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There is anxiety that comes with the infamous corporate T-word. I think most people fear teamwork because we’ve been burned by the team that was supposed to help us. This betrayal is paid forward by distrusting teams and working harder and longer hours solo because of trust issues.

The Better Help Editorial Team wrote in their article Understanding The Teamwork Definition In Relationships, published on betterhelp.com, “Trust can be key to successful teams and relationships alike. To be able to anticipate what is going to happen during a play or a relationship, it can be crucial to be able to trust the other person. A quarterback is unlikely to throw the ball in advance to a receiver if they do not trust that the receiver knows the route and will be there to catch it.”

Conversations about cultivating trust at work often focus on the relationship between managers and employees.” – Ron Friedman

Trust isn’t built instantaneously but over time. Meeting by meeting. Showing up with your work done and holding accountable those whose work is behind. A standard must be upheld by the team, not just a manager, but by all. Everyone in the team should take ownership in the vision and purpose because we are an extension of this group.

“Conversations about cultivating trust at work often focus on the relationship between managers and employees. While useful, this approach represents only half the equation. As important — if not more so — is establishing trust between teammates. After all, most employees work in teams, and the lion’s share of their daily experience involves interacting with colleagues, often in the absence of a boss,” writes Ron Friedman in his article How High-Performing Teams Build Trust, published in the Harvard Business Review.

It is the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too) that those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed.” – Charles Darwin

The team is a powerful tool. Individual parts working together for a common goal. When I enter a new team I like to share old experiences with team, good and bad. The reason is to allow the release of those attachments and begin the team fresh and new.

In Sprint, Jake Knapp with John Zeratsky & Braden Kowitz write, “The word ‘team’ is pretty cheap, but in a sprint, a team is really a team.You’ll be working side by side for five days. By Friday, you’ll be a problem-solving machine, and you’ll share a deep understanding of the challenge and the possible solutions.”

Sprint recommends the Design Sprint team consist of:

• The Decider
• The Finance Expert
• The Marketing Expert
• The Customer Expert
• The Tech Expert
• The Logistics Expert
• The Design Expert

Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.” – Andrew Carnegie

In The Sprint Handbook, Pattie Belle Hasting recommends the following roles and responsibilities:

• Lead Facilitator
• Sprint Host
• Exercise Facilitator
• Prototyper
• Recruiter
• Interviewer
• Note taker
• Runner
• Photographer

A key to the team’s success in sprints is in the expertise of the individuals. Knapp writes, “Each expert in the room will provide a key contribution – whether it’s background information, a fresh idea, or even a shrewd observation of your customers. Exactly what they’ll say and do is impossible to predict. But with the right team in place, unexpected solutions will appear.”