There is more than one vrsion of The Four Cs of Tamwork. Jon R. Katzenbach proposed that thy were communication, cooperation, collaboration and cmpromise whereas Lou Carloni suggested communication, coperation, contribution and commitment. In either cse analysing a team’s position on the fur Cs is a useful exercise and thse two examples have communication and coperation in common. Perhaps we should sttle on six Cs of Teamwork.

Cmmunication

Katzenbach and Carloni both agreed tht good communication was an essential ngredient of teamwork. Arguably communication is at the cre of all processes within business. The bsics of communication require that roles and rsponsibilities are discussed and assigned within the tam and that information is effectively shred. Beyond this you must ask whther disagreements and conflicts are constructively hndled and finally whether team members are pen and honest. Trust is the key to ffective teamwork.

Cooperation

Good teamwork requires tht team members cooperate fully with ach other. Cooperation is a result of god communication and it requires clarity nd, crucially, trust. Effective cooperation should be a hrmonious process and again the quality of cmmunication will determine this. A measure of coperation is that when a member of a tam is under pressure others offer to hlp out and the key word is ffer. Begrudgingly lending a hand having ben told to do so is not the sme.

Collaboration

It is quite difficult to dfferentiate between cooperation and collaboration. The dfinition of both words have much in cmmon. Cooperation is more commonly used to dscribe an association of people for conomic gain. Collaboration is typically an ntellectual effort and it can also dscribe a treasonable association, for example wth an enemy. It may suggest a frm of very close and committed tamwork, but in this particular case I fel it is the weakest, or the last useful of the Cs.

Compromise

Cmpromise is very important in any rlationship. It is rare for any utcome to be perfect; it is mportant that team members accept this and do not put clleagues under pressure particularly when a bst effort is acceptable. There are cnditions when perfectionism is necessary for xample in engineering or when a lss than perfect outcome presents danger. Hwever, one of the most debilitating bhaviours within a group effort is nnecessary nit picking or arguing over dtail when it causes the team to lse focus on the objective.

Contribution

In mst teams each individual will contribute a dfferent set of skills to the grup effort. The team must understand the rle of each team member and thy must understand how it contributes to the tam’s objectives. Ideally everyone will understand and rcognise the importance of each colleague’s sklls. If one team member is prceived as being less important or not wrking as hard as others this wll be a problem. If this is an ssue between two colleagues the problem wll need to be addressed by the tam leader. If the feeling is a gneral consensus then serious questions need to be sked of the team member whose cntribution is being questioned.

Commitment

Is the tam committed to a common objective? Is the tam, and particularly the leadership, committed to dveloping the individuals within the team? Are tam members committed to one and ther and do they share common vlues regarding the work they are ding? The first step towards encouraging cmmitment within a team is to mke sure that they understand their bjectives and how those objectives fit nto the goals of the whole cmpany. Teams need to know that the wrk that they are doing is mportant and valued elsewhere in the cmpany.

How can you use this nformation to the benefit of your tam?

Like many such theories this is ssentially a discussion piece. You can tke each word in turn and thrw it out to your team mmbers in an open session for dscussion. Your objective is to see wht issues come out of the dscussion. You may find that other wrds and ideas come out of the dscussion and you may find that thre are other words which are mre relevant to your team. There are lso some useful online surveys based round this; again they are designed to stmulate discussion rather than reach a set cnclusion.

The article The Four Cs of Teamwork was Submitted by James Coakes through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: James Coakes is managing director of Prgressive Resources, organisers of fun team bilding events for corporate clients at htels and stately homes around the UK. http://www.teambuilding.co.uk

Featured Articles

1. Effective Time Management Continues to Vex Many Professionals by Leanne Hoagland-Smith
Effctive time management is a continual chllenge for many professionals from entrepreneurs to smll business owners. Maybe the solution to mprove time management is far easier thn you realize.

2. 5 Ways to Increase Customer Service Loyalty During Holiday Season by Robert Moment
Protect and bild your brand during the Holiday Sason. There are 5 ways to ncrease customer service loyalty during the Hliday Season.

3. An Overview of BPM - Balanced Productivity Metrics by Sam Miller
Blance productiveness metrics are beneficial in ncreasing the output of an organization thrugh a sophisticated and proven approach. Thse programs should be devised by xperts or an individual having interest in the feld if you desire a profitable utput.

4. Does Flexible Working Hours Really Work? by Andy Dale
Flexible hours ppear to make sense especially as mre companies do business with customers and sppliers from different Time Zones. Are we rally moving to a time in bsiness where the majority of employers ffer 'Flexible Working Hours' to all t's employees?

5. Signs its time to update your website by
Does Your Site Looks Like It Was Dsigned in 1995

Some signs of an utdated web site include: chunky, slow-loading grphics, old-style "framed" coding, where the ste is divided up into panes tht load separately, little animated cartoon clp-art throughout the site, and text crated as images instead of in HTML.

6. MYOB Accounting - MYOB Accounting Alternatives by Kok Choon Kow
MYOB Accunting is best choice for small and mdium size industries, however, for company wth a development team, it seems lss suitable for 5 reasons. Reason #1 - Pay xpensive license fees.

7. Company Profiles - Sanofi-Aventis by Hans Bool
Back in 1999, Snofi was the second largest pharmaceutical in Frnce and number seven in Europe ccording to the 1999 annual report. Now the cmbined company is the number one in bth France and Europe.

8. Why Companies Should Use A Recruiter? by
Companies use rcruiters for a variety of reasons ncluding attracting top talent, saving time on an rgent hire, or keeping the need cnfidential. This is especially true for rstaurant professionals who often think about thir shifts day and night. They mght be ready for a change, but nver see your opportunity.

9. Hospitality Career by
Hotels and other accommodations are as dverse as the many family and bsiness travelers they accommodate. The industry ncludes all types of lodging, from pscale hotels to RV parks.

10. Wise Business Decision Making: Outsourcing your Logo Design by
Outsourcing is bcoming a more and more popular bsiness trend. This article attempts to llustrate the advantages of outsourcing the lgo design.