Teamwork Keynote Speaker Mike Hourigan

Is It Teamwork, Team Building or Team Management?

As a Keynote Speaker on Teamwork, Team Building Speaker and a Team Management Speaker, I realize there is a lot of confusion.
To briefly point out the differences of the terms, Teamwork is a general term referring to the combined effort of a group of people. Teamwork can apply to the Navy SEALS, New York Yankees or the sales force of a pharmaceutical company. The premise of teamwork is that if we all work together toward a common goal, we will accomplish more than any one of us on an individual basis.

Team Building is best thought of as a process. It is the driver that brings the team together and turns the team into a working unit. Because we randomly choose a group of people to compete in the Ryder Cup, the Church Auxiliary Bake Sale or the manufacture of a vaccine, does not assure we will reach our goals. The team must develop trust, a sense of purpose and a mission.

Team Management can best be thought of as coordination of the team. It can include many facets from the leader setting a good example, to praising good effort to choosing the right people for the right job to making wise decisions. Team management is an art, a negotiation and a study of the individual parts to see the whole picture. Whether the team manager is coaching a women’s lacrosse team, a shoe company or a coffee chain, it is an essential task.

Equal Importance of the Three Team Factors
So then, I am often asked, as a Keynote Speaker on Teamwork, which is the most important? You might guess my answer: they are equally important. They are the legs of a three-legged stool; the tripod of a camera; the minimal foundation for nearly any structure to stand against the wind, the tides or to support the sides and walls of a structure.

The problem is that far too many organizations try to create teams with only two out of three or just one of those factors. How does that happen?
In terms of neglecting teamwork, it might be the administration of an organization selecting a randomly chosen team of very dissimilar parts and believing that they will learn to get along. Truthfully, there must be some initial similarity and mindset. Bringing together a safety team, for example, where some of the team members are suspected to be substance abusers or an even more absurd example, trying to field a football team on the cheap with athletes content to play out their careers with minimal effort, will never create a winner.

In overlooking team building, where no one in the organization is engaged enough to convey a mission or a purpose, or worse, a sense of trust will lead to a dismal outcome. If a group of marketing executives brought together in the merger of two fierce competitors don’t convey a sense of purpose, the team will dissolve into old animosity and mistrust.

If team management is lost, and there is no coordination where the organization walks away and says “Guy’s you’re on your own,” oftentimes the message will evolve into “We don’t care what you do; this is window dressing.”

As a teamwork motivational speaker, I have seen far too many teams fail because the organization cared too little, but rarely a situation where a team failed when everyone cared too much. The glue that holds the team factors together is passion at all levels.

To book Mike Hourigan, Teamwork Motivational Keynote Speaker, for a virtual or in-person presentation to your organization, contact Mike today at (704) 875-3030 or fill out the form below.

Teamwork Keynote Speaker

Teamwork Keynote Speaker Mike Hourigan
Teamwork Keynote Speaker

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    Mike does much more than present one-of-a-kind keynote speeches - he provides fun and fact filled breakout sessions as well as dynamic training programs for numerous organizations like Marriott, Disney, Harley-Davidson and even the U.S. Army.