We’ve pretty much all been clobbered over the head with the old saw “There’s no ‘I’ in ‘teamwork.” The idea, of course, is that you should ignore your own interests and put the team first. But that concept, says Steve Roesler, is really only faux management wisdom and can get you in trouble. He argues that there certainly is an “I” in “teamwork:”
If you are a manager who wants a group of people to work together on anything, you better find the special something that touches the members involved. That means talking with each person individually to find out what they need — or want to avoid — as part of the team effort.
Why? Because humans are all about self-interest. Good managers are those who can identify and then satisfy each individual’s needs as part of the larger team and project:
There is a huge “I’ in teamwork and it’s this: If “I” am managing the team, then “I” have to help each of “you” get what you need in order to be able to participate wholeheartedly.
If you do this right, then all the “I’s” on your team will coalesce into a happy and productive “we.” And isn’t that the goal all along?
