integrating the other 7 characteristics

You will be most effective when members can compliment each other without embarrassment and disagree without fear.

Work and self-worth are the two factors in pride that interact with each other and that tend to increase the strong sense of pride found in superior work teams. When people do something of obvious worth, they feel a strong sense of personal worth.

Working together works.

Without forgiveness, there can be no real freedom to act within a group.

Wild ducks make a lot of noise, but they also have the sense to benefit from occasionally flying in formation.

Whenever ideas are shared, the result is always greater than the sum of the parts.

When pulling a sled, unless you are the lead dog, all of the scenery looks the same.

When a team outgrows individual performance and learns team confidence, excellence becomes a reality.

Wearing the same shirts doesn’t make you a team

We trained hard. But it seems that every time we were beginning to form into teams we would be reorganized. I was to learn, later in life, that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganizing. And what a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress, while producing confusion, inefficiency, and demoralization.

We must indeed all hang together, or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.

We must all hang together, or assuredly, we shall all hang separately.

Very often management doesn’t know what they want teams to do in the first place. Various executives may have done some easy reading on empowerment and since they want to downsize anyway, see teams as the natural vehicle.

Ultimately the team must serve the needs of the individual.

To say my fate is not tied to your fate is like saying, “Your end of the boat is sinking.”

To be a Most Valuable Player (MVP) on a team, you must have a Mission, a Vision, and a Passion.

Three things I’d say to a team to help hold them together: If anything goes bad, I did it. If anything goes semi-good, then we did it. If anything goes real good, then you did it.

There is no “I” in “TEAMWORK”.

The whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

The vehicle of accomplishment is fueled by teamwork.

The strength of the team is each individual member…the strength of each member is the team.