How do you stand the test of time working as a team?
This sounds like the classic million-dollar question, or if we want one of those rhetorical questions for which there is no single answer … but in my experience there is instead a simple and almost stone-cold answer to this question.
How do you stand the test of time when working in a team?
Understanding, accepting and leading change.
You read that right, a few words, a restricted but, needless to say, crucial area.
Change is inherent in the nature of things and, precisely in light of this, should not be feared but understood. It can be a very small change or a complete upheaval, it can be a change in an individual team member, a project, a process or a change that comes in from the outside and forces us to question things.
And here let’s pause for a second to contemplate.
The change that’ s inevitable: when the context changes and forces us to change
Never as in recent years has it been clear to everyone how sometimes external circumstances present us with challenges, both professional and personal, put us in front of questions we hadn’t asked ourselves and force us to review all or part of our strategies.
This may sound like a catastrophe, and sometimes it actually is,
but even from very complex situations we can come out stronger, more motivated or with a wealth of discoveries that we would not otherwise have made.
From my own experience I can say that it is never easy, nor is it nice, to have to question our plans or to have to re-plan, but it is much more dangerous to let ourselves be immobilized by the fear of change and rethink our projects and goals.
After the initial moment of confusion and disorientation, what I have realized over the years is that getting involved and becoming a catalyst for change can, and most of the time is, prove to be not only the right move but a winning one.
Of course, to be able to do this first of all we must be listeners, to our needs as well as to the needs of each member of a team.
Planned change: generating change to fuel energy and motivation
So let’s get back to the crux of the matter from which this consideration originated:
How do you stand the test of time when working in a team?
Understanding, accepting and leading change.
This is a rule that has been part of my way of working for a long time now, several times over the years I can say that I have successfully applied it and therefore I consider it, in my opinion, really a fundamental piece in the teamwork puzzle.
Listening to our own desires and dissatisfaction, and paying constant attention over time to the desires and dissatisfaction of the people we work with as well, is a valuable tool.
Going along with dreams and goals, even when it means questioning everything is the only way for a work team to stand the test of time.
I’ve never regretted following this guideline, and I honestly think it won’t happen in the future either.
But to find out, all I can do is stay tuned and see where the change leads me tomorrow!
