Human Connectedness and Teamwork

Connectedness and teamwork goes hand in hand. Organizations, large and small, are composed of individuals.

But as obvious as this may seem, our experience is that the individual is often lost in the mix.

If you are looking for free team building ideas, follow this link.

Labels like "workforce", "employees", "part-time", "union", "non-exempt" get applied to individuals, lumping them together in a blurred and confusing mass.

No matter what the annual report says, no organization exists as a tangible entity. There is nothing you can touch and feel to say, "This is the corporation".

What’s more, is that, we, as human beings are tribal creatures. If we feel part of a bigger group, if we feel that connectedness, then the individuals become bigger that the sum of the parts...then the human spirit truly becomes alive...then you get natural teamwork.

The human race overcame huge challenges in the past when they acted through connectedness and teamwork…challenges that seemed impossible. Today, you just have to look at successful sports teams to witness the power of that connectedness.

Connectedness and Disconnectedness...

Modern civilization has done a lot in the past to make us view ourselves as disconnected beings...something that we don’t really are.

Throughout our lives, we become conditioned to think that way though. It’s MY achievements at school. MY education. MY house. MY car. MY Job. MY job description.

You just have to drive through any suburban neighborhood to see the walls that people build around their houses. And we do the same in our minds. We isolate ourselves from one another only to come out when we need something or can benefit from it.

Where we do see a great sense of connectedness is in families. This is where we see a lot of caring and nurturing taking place. And it is only in this caring, nurturing, empowering and engaging environment that we can truly create teamwork through inspired, motivated and involved employees.

What Does Disconnectedness Look Like?

The most important thing about a disconnected environment, is that people operate from a point of fear. Fear of failure…Fear of making mistakes…Fear of being wrong…Fear of looking bad…all kinds of fear.

And you don’t have to be a genius to see that there will be a total lack of teamwork

This fear based culture results in the following behaviors and characteristics:

• Risk aversive/cautiousness

• The main strategy becomes one of Avoidance. Avoiding conflict...Avoiding challenges...Avoiding rejection...Avoiding taking accountability.

• Lots of anxiety

• A win/lose mentality…"for me to win, someone else have to lose" and "second place is the first loser"

• Resistance to change

• High need to "look good". And for me to "look good", someone else have to "look bad"

• A worldview of distrust

• Hide my mistakes

• People have their own agendas

• Self-protection and self-promotion...lots of politics.

• Just want to get by

• Gossip

• Unwillingness to help others ("It’s not my job...")

• Not speaking up

• No teamwork

• Comfort and survival of the self become all important. Work centers around MY position, My power, My popularity and My reputation.

These are all symptoms of a disconnected culture that’s born out of fear.

These symptoms become worse during stressful periods, like times of vigorous change. That’s why most companies struggle with teamwork during these times.

Looking at these symptoms, it is obvious to see that a disconnected team is an unproductive team

What does connectedness look like?

A Connected culture, on the other hand, is a culture based on Trust.

The best way to describe it is to think of any healthy family you know. What are the symptoms and behaviors? A connected team is based on pretty much the same principles.

The symptoms and behaviors of this culture are:

• We-focus

• Willingness to learn

• Take calculated risks

• Not scared to deal with challenges as they arise...challenges like conflict and taking accountability.

• DON’T feel threatened

• A win/win mentality..."we live and work in a world of abundance" and "there is enough for everyone" and "there are lots of possibilities"

• Embrace change as an adventure

• Lots of support

• High Accountability

• Open and Honest conversations...also when there is conflict

• A worldview of trust

• Everyone’s energy is focused on common goals

• People do what is right for the customer

• Fun, Laughter and humor

• High level of teamwork

  
  

  How do we build connectedness...?

  This connectedness doesn’t happen on a rational, cognitive level. Yes, you need to think and understand things, but the real connection happens on a very different level.

  It happens on another level. Call it emotional. Call it spiritual. Call it whatever you want. It doesn’t really matter. The important thing is that people need to experience one another to become more connected.

  The end result is a caring, nurturing, empowering and engaging environment with a high level of teamwork. But, this is just the end results. How do you actually do it?

  You do it by breaking down the barriers and walls that exist between people. If this happens, the connectedness will flow through by itself, because it is part of who we are.

  In other words, you don’t build connectedness. You break down barriers. And you don’t break down these barriers by using systems and processes. You break it down by being human.

  The first step is an awareness of the importance of being connected. The rest is actually quite easy. Once you have created that awareness, you are 80% there in terms of connecting the human spirit with your business results.

  
  If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to The Energizer. It’s a monthly e-zine, where you will receive updates and articles from this site.

  Enter your E-mail Address Enter your First Name (optional) Then Don't worry -- your e-mail address is totally secure. I promise to use it only to send you The Energizer.

  
  
  Return from Teamwork and Human Connectedness to Sustainable Employee Motivation

  
  
  Return from Teamwork and Human Connectedness to Team Building Ideas