Addressing any industrial wear application, operates within a team setting. Everyone has been involved in any number of team settings from work, family life to non-profit groups.

Industry today revolves around more meetings than ever. The effectiveness of every meeting depends on the leader and the guidance, interaction and support of everyone participating.

I have been reading the book ‘Smarter, Faster, Better; The Secrets of Being Productive in Life and Business’, by Charles Duhigg. It is an exploration into the science of productivity. The goal for everyone is to become Smarter, Faster and Better at everything we do.

I highly recommend this book for anyone who is involved in working with others in a team environment.

One of the most intriguing stories in the book is Google’s project Aristotle. It was Google’s four-year internal effort to discover what similarities existed in their most effective teams. After thousands of surveys, hundreds of interviews and over two years of analyzing reams of data; several trends emerged.

Here are some of the most interesting results:

• How teams work together matters more, than who is on the team. Most people think the best team must have one or two superstars on the team, but that is not what their research found. You can teach a team of average performers to interact the right way, and the team will achieve results no individual superstar could ever accomplish.
• They dispelled these common myths regarding team performance:
  • Sales teams should be run differently than engineering teams. FALSE.
  • The best teams need everyone to agree on everything. FALSE.
  • Teams need to be physically located together. FALSE.
  • It is important everyone on the team feels like they have a voice. And social sensitivity within the team interactions is critical.

What Matters Are Your 5 Key Norms:
This must happen regardless of what industry you are in or project where you are involved.

1. Teams need to believe their work is important.
2. They need to feel their work is personally meaningful.
3. Teams need clearly defined goals.
4. Team members need to know they can depend on one another.
5. And most important – teams need psychological safety.

To achieve psychological safety; leaders needed to model the right behaviors. Here are some of the items on the Google designed checklist leaders would use:

• Leaders should not interrupt teammates during meetings. If you have questions, ask for clarification after they have finished speaking. To interrupt would establish an interrupting norm, which is not beneficial.
• Leaders should demonstrate they are listening by summarizing what people say after they said it.
• Team members should admit what they don’t know.
• A meeting should not end until all team members have spoken at least once.
• People who are upset should be encouraged to express their frustrations.
• Encourage all teammates to respond in non-judgmental ways.
• Leaders should expand inter-group conflicts and resolve them through open discussion. Conflicts often bring about some of the best breakthroughs.

Of the dozens of tactics on the checklist, they all can be distilled down to two general principles:

1. Teams succeed when everyone feels like they can speak up.
2. Team members need to show they are sensitive to how one another feels.

There are many small things a leader can do to assure the effectiveness of the team:

• In meetings, always wait until a team member finishes talking before asking a question.
• How does the leader act when someone is upset?
• Every team is different and it is not uncommon for someone to fight for something they believe in.
• The right norms must be in place to have productive arguments rather than destructive ones. Otherwise a team never becomes stronger.

A good leader must be conscious of how they model listening in team meetings. By encouraging everyone to speak and not interrupting, overall team dynamics are more effective.

Teams are now the fundamental unit of self-organization. Every team in any organization of any type can benefit from these findings.

Does This Sound Familiar?
Have you previously worked at a company where meetings were not run as described? Most people can likely picture a former leader violating many if not all of the 5 norms.

We all realize teamwork is essential to success. What does Google’s teamwork study have to do with wear resistant steel?

Plenty.

Having worked with a variety of vendors, you have seen every type of sales person there is; from the annoying pest to the welcome guest.

Consider who is your Go-To-Person When You Need Answers NOW. They are the one person you can rely on when nothing is going right. If you give it some thought, they probably already operate in the 5 norms.

If your current vendor only talks about treating the symptoms of your issue, and is happy for every order they send you, your relationship is not improving.

JADCO’s representatives gather all the available history and information from your team to uncover the cause of the problem.

We know everyone on your team has valuable input that can make a difference in the effectiveness of your solution. JADCO representatives are likely the best workers not on your payroll.

If your current wear resistant steel vendor is always pushing a product, and is not motivated to investigate your unique challenges or offer improved results; it is time to talk with JADCO.

Our industry leading wear resistant steel products are Proudly Made in the USA. But that is only part of the story.
Like the best results of Google’s teams; JADCO’s employee teams are dedicated to deliver results in your most challenging applications.

Strategic thinking and planning to use the correct materials in the right applications will win your battle over equipment wear and eliminate unplanned breakdowns.

Isn’t it time to conserve your limited budget by inviting a JADCO sales professional to review your current plan before it is too late?

When we review what you are doing, what you have tried and how it worked previously; we can help you achieve real improvement results in your process.

Contact your local JADCO professional by calling us at (724) 452-5252 or email us at: info@jadcomfg.com .

We look forward to helping you eliminate your wear related challenges.