How Several Teams within the Same Company Can Function as a Whole
In his book, The
17th Indisputable Laws of Teamwork, John C. Maxwell emphasizes
the importance of teamwork and argues that working as part of the team is vital
for the success of any project and business.
But team work can be perceived at two different
levels: the team as a company, with several subdivisions working together to
achieve profit, and the team as a small business or a department within a
larger business, where individuals with separate responsibilities work together
to ensure the efficiency and proper functioning of that small business or department
within the larger business.
While it is easy to see why individuals members of the
same team should get along and cooperate for the greater good, many employees
and even members of the management fail to see why it is important for the
various departments within the same business to cooperate and strive towards
the same common end.
John C. Maxwell covers all these aspects related to teamwork,
several of his 17 indisputable laws referring to it. Here are the five laws
that are more representative for teamwork as collaboration between various
departments within the same company.
The Law of the Big Picture (2nd in Maxwell’s Book) – Each Individual and Each Subdivision Should See Beyond Their Basic Role
Many examples can be given to
support this law. Let us consider the case of a goods manufacturer. The
production department receives drawings, patterns, precise measurements and
designs based on which they are supposed to manufacture the end products.
However, there are numerous cases
when, starting from the existing designs, the production managers have succeeded
to come up with new solutions, following the same principles and quality
standards, but involving lower costs.
In a clothes factory for example,
when new models are sent for mass production, they are usually accompanied by
precise patterns and layouts for cutting the fabrics, meant to ensure that the
minimum amount of fabric is used.
Many times, the cutting department
succeeds to rearrange the patterns in such a way as to use even less fabric and
obtain the products exactly as they were designed, but with lower initial
costs. While these savings bring no immediate benefits for the cutting
department, but may prove time consuming, they mean a lot for the clothes
company, which can now produce the same clothes at lower costs or make more
profit.
In the same line of thought, a
customer service representative could easily invent some excuse or blame the
re-seller for the malfunction of the product a buyer complains about, rather
than to replace the damaged component or spend hours on the phone with the
buyer, troubleshooting the product, but, while doing so would save him some
time and brainstorming, it would be in the detriment of the manufacturing company,
as, on one hand, it would affect the reputation of the product and, on the
other hand, it would chase re-sellers away.
However, in order for this law to be
followed, it is important for each team member and company employee to receive
proper training, to have the company goals clearly stated and to be taught how
to pursue them, even in the detriment of his apparent direct interest.
The Law of the Chain (5th in the Book) – A Team/Company Is as Strong as Its Weakest Link
Let us consider a manufacturing company as the chain,
and its design, sales and customer service departments as the links. You could
say that a well designed product is easy to sell or that it should not need
servicing, but that is far from the truth.
You could have a great design, but poorly trained
sales personnel, unable to emphasize its strength to the target customers. That
is usually the result of a poor communication between the design and the sales
department.
The developers of the end products should take the
time to explain in detail how their creation works and how it can help the
buyer, in order to make sure the sales representatives rely on accurate
information and do not mislead the potential buyers.
Without adequate information and understanding of the
design, the sales representatives will either fail to sell the product or will
misinform the buyer and influence the company’s image in a negative way.
The communication between the two above mentioned
departments and the customer service representatives is just as important,
because, without accurate information and proper knowledge of the products’
particularities, the customer service representatives cannot help buyers solve
their technical problems, which, in turn, will compromise the reputation of the
company and make it more difficult for the sales representatives to close
deals.
In a company, each individual and each team play their
valuable part. Success leaves no room for error, miscommunication or
weaknesses. All parts of the whole should fulfill their role and work together
to close and sustain as many sales as possible and consolidate the company’s
reputation.
The Law of the Bad Apple (Maxwell’s no. 8) – The Team Can Be Ruined by Rotten Attitudes
This law is closely connected to the one discussed
above. Just like a weak member brings about the weakness of the whole team, the
improper attitude or behavior of one member of the team or department within a
company will threaten or ruin the success of the whole company.
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Teamwork leaves no room for envy or competition
between the members. When that happens, the goals of the team as a whole are
compromised. With an irresponsible or poorly managed designed department, it
does not matter how effective the sales team or the customer representative
team is, in the end, the buyers will hear about the poor concept behind the
products they sell or troubleshoot and stop buying.
In the same line of thought, no matter how good a
product is, if it is not marketed and serviced properly, it will never reach
its potential as far as sales figures are concerned. Thus, instead of the
design department trying to show that their work is more important than that of
the sales representatives, or the customer service representatives trying to
emphasize design problems where there are none, the parties should work as a
team, with the purpose of manufacturing the best products, selling them in as
high numbers as possible and servicing them as well as possible.
The Law of Countability (no. 9) – Team Members and Company Departments Should Support One Another When the Need Arises
No matter how well organized a company is and how well
trained and experienced its staff, bad, unpredicted things can always happen.
The key to overcoming them and minimizing their effects is for the various
departments within the company to be able to rely on one another and support
one another when in need.
For example, by providing statistics of the various
problems signaled by the buyers regarding the products manufactured by the company,
the customer service department can help the design department improve the
original concept and eliminate flaws.
By providing accurate and updated presentations to the
sales department, the design department can help them stay informed and make
the products known to potential customers.
By telling the buyers exactly what to expect from the
products offered, the sales representatives can prevent many calls to the
customer service and, thus, save their colleagues some time and resources. When
problems arise, the various departments should back one another up and not
throw the blame.
The Law of Identity (13 Is the Lucky Number) – A Team/Company Is Defined by the Values It Shares
Returning to the example above, the more values and
goals the various departments within a company share, the better they work
together and make that company prosper. This means that any company aiming to
excel in its market niche should be built around a common set of values.
These values should make the core of the professional
training in every team and department, no matter its specific, and should be
more important than the immediate goals of that team or department.
Indeed, the design department is expected to come up
with new, improved concepts regularly, the sales representatives are expected
to enlarge the clients portfolio and the customer service representatives are
expected to answer the buyer’s needs and questions.
However, when doing so, all these parties should keep
in mind the long term, general goals, and not just their local targets, because:
- A new concept is no good if it cannot be turned into a useful and durable product,
- High sales in one month are no good if the customers are misinformed and end up regretting their acquisitions,
- Providing incomplete or inaccurate answers to the customers having problems with the products they bought is no good, if their problems persist and they cannot make the most of the products and recommend them to their connections.
Of course, there are other important laws among the 17
promoted by John C. Maxwell that can be applied at this level as well, like the
Law of the High Morale, the Law of the Edge or the Law of Communication.
At a closer look, however,
we notice that the laws are, in fact, various approaches or interpretations to
the same basic idea: no matter if we talk about a small family business, a
medium enterprise or a corporation, the key to success is teamwork, meaning
communication and joined efforts for the greater good.
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