Teamwork: An Individual Skill

For all of you who have had your fill of touchy-feely exercises and teambuilding retreats... Teamwork does not depend on group "bonding" or on some group facilitator's magic art. [It's] based on individual skills and attitudes (review by Terry O'Keefe of Avery, Walker and O'Toole's Teamwork is an Individual Skill).

There are four individual skill areas covered in Teamwork is an Individual Skill: 

1. shared focus (insuring that proposals work for each team member), 
2. individual commitment (matching personal motivations so each is fully invested), 
3. shared agreements (including honest but fair feedback), and 
4. harnessing differences (diverse opinions lead to breakthrough thinking) 

These individual skills can be richly enhanced by recognizing and valuing different personality styles. I use both the MBTI and the Enneagram with my clients, as demonstrated in the excerpts below from one of my articles in Enneagram Applications. 

“We’re going to be executing some major changes in the next few months,” said Dick Malone over the phone, “and there may be some psychological effect on the people here. Our whole organization is undergoing restructuring and there will be an announcement of my reassignment around the time of the team session, but I’d still like to go forward with it. Can we learn about the Enneagram and help prepare for these changes?"

This group had several clusters of personality styles – four  Enneagram Sixes, three Nines (including Dick), two Sevens – as well as a One and a Two. On the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) all but three were Extraverts. Almost half had a Feeling preference. They attributed their cluster of MBTI preferences and Enneagram styles to the fact that they had a consulting role to other operating functions in the corporation. Most of them had a collaborative/democratic style and a group orientation that served them well in their jobs. The two Sevens were visionaries. The One (Two wing) and Two (One wing) both wanted to help their internal customers solve their problems.

The theme for this group was "transitions." We started by looking at their own experience with change and wove observations of their personality strengths and needs into understanding each other better. We talked about the potential impact of their styles on the upcoming changes in the organization, including what kind of support they'd need from each other during the upcoming period of change. The team member who was a Two described the support he needed as asking that those who worked for him "come to me if they have concerns." He was the only member of the group who was unable to identify a need of his own! He and the others discussed how his helping behavior played out in the group, and he received some useful feedback about how he helped to create this pattern.

Whether you're part of a family, a work group, or a community organization, conversations about the diversity of personalities in the team can make a huge difference in the group's well-being, effectiveness, and impact.