Individuality and collectivity are two variables that must coexist within an organization. Team culture, vision, strategy, leadership, goal setting, productivity, and planning, among others, have both an individual and a collective dimension.
The two reinforce and strengthen each other, since building a strong team culture requires that its members be performing at their best. And, in turn, a strong team fosters the growth of individual strengths.
The problem arises when individuality spirals out of control to the point of breaking this balance.
Teams suffer more from the excessive individuality of their members than from excessive alignment (although this case also exists in some teams and also needs to be addressed).
Paradoxically, this tendency to elevate individuality is very common in team sports. For example, any football coach who wants to achieve long-term results tries by all means to prioritize and focus on the team rather than putting all their eggs in one basket with their star player.
But society seeks superstars with whom to identify, and whom to mythologize, expecting these to be the ones who achieve success. In fact, many team successes have gone largely unrecognized due to the excessive acclaim given to current stars.
When it comes to teamwork, individuality shines when the team is strong.
If we know that we tend to reward individuality over collectivity, with the belief (even if we verbalize something else) that we will be faster, more productive, and freer to act and decide, we have to adjust corporate habits to promote a organizational culture .
Here are some ideas to boost team culture in companies:
- To promote a culture of teamwork within the organization, with the goal of ensuring that all leaders, teams, and professionals integrate teamwork as a priority value.
Teamwork is not an option. It's a requirement.
- Prioritize public or private recognition of collective effort and achievements, even over recognition of individual accomplishments. This will prevent the temptation to seek only personal success to gain status and reputation within the organization.
It is not possible to be a leader or a leading professional if you do not contribute to the success of the team.
- Increase the number of cross-cutting projects, and thus learn to coordinate, manage diversity and thus ensure that the productivity of the system is much more than the sum of its parts.
Organizations are increasingly looking for professionals with a systemic vision and the right skills to lead cross-functional projects.
- Encourage presentations, or communications, agreed upon and led by several people (or several teams) at the same time, with the intention of giving more voice to the team and the organization as a whole.
Take advantage of any company event or communication to help people understand that decisions, successes, or adjustments to be made are related to the whole and not just to personal decisions.
- Avoid comparisons between professionals and, instead, promote synergies between them, to reduce toxic competitiveness between individuals and teams.
Just as we know how to do things at home with family or friends, we also need to make the people who work with us shine. Speak well of them, give them the spotlight, recognize them publicly…
- Prioritize incentive systems based on collective productivity over incentives based on individual productivity, so that it is clear that this is about adding up everyone.
If we want to build a team culture, why do we continue to reward individual work more than collective effort? We can add individual bonuses that measure a person's mindset, effort, and commitment to fostering teamwork.
- Facilitate interventions and professional development programs at a collective level, so that all members of a team understand that their obligation also includes helping their colleagues grow.
Promoting dynamics such as peer mentoring, or the involvement of everyone in defining the development plans of each person on the team, can be some initiatives to carry out.
- Dare to bet on co-leadership formulas in the organization, which it can gradually digest, such as sharing the formal leadership of a project between two people, or trying with self-directed teams for specific tasks without the supervision of the area manager.
Gradually reducing the organizational hierarchy to a level that can be assimilated will allow the organization to increase the empowerment of its professionals, while also increasing their level of satisfaction and professional self-realization.
Enric Arola
