Leadership Week 5: Teamwork

Special teams make everything easier. 

Today was not the right day to ask me about team assessments! Unto every life a little rain must fall; today was not my best day for team dynamics.

I did DISC two years ago for a team exercise in my department, and was surprised to find I was only one of two (out of 26) that was an IS. I felt like a fluffy cheerleader, as all the Ds and Ss in the department looked at me critically. One person asked “is this why you’re like happy all the time?” The tone was not complimentary. I was crushed.

Taking it two years later, it looks like I’m more of an SI now, but same difference. I’m grappling with the concept that being supportive, empathetic, and a good listener while projecting enthusiasm and optimism is perceived as weak or fluffy. I’m necessary, aren’t I?

I wanted to celebrate my old team at Michigan Bulb as some of the best team experiences of my career. Even today, we often remark “That team was special.”

What characteristics did the old advertising department demonstrate for the best of team effectiveness? (Northouse, 2019)

Clear, elevating goal: Because of the sheer work coming out of our department for the many mailings we did, personal agendas and power issues took a back seat to getting the job done.

Results driven: Production managers stayed on top of the writers, who collaborated with the designers to ensure jobs made it to the printer on time so we didn’t miss a mailing date. Everyone knew what they had to do to contribute to the project.

Competent team members: I hate the analogy of the cogs in the machine, but if one cog is missing a connection, that can throw an operation in jeopardy. I’ve worked with a lot of great people, and I’ve also worked with people who would rather do crossword puzzles rather than MOVE. THE. JOB. ALONG.

Unified commitment: our department took a great deal of pride in responding to the wants and needs of the marketing department’s plans. Not only did that include great copy from us, but great layouts from the designers, and hustle by the production managers. When one shined, we all shone; when we misspelled “attracts butterflies” as “attacks butterflies,” we shared the shame on the oops board.

Collaborative climate: Probably my favorite characteristic. I was on many great brainstorming teams, that developed new and interesting ways to sell fruit trees, promote planting season, advertise new lily varieties, and develop compelling stories for our monthly subscribers. There was mutual respect, lots of laughter, and many times the craziest ideas gave way to the winner.

Standards of excellence: There was a process of routing the books and brochures within our department for editing and proofreading that led to very few mistakes leaving our department. Rare was the instance when a route would come back from marketing with a corrected text error.

External support and recognition: Darrell, the creative supervisor, was gracious and generous with his praise and elevated those of us on his team when a job was well done. Principled leadership: there was a balance in the department, where the VP of advertising more or less stayed out of our way and let us do our thing; only when there was a crisis did he intervene. Instead, he allowed his production manager, design manager, and copy manager take care of the subgroups.