While listening to the radio one morning, two DJs, one male, one female, and the producer became embroiled in a hot debate. The source of the debate came about when the male DJ stated that he was going to “tip” his mailman for all the good work he did during the year. The DJ went on to say that the postman always delivers the mail on time, does it in an efficient manner and calls him and his wife by name. The producer went ballistic arguing the other side of the “reward” coin. The producer felt that it was great that the mailman was doing his job and that he indeed may be doing it well, but that is what he is paid to do and should not be rewarded for doing his job to the best of his ability.

The DJ then responded with, “So I guess if the company gives you a bonus for doing your job well, you will return it.” The producer replied, “Well, it’s not necessary that the company pay me a bonus. But if I were given a bonus, I would not give it back.” This added fuel to the fire and the female DJ accused the producer of “talking out of both sides of her mouth.” And so the reward for motivation debate went and probably goes pretty much the same in many organizations.

Do reward systems always work? Not according to a book by Daniel H. Pink entitled, Drive – The surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. According to Pink, people who are internally motivated as opposed to being externally motivated are far more productive and in much less need of rewards of any type. How does this idea affect the workplace?

Being consistent is akin to having a good brand. Think of it as part of your personal power. Being a consistent performer at a high level, gives us personal power. This applies to performance teams as well. How can an individual or a team walk the talk if they fail to produce at a high level consistently? Therein lies the rub, what does it take to be consistent, consistently?

Define Your Brand

Most every organization has a mission statement. Teams, too, should have a mission statement as well. Certainly the mission statement should be in alignment with the organization’s, but be clear in representing what your team stands for, the work it produces and the value it brings to the table. Every team member should be on board with the team’s mission statement and live its philosophy each day.

Americans often find communication difficult even with one another. Now add today’s global workforce in the mix and your dream of global expansion, enhanced diversity and collaboration may turn into a nightmare that paralyzes your team preventing collaboration and productivity. Poor communication can evolve from even the most mundane circumstances.

As one who works with multicultural clients, I often find them becoming stumped, demotivated and hesitant to interact and communicate at even the most basic levels. Some examples include a student from a Nordic country who was stuck on how to respond to, “Hello, How are you doing?” He froze at the thought of delivering a reply that might prove to be insulting to his American co-workers. Another executive thought it rude that not every one of his American co-workers looked up and acknowledged that he had entered the break room. In other words, in his country, even if you are engaged in a serious conversation, you stop, acknowledge the person entering the room, speak to them and then jump back your conversation. A Hispanic executive found it difficult to find a polite way to end a telephone conversation. A Japanese executive was horrified and embarrassed to find that she had been using the work “physical” for “fiscal’.

Educational or intelligence levels do not automatically guarantee that there will be no confusion. For example, I once worked with a Chinese financial analyst whose father was a doctor. She was educated in Great Britain and was highly intelligent. Yet still she struggled with our idioms, slang and wit. Most all of my clients wrestle, at some level, with the idea of climbing the corporate ladder, getting recognized for their efforts, office politics and even speaking up in meetings. Of course, these same concerns spill over into team work. What can been done to reduce these communication nightmares?

In ancient Rome, chariot races were one of the main forms of entertainment. In fact, they were, at times, more dangerous than the gladiator fights. These races were run by teams of fearless charioteers who were often as famous as our sport team figures of today. So I began to wonder how charioteer teams of old are like our modern day business teams. OK, maybe I had a little too much time on my hands last week. But stay with me here.

Beware: Sharp Turns

Turns are one of the things that made the chariot races so dangerous. The end of the race track had conical tuning-posts or metae indicating a sharp turn that had to be navigated by several chariots at once. Failing to navigate this turn correctly could result in losing control of the chariot, being maimed or even death. Members of teams would attempt to head off other chariots going into these turns.