Keeping Teams Cohesive

Here are a few more ideas on how to keep teams from fracturing, individuals from defecting or worse devitalize a team. I had a friend and we were fortunate to get a great deal with the now defunct Eastern Airlines. I believe it was 8 days of unlimited mileage for 800.00. If I remember correctly I wanted to go to Mexico to see the pyramids. He was not to hype on it but willing to give it a go. Later on it looked like it might be a hassle coming and going with a passport that was foreign to the country I was residing. I was a German citizen but residing in the U.S. So we then changed our travel schedule to identify shared priorities. We also looked at the time we would spend. In places where one of us did not have an especially strong interest we weakened our personal goals so the travel plans that meant a lot to both of us could be strengthened. Essentially we lowered expectations on a goal we both liked, visiting places where we would have the most fun, to visiting places so we would enjoy together. We choose to use less of our resource, money and time, on attaining a goal that would not give us as a group the same overall bang. Stated differently there were places I would have enjoyed more than the ones we visited, and the same was true for my travel partner. We choose to visit places less enjoyable to us as individuals so we could have a trip holistically enjoyable to us. The end result was we had a great time.

Teaching members on a team to do the same can reduce the chances of individuals or groups of being dissatisfied.

It does necessitate that individuals possess the necessary maturity to see goals or rules relaxed temporarily or permanently for the group to move ahead. In fact, it may become plain that a goal that was a priority would be seen to not have the same wide-ranging helpful impact as a goal that originally deemed less important. Accordingly the group would be justified in rearranging one or more goals. It is particularly important that like my friend and I consensus is reached about the change. A majority will simply leave group members feeling like they have been rode over rough shod (I believe the origin of roughshod is when the nails holding a shoe on a horse are not driven all the ways in, akin to studded tires.) Ouch!

Today’s post was short tomorrows will deal with properly breaking a new team in.