December 4th is Extraordinary Work as a Team Recognition Day. Working as a team is essential for the success of any organization. Captain Charles Plumb experienced a pivotal moment in his life that taught him the importance of working as a team.
Captain Charles Plumb was a fighter pilot in Vietnam. He flew many missions until, he was shot down. His parachute saved his life and enabled him to land and subsequently endure six years as a prisoner of war. Years later, he was approached by a stranger who knew him and identified him.
Who was the stranger? It was a sailor who had worked in the pit on the same boats Plumb has flown off many times on his plane. It was the very same sailor who had packed Charles Plumb’s parachute on the day we went missing over Vietnam. The sailor said to him; “I guess it (the parachute) worked.”
This caused Captain Charles Plumb to reflect because he had never before given the man who packed his parachute much thought. He asked; “How many times had I passed him and never seen him or spoke to him because he was just a sailor and I a pilot?”
Capital Plumb asked the sailor if he knew every parachute he had packed and the sailor said he did not. Captain Plumb realized the sailor did not know how many lives he had saved.
Within teams, sometimes the most menial tasks make the difference. If a single team member fails to execute their responsibilities or takes shortcuts, it can mean the death of the team or the project. That’s why its important to recognize and celebrate when teams function well and to celebrate success as a team.
1. A Shared Mission
Teams that share a mission and purpose are able to come together for the greater good. It’s not only Millenials who care about making a difference and who aspire to create something lasting and important. But, perhaps, Millennials are more vocal and more demanding as they seek to discover their personal missions.
If managers and leaders take a queue from that generation, they can better inspire and motivate their entire team. Understanding how each person makes a difference can bring about greater excellence.
When the custodial staff at a hospital understands the impact their cleaning has on patients’ well-being and on the ability of doctors and nursing staff to better perform their work, sometimes menial or boring work can take on a feeling of nobility.
The same can happen along with the most mundane jobs. The key is to identify how those tasks and jobs make an impact on the overall mission of the organization and to communicate it to the employees involved with the work.
2. Psychological Safety Within The Team
Another important aspect of great teams is the ability for team members to feel safe in the team. This has often been phrased as mutual respect, trust, a sense of friendship, and team cohesion. Whatever name it is called, psychological safety is critical. When each team member feels that they can speak and contribute without fear of retribution or mockery, the team has greater innovation and overcomes challenges better.
Google studied what makes great teams in Project Aristotle. They came up with several ways teams can create physiological safety for all members of the team. It includes listening to all members of the team, showing empathy when they express concern or struggle with an issue, and asking questions to gain a deeper understanding.
When team members show mutual respect, each member can approach the team when they are stuck or struggling. The team can brainstorm ideas easier and make decisions as a team to the challenges they face.
3. Effective Team Communication
Team communication cannot be effective without trust, but the mission and goals of the team will not come to fruition without effective communication. Good teams talk and communicate frequently. They have quality conversations and they frequently touch base.
Schedule time after major milestones for your team to meet and debrief on what worked and what went wrong. Schedule regular times for team members to go over current obstacles and brainstorm ideas and solutions.
Often the need for quality time and communication is misunderstood as a replacement for regular, consistent communication. But, it is very difficult to have quality communication without consistent communication.
Enhance Team Unity By Celebrating Together
Take advantage of Extraordinary Work as a Team Recognition Day to pause and celebrate the successes your team has enjoyed. Celebrating as a team helps to unify team members in their common goals and objectives. Team celebrations can be as simple as taking an hour to eat and talk or enjoy a team bonding game or as big as a team retreat over a weekend. It’s not as important how the team celebrates as it is that the team have a say in how they celebrate and that they have the chance to discuss and relive the successes they accomplished together. If your team hasn’t shared a celebration of success together, then December 4th is a perfect day to rectify that.About Thanks
Thanks is a leading provider of a recognition-based platform that increases communication, builds teamwork, and makes recognition a part of company culture. Fast, easy and simple Thanks makes it easy to bring data-driven employee recognition to your entire organization. O.C. Tanner purchased the Thanks platform in 2019 to fulfill the recognition needs of smaller businesses.
Thanks customers benefit from the same decades of research in employee motivation and company culture that O.C. Tanner enterprise clients enjoy, but in a product that is geared for fast, easy and simple deployment. Whether you’re starting a recognition program or improving and expanding on what you already have, Thanks has everything you need to engage your people with effective, scalable recognition.