Teamwork Plus Competition Often Equals Subtraction

My wife had some painters come in last week, and one of them, a guy named Mark, asked what kind of work I do. When I told him I'm a consultant and coach, Mark said that years ago he had a boss who tried to get the team to compete against each other.

Mark said it was a big disaster. Instead of improving teamwork, it caused conflict and resentment.

I told him that many managers still believe that competition is good for a team, and that they still run into the same problems Mark saw years ago.

A little competition is ok, but it usually reduces, or subtracts from, teamwork. Think about it, do you really want your team members competing against each other? Or do you want them working together?

Chances are that if they're focused on competition, they're not focused on the team's purpose, on what the team is trying to achieve. That's not a good formula for team success.

Individual competition involves winners and losers, and that's not what you want your team thinking about. You want the TEAM to succeed so that EVERYONE on the team wins.

Also remember that what happens on the micro level mushrooms to the macro level.

I'm currently working with an organization where the top guy is trying to rid the organization of competition. He wants his six divisions working together as an enterprise, not as individual divisions that are watching out for their individual interests.

Changing that mindset is difficult, but we're doing it. You can't take an enterprise approach if everyone's competing against each other.

And it all starts at the smaller team level. You don't want your team members, or your department heads, working against each other. You want them working together to achieve common goals.

Focus your team on working together, not against each other.