Performance within groups typically does not just happen.
For a group to really perform well, it needs practice. The group needs to understand the best way to organize itself for performance.
This concept is commonly understood by sports teams and the military. They clearly see the need to give groups opportunities to practice. Boot Camp for the military and pre-season workouts for sports teams are the norm.
It’s interesting to note in business that there is far less interest or appreciation of group development and the need for practice. Team practice, for the most part, is not factored into the business or corporate world. We form groups in business and march them into the corporate battle zone expecting them to perform and when they fail we are surprised.
Not many teams are great at both results and relationships.
Patrick Lencioni, in The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, lays out a simple but powerful framework for high-performance teaming that blends results and relationships. How does your team measure up?
Overwork is creating a vicious cycle that results in net losses.
During the recession organizations laid off a ton of employees. Many of them didn’t replace these people, but the amount of work remained. Nearly seven years since the recession began, individual American professionals are feeling the fatigue of doing the jobs of two or three former colleagues.
