Building a Culture of Teamwork Some Practical Strategies for Determined Leaders A Presentation for the RMH Social Services Retreat Kendall L. Stewart, M.D. November 30, 2005

Why is this important? Most of us want to work in an organizational culture that encourages teamwork, produces exceptional results and fosters personal and professional pride. But real teamwork at work is fairly rare. To committed cynics, the whole notion of teamwork is nonsense. To the aimless, a tolerable drudgery is the most one can hope for at work. But for a few, real teamwork is achievable, exceptional performance is possible and a sense of meaning and purpose can be achieved. The passionate architects of a culture of teamwork—and those willing to join them in that quest— this presentation is for them. After mastering the information in this presentation, you will be able to –Identify three of the typical barriers to building and sustaining a culture of teamwork, –Describe three practical strategies for creating a culture of teamwork, –Explain why it makes sense to deploy one of these strategies, and –Detail how to do it For most of us teamwork is the difference between work and vocation, between a job and a career and between just getting by and making a difference. 1,2,3

What are some of the typical barriers to a culture of teamwork? Leaders who need to be loved Leaders who avoid conflict Leaders who are unwilling to take risks 1,2 Leaders who have thin skin Leaders who are reluctant to take responsibility for organizational culture Leaders who don’t set an example Leaders who cannot follow others. Leaders who are unwilling to extrude “net-negative” leaders Leaders who delegate too quickly Leaders who micromanage Leaders. Duh.

What are some of the practical strategies for creating a culture of teamwork? Make an informed commitment. 1,2 Become passionately engaged yourself.* Select an effective champion. Empower the zealots. Develop a comprehensive plan. Launch and sustain an enabling process. Clarify behavioral expectations. Extrude “net-negative” leaders Bait and set emotional hooks. Face reality. 3 Make a compelling case for cultural change. Study and adopt best practices. Set goals that only teams can reach.* Field the best possible teams.* Focus on performance, not teamwork. Measure things that matter. Make up your mind to eventually achieve and sustain 90 th percentile performance. Monitor your progress continuously. Celebrate incremental progress. Anticipate “poop out.”

*Become passionately engaged yourself. Why should you? –You cannot engage others if you are not engaged. –You cannot fake passion. –Without passion you cannot sustain the effort required. –Unless you are personally engaged, everyone will perceive you as disengaged. –It’s more fun than watching from the sidelines. How can you? –Let your feelings show. –Risk infection from other passionate leaders. –Propose, sell and lead the implementation of a new project or service. 1,2,3 –Volunteer to lead a process improvement team. –Find and share the teamwork stories that move you.

*Set goals that only teams can reach. Why should you? –Goals that are individually unachievable naturally encourages teamwork. 1,2,3 –Laudable goals are hard to dismiss as unworthy. –Goals create an energizing discomfort. –Most people will agree that having a goal is good and that performance excellence is desirable. –Meaningful goals create common ground. –Adopting a tough goals brings out the competitive spirit in most of us. –Most of us want to feel proud of our achievements. How can you? –Set specific, measurable goals. –Focus on goals that matter. –Find out what your colleagues are measuring. –Limit the number of goals to minimize data fatigue. –Display performance data everywhere. –Update the data as frequently as is practical. –Celebrate every indication of progress.

*Field the best possible teams. Why should you? –Playground realities are often ignored in the workplace. –Few organizations are composed entirely of stars, but most organizations have at least a few. –This strategy rewards the stars and discourages the sneering slackers. –Merely deploying this painful strategy will jumpstart your effort. –Your courage will encourage other leaders to follow suit. How can you? –Recognize and embrace this obligation. 1,2,3 –Announce your intention. –Invite input, but reserve the final decision. –Think of yourself as a winning coach instead of a camp counselor. –Stop worrying about keeping everybody happy. –Select for ability and attitude, not just ability. –Aim for discomfort, not comfort.

What have you learned? Most of us long to work and serve in an organizational culture of teamwork. But creating and sustaining such a culture is much harder than it sounds. It is not about everybody being nice to each other. It is about performance. It is about setting goals that only teams can achieve. And it is finally about the painful price each of us is willing to pay—and keep on paying. 1,2,3

Where can you learn more? Please visit to download related White Papers and presentations. Go to tm to review and download this presentation. tm Katzenbach, Jon R. and Smith, Douglas K., The Wisdom of Teams: Creating the High-Performance Organization, Harvard Business School Press, 1992 Parker, Glenn M., Team Players and Teamwork, Jossey-Bass, 1996 Schein, Edgar H. The Corporate Culture Survival Guide, Jossey-Bass, 1999 Stewart, KL, et. al., A Portable Mentor for Organizational Leaders, SOMCPress, 2003 Stewart, Kendall L., “Relationships: Building and Sustaining the Interpersonal Foundations of Organizational Success” SOMCPress White Paper, SOMCPress, March 11, 2002

How can you contact me? Kendall L. Stewart, M.D. VPMA and Chief Medical Officer Southern Ohio Medical Center President & CEO The SOMC Medical Care Foundation, Inc th Street Portsmouth, Ohio

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