Strategies for Building Teams

 

           The development of effective teams and organizations starts with understanding two key principles and a game plan for four other strategies. These principles include collaboration and teamwork and the four strategies are building trust, conflict resolution, goal setting, and servant leadership.

            To begin, when I think of collaboration, especially in today’s culture, the first thing I think of is musical artists or athletes who come together to "colab" on a project. We can see this in instances like Dude Perfect, who recently collaborated with YouTube chef Nick DiGiovanni who judged their best effort at making five dorm room meals. Or, Rascal Flatts, a popular country group that is coming out of retirement to release an album of their most popular songs as duets with other top artists. The problem is, this picture of collaboration gives the impression that working together is a one-time thing when in reality, it’s a guiding principle that makes teams work. Without effective and ongoing collaboration, teams will never accomplish what they set out to do. Teamwork is another principle that provides a foundation for teams to work from. The difference between collaboration and teamwork isn’t stark by definition with collaboration being defined as working jointly with others or together and teamwork as work done by a group acting together so that each member does a part that contributes to the efficiency of the whole. I would argue though that teamwork is a mindset and collaboration is an action. It’s one thing to collaborate effectively and efficiently with other’s skill sets to complete something; it’s another thing to be thinking with a team-first mindset. Now, I realize this is a very drastic example but Judas was someone who collaborated well with the other disciples. We certainly don’t see him being excluded from the times Jesus sent his disciples out and he was certainly active in the ministry Jesus’ performed. However, at the end of the day, Judas still only really cared about himself. In order to lead an effective organization, the individuals within it must be more concerned about the greater good of the project, problem, and organization than they are about themselves and personal accolades.

            Delving into the four strategies, the process of building trust is the most essential and involved. Trust cannot be demanded or expected, it has to be earned. The process for doing so generally takes faithfulness and integrity over time. We can see these characteristics in the example of so many leaders throughout Scripture including Samuel. Samuel was someone who faithfully served the Lord throughout his entire life and near the end, brought everyone together to ensure he had wronged no one (1 Samuel 12). In order to have integrity and to be faithful in it, one has to also be humble. Humility is the fruit of a lifestyle that has nothing to hide. Consistency is also important; a leader who is unpredictable is hard to trust. I’ve worked under a number of leaders and for the most part, all of them have had fairly different personalities and leadership styles. What I’ve learned through those experiences is the fact that it’s okay to do things a little differently than everyone else, as long as you’re consistent in it. For example, one leader I had was very particular and wanted things to be done in a certain way. Some of the time, this seemed very unreasonable and it only made things worse when he was the exception to the rule. Because of this, it was hard to trust his judgement because why should we listen to what he said when he himself didn’t always live it. Alternatively, there have been a couple of other leaders I’ve been under who were also quite particular but they lived it themselves and had consistency across their decision making. Because of this, while I didn’t always agree, it was easier to trust and follow them because I knew they did and believed what they said.

            This brings us to conflict resolution. First off, when you’re working with a team that you’re completely unfamiliar with, it’s hard to anticipate what challenges and struggles will be present. You can certainly set boundaries, present conflict resolution policies and tools, and deal with discrepancies before they turn into anything big but that won’t always prevent dissention. Even in the early church, when patriarchs like Peter, John, and Paul were present, conflict and differing opinions existed and had to be worked through. I think the first recognition that needs to made is understanding that no group or team is invincible from encountering problems. One of the first teams I was a part of was really a dream team. Despite one member leaving shortly after starting, the other five of us worked exceptionally well together and easily accomplished the primary objective for our team. We began to dive into other projects and momentum began to build. Just when we thought we were in easy sailing, we hit a problem than none of us expected, a creative wall. For a period of time, none of us knew how to move forward with the project, we were burned out of ideas, and the energy or initiative to push through wasn’t there. In hindsight, I really don’t remember what changed but at some point, someone made a breakthrough and in a short amount of time the project was completed. A key part of conflict resolution is having strategies to push the team through it. As in my illustration, sometimes conflict may not be between group members but between the group and the project or those outside of the group. Regardless, building a culture within a team that deals with any and all conflict immediately is vital to the long-term success of the group.

            Goal setting is a topic that general revolves around highly productive people. Usually, the operationally minded take the lead on this and help to set SMART goals that will drive a project forward. However, I would argue that goal setting should be driven by every member of the team because of how it relates to stewardship. Think of Matthew 25:14-30 where we read the familiar parable of the talents. In verses 16-18 it says, “Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. And likewise, he who had received two gained two more also. But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money.” When we read this passage, what should jump out to us is the fact that every one of these servants had a plan, they made “goals”. For the first two, their goal setting revolved around multiplying what they had been given through trade or whatever means necessary. We aren’t given a timeline or list of methods used but it’s unlikely that they did this overnight and then just waited for their lord to return. Verse 19 states, “after a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.” More than likely, the first two servants set a series of long-term goals that they began working on and continued to complete and reset until the master returned. Alternatively, though, the goal of the third servant was simply preservation. Some might say this is no goal at all but couldn’t that be said of teams that don’t set good goals? Without charting a course towards an objective or vision, teams will wander, waste time, and lose effectiveness. This is poor stewardship of time, resources, and abilities.

            Finally, servant leadership is the building block as a leader that makes all of these previously described strategies work. Servant leadership is how a leader shows their team that the team and its members are more important than themselves. Additionally, the humility that it takes to truly lead by serving will contribute to building trust, aid in resolving conflict, and will define the goal setting process. When it comes to servant leadership, Jesus is obviously the greatest example but many leaders throughout the Bible and history have exhibited what it means to be a servant leader. One such example is Peter Marshall. Peter was a Presbyterian pastor from Scotland who studied electrical engineering before starting ministry classes while working in the mines. Eventually, a cousin paid for Marshall to come to the US to attend Colombia Theological Seminary. Over the course of the next 17 years, Marshall worked tirelessly to minister to the congregations he served, was a part of youth revivals, and went where ever there were opportunities. Starting in a rural church in Georgia, Marshall eventually went to a larger church in Atlanta before being becoming pastor of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C just prior to the onset of WWII. At the end of WWII, he was appointed chaplain to the US Senate. During this period of time, he also cared for his bedridden wife who had contracted tuberculosis. Marshall never stopped serving anyone and everyone during this time and likely as a result, a heart attack took his life in 1949 at the age of 46. Marshall’s example should be a testament to the type of leader we should be, one who always prioritizes those in front of them and is willing to give no matter the cost. This of course does not give license to not taking care of ourselves, who can we help if we cut our life short or become incapacitated because we never took care of our own lives? But, that's a topic for another day. The bottom like is, lives like Peter Marshall should be a challenge to us to serve with everything we’ve got.

            At the end of the day, the success of teams does not solely rely on it’s a leader but the leader does have the opportunity to be the thermostat. They can set the tone regarding teamwork and collaboration and lead the effort through serving, building trust, resolving conflict, and stewarding wise goals. Building effective and efficient teams certain will include trial and error, but staying humble throughout the process will allow any leader to continue to take steps forward to finding success.