Inspiration for teamwork
Some thoughts inspired by a recent discussion on Community vs Personal Credit here at door64.com
Particularly in high-tech industry, teamwork and knowledge-sharing makes organizations productive. On the other hand, the appreciation of others and the benefits of social standing in a group are the most important motivations for a lot of employees. Relationships with colleagues make people either happy and productive, or miserable and unmotivated at work.
Many organizations work very hard to increase productivity by improving the employee motivation. A lot of thought goes into designing clever compensation schemes that align personal financial interests of employees with organizational performance. However, the bonuses and the raises happen very infrequently, usually once a year, while motivation is needed every day of the week. In addition, money is not a strong motivation for everyday performance for most people. These schemes take a lot of effort to create and execute, but ultimately fail to deliver on their goal of inspiring the employees.
Significantly less effort appears to be devoted to managing the social structure in the organization. Cooperation is not particularly rewarded, and the office jerk regularly gets ahead. There are hardly any programs that reward knowledge sharing with individual performance credit. It is normally up to each individual to persuade, cajole and bribe their coworkers into teamwork, against the carefully designed organizational incentives.
Fortunately, it is not very hard to get many people to cooperate. Many are happy to join the team and cooperate, because that is what makes people feel good. People prefer to work together even if HR-designed financial incentives suggest that it is better to strive for individual credit, rather than cooperate with others.
Still, an organization that figures out how to reward cooperation and knowledge-sharing will enjoy the highest employee productivity and a reputation for a happiest place to work.
- Jane Prusakova's blog
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Different companies have
Different companies have different cultures. Teamwork is the underlying culture of my company. Without teamwork, little if anything could get done.
Aside from anything else, my company is "remotely managed and geographically dispersed." Not until this now upcoming contract did I have an associate in Texas. My team consisted of my Chief Engineer on Long Island, and subcontractors in Pasadena Ca., Atlanta Ge., Idaho Falls Id., Oak Ridge Tn., N. New Jersey and Upton NY. My Board of Directors all reside within a 50 mile radius of NY City. We operate as a team and yet are separated by hundreds if not thousands of miles. We operate as a team because that is the only way that we are able to move ahead. The weakest link will be the first time when an individual believes that theirs is the only solution or that they have had their ego bruised by a collaborative effort.
When people think that personal power and "ego-feed" are more important than a collaborative effort, and that they have to take the redit, they cannot work in a cooperative team environment. As for the actual subject matter of the previous thread, I wish that I could go into detail without revealing sensitive legal issues. Suffice, a wealthy, egoistic, self-centered and self-important guy decided that an event that serves the community had gotten too big and important for him to share it with the non-profit volunteer organization that founded and has run the event for a number of years. Because of a number of other reasons, the egoist decided that he didn't want to share, so he is planning a parallel event, "just to show us" that he has the power to do so. I don't know about Austin, but that is not the way that things get done in San Antonio.
I do not countenance people taking credit that isn't theirs to have. At a recent meeting attended by a few of us discussing a future joint program, I started by saying, "the moment that anyone attempts to claim credit for the group effort, is the moment that I leave the table."
From the moment I walked
From the moment I walked through the door I could tell there was something different about this organizaiton. From a lifetime of contract and consulting work, I've become a quick reader of cultural signs and signals. Those signs and signals were screaming at me that day. This is something different.
This organization is strong, has been strong and around forever... an eight hundred pound gorilla in their sector; a real leader. They could attract good people just on name and reputation alone. But that's not how you stay on top and they know it.
They were founded in 1931 and now have 9,000 employees in 21 countries. It's privately held; always has been. There track record for layoffs is almost nonexistent.
Yes: There are annual bonuses but I've seen better. Yes: The pay is at or above the sector's best but I've seen better. They did more and not just in terms of dollars.
For one thing, a lot of time and attention (and dollars) went into the look, feel, ergonometrics, and generally working atmosphere of the physical plant. Location, architecture, facilities, grounds... everything is designed for human enjoyment, comfort, collaboration, and stressless atmosphere. Not just a facade... the real thing here; through and through.
There are no "corner offices" for managers. There is glass everywhere. Lighting is either natural or indirect. It is an environment designed for collaboration, transparency, and open communication.
They invest in their employees -- training, education. Everyone who works there is advanced in their abilities on the job and off the job.
There is rarely a day where you do not see some kind of celebration -- ballons, food, whatever -- for an individual celebrating a milestone or an event either personal or buisness. Usually you see multiple celebrations. As an organization, they celebrate their people.
There is never a team meeting where someone or more than one isn't recognized for some exceptional service -- to a project, a charity, as a mentor to others, or just a good piece of work. As an organization, they recognize good work from good people.
The first thing I noticed, however, wasn't any of those things (noted above) picked up during the course of a nine month contract. I didn't know those things until later. What I saw that first day amazed me -- I was speechless and transfixed.
On a quick tour of the facility I saw happy people. Not just one or two. I mean everyone I saw was happy; smiling, gesturing, talking, laughing. And, they were "working" -- this is not break room stuff. They were problem solving, teaming, collaborating -- happily.
People -- everyone -- walking around the halls and among the cubes with a smile. There was a complete absence of that hurried shuffle with frown squiggles and stress cracks.
After I'd been there for a while, I understood -- it was a natural response to the working conditions and team environment with built in rewards for collaboration, communcation, and knowledge sharing for every personality type.
William W. (Woody) Williams
Senior Project Manager
Software & IT Governance
Unfortunately, as you say,
Unfortunately, as you say, "there was something different about this organization".
I've worked at several places with great atmosphere, but those were tiny to small companies. Once the organization grows big enough to have proper HR organization and policies, that spirit of working together seems to disintegrate (not that it is HR's fault, of course).
It is remarkable that a large company managed to scale and keep the atmosphere.
Jane Prusakova
Software Architect & Developer
My blog
The corporate culture is set
The corporate culture is set from the top and from the beginning. If everyone understands that everyone benefits from the success of the team, then the team is motivated, people are happy (and they smile etc.) and the culture is ingrained (at least until the founders lose control, leave or die).
A small company never gets to be a big company unless it acts like a big company from the beginning.