great team and great leaders by Awa DIALLO

Just like all our coaching sessions, this one has been very educational in our different perceptions of good teams. However, we all worked in different environments, one aspect is always found in our experiences, effective team working goes through effective communication.

David emphasised this aspect at his workplace by explaining how in meetings where technicians, engineers and managers are present, one needs to make sure that technicians knows and understand that their opinion and thoughts about the task are needed. They must contribute to the good outcome of the meetings and the great performance of the teams. Not just by being able to do what engineers ask them to do; but by also being able to analyse a situations suggests better ways to perform a task.

Bob had a bad experience when working in a team that ended splitting up because one of the members left the team. That team member did not speak up for her ideas and she was following the lead of the two other team member. Writing about it now, I think, made Bob realised that they might not have given her the opportunity to express her feelings and thoughts about the subject they were analysing at the time. I learned that in the Chinese culture, you do not oppose to what the majority is saying. That resulted in a team member that did not agree with the team’s choices and could not say it. All the frustration could have been avoided if the team was aware of her difficulties to speak up for her ideas, and if they made her feel and understand that her suggestions were essential for the team’s performance.   

Depending on our experiences, we learned different lessons that I believe will make us great managers. Indeed, as an MBA student and a Future manager, I understand that I have to make every member of the team I am supervising understand and know for sure that their opinion is needed for the wellbeing of the team; considering any restrictions that they may have, either cultural or personal. From my own experience, I know that to get people committed to their workplace, a great manager has the duty to make them understand that they are an essential part of the company; for the company to be at its best, they all need to perform their best.