Compete as a Team

This blog post is a follow up to the second topic we didn’t discuss in-depth on our recent webinar, The Strongest Team Wins: How to Build a Team that Gets Things Done. If you were unable to attend, click the link to view the recorded version of the webinar.

Does your team compete together or against one another? While encouraging internal competition may produce results in the short-term, in the long run it can create distrust and a “me first” mentality. So, how do you encourage healthy competition? You encourage your people to compete as a team.

Leaders: Avoid creating an environment where teammates are inadvertently pitted against one another.

• Position success as something achieved by the team, not the individual.
• Don’t give the same challenge to multiple people. This creates a sense of competition where the first person to overcome the challenge “wins” and the others “lose.”
• Never talk about a teammate’s peers without them in the room.
• Eliminate the “my seat” elitism. A teammate’s importance shouldn’t be inferred by how close they sit to the leader in meetings, where they park, their office location, etc. If you notice these subtle power grabs, find a way to mix it up. Park furthest from the building, don’t keep a regular seat in the boardroom, or even consider letting a teammate have that prized corner office. Your team will take note of your standards and eventually follow suit.

Teammates: Always look for ways to succeed together.

• Eliminate your friendly fire temptations.
• Keep your pistol in your holster. In other words, don’t be so quick to blame or attack colleagues. Remember, you’re on the same side.
• Be aware of your passive aggressive tendencies. Small slights, a disparaging comment or two to the boss, discussing a teammate’s lagging performance when they’re not around…all of these actions add up to distrust, but they also reflect poorly on you.
• “Blame is lame and ends with me.” We win as a team, and we lose as a team.