Wednesday, November 6, 2024

An Exceptional Team

What are the characteristics that make a team not just great, but exceptional?

By Kristine Cavey, Representative

Like it or not, you’re part of a team. It’s one of the few sure things in life: we must work with and rely on others.

Whether it’s in the home, at work, or the community in which you live, we social beings are designed to live in working connection with each other, actively and continually impacting one another. It’s dynamic and complex, as messy as it is beautiful.

Recently, I’ve been reminded of just how significant a functional team can be. You see, this week, I’ve transitioned from the role of CLAC Jobs West manager to CLAC representative.

While this is a move I have greatly anticipated, the change doesn’t come without loss—specifically, my departure from the team of people that make up the CLAC Jobs West Team.

The Jobs Team consists of a dozen individuals brought together to support and assist CLAC members working in construction find work throughout western Canada, partnering with workers to ensure stability for them and their families. You would be hard-pressed to find another crew that is just as passionate and committed to this mission.

For three years, I have had the privilege of being their manager. So, it is with pride and affection that I reflect on just what makes this team so hard to leave and consider how I can carry that into my future endeavours.

Recognizing that there are many books written on this topic, below is a list of characteristics—tested with my own first-hand experience—that make a team not just great, but exceptional.

8 Characteristic of an Exceptional Team

1. Purposeful

We all know that when a group of people are gathered to accomplish an objective, founded on a shared why, that is powerful. Related words I’d use to describe this trait are goal-oriented, focused, realistic, grounded, motivated. (For more on this, I recommend reading Simon Sinek’s Start With Why.)

2. Vulnerable

Brene Brown has helped make vulnerability a hot buzzword over the past decade for good reason. An emotionally healthy team has the courage to be vulnerable, as individuals contributing to the whole. A strong foundation in vulnerability lends itself to a multitude of traits that make up a healthy team, not the least of which is trust and security—something that we all fundamentally need. Vulnerability facilitates empathy, the ability to see, hear, and acknowledge one another and, in the ugly times, camp out, hold space, and allow for the moments when we must process the emotions that defy reason.

3. Trustworthy

Vulnerability can flourish and become the norm when those who you share it with are trustworthy. In addition to words like honest and authentic, teams are trustworthy when they actively practice integrity. For many, this is most evidently demonstrated through disagreement (what Brene Brown likes to call “rumbles”), be it using a sound mind when considering a tough situation, choosing words and making choices because they are good and right for all involved, or denying the urge to accept the quick or easy solution. Teams that are grounded in trust can work through the rough patches, where disagreement and discord are healthy steps on the best path forward.

4. Respectful

Every person is their own agent, embedded with a sense of independence, with a need to exercise their value and autonomy. When team members respect one another, acknowledging the innate dignity within, they are, in my experience, better at producing and sustaining good work. While they might feel a sense of competition, their mutual respect means that they see success as a win for everyone.

5. Growth Mindset

In Carol Dweck’s book Mindset, she lays out the difference between a growth versus a fixed mindset and describes the impact it makes on one’s ability to learn and improve. When a team adopts a growth mindset, they are adaptive and can find the best way forward together; there is no limit to their potential. (For reading on systematic continuous improvement, try Toyota Kata by Mike Rother.)

6. Communicative

When a group of separate and different individuals learn to regularly and openly communicate, it’s a beautiful thing. Expectations and hopes are made clear. Fears and assumptions are no longer held in. Ideas can be fleshed out and explored. While every team is different, I am personally a proponent of creating a system of communication that includes meetings, documentation, clearly written processes—complete with rationale—and today’s best practices.

7. Joyful

I’d be remiss if I were to not include this trait when considering the Jobs West Team. Laughter is the best medicine, as they say, and the Jobs West Team has it in spades. However, I’d like to go a step further than mere comedy and say that joy is an essential ingredient to an exceptional work community. Especially during difficulty and chaos, the collective ability to see past the moment and anticipate something better enables laughter, yes, but also a sense of peace.

8. Ownership

I started with purpose and will end with this description for the Jobs West Team. They are not only purposeful, but also individually committed. This is what Jocko Willink writes about in his book Extreme Ownership. For the Jobs West Team, their work ethic is fueled by their own personal dedication to finding CLAC members gainful employment. They find meaning in this and are satisfied whenever their efforts result in someone securing employment. In fact, they celebrate it—regularly.

Although my title was manager, I was really a mere guide for those that make up the Jobs West Team. My role was to provide direction and establish structure. My personal aim was to ensure a highly functional, highly satisfied, and high-performing team. They did the work, leading the charge in their own space, creative and ready to maintain a stable workforce.

This is the culture they’ve fostered: a camaraderie. For me, they personify the idea that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, where they work each day, shoulder to shoulder, relying on and supporting one another. It’s what team is all about.

An Exceptional Team

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