The concept of teamwork may seem like a very small issue in the shadow of a larger business sustainability pursuit. However, sustainability teams and the expanded definitions of teamwork are proving to be far more powerful than most business leaders might have originally thought.
To most people working in a traditional business setting, teamwork means working well with coworkers on a defined task or project. However, today’s high-performance team activities are expanding stakeholder cooperation and communication through the entire value chain. Discussed in some detail in the article, Making Star Teams Out of Star Players, the author provides insights from leading business sustainability organizations. The post focuses on best practices on identifying and developing next generation skills.
“If you have world-class talent of all kinds on a team, you multiply the productivity and performance advantages that stand-alone stars deliver…Putting the best thinkers together can spur creativity and ideas that no one member of the team would have developed alone.”
How can teamwork accelerate CSR initiatives? Consider the use of green teams. Upon first glance, the idea of a corporate green team may seem fairly simple — a small effort that allows a subset of employees to gather around a shared interest. In practice, however, green teams can be much more powerful than that. They can inspire, activate, and engage employees to create meaningful changes within a company. The post Winning Characteristics of Green Teams offers ideas on getting started with green teams. Below we focus on how green teams advance a corporate sustainability plan.
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- Green team meetings allow participants to meet, collaborate, and discuss topics unique to their position in the organization.
- Green team meetings leverage synergies that result from brainstorming sessions and sustainable business strategies implemented in other departments.
- Green team meetings foster socialization and greater team work.
- Green team meetings allow for grassroots sharing of ideas, as well as a means to disseminate essential information related to the corporate CSR vision.
- They provide "on the ground" alerts to hot topics and cultural trends within the organization.
- Green team meetings help foster a collaborative culture in the organization, helping it achieve its objectives collectively.
Today’s business organizations are presented with the unique opportunity to increase profitability through greater eco awareness and the pursuit of a more sustainable business. To gain and maintain a competitive advantage over the competition, business leaders are looking for ways to advance the CSR vision by aligning sustainable business strategies through shared values with employees – green teams. When employees' values resonate with those of the corporation, they are more productive and loyal, and they find their work meaningful. Green teams functioning within the organization have the capability to align the corporate sustainability within the organization.
Julie Urlaub is the founder and managing partner of Taiga Company, a sustainability social media consulting firm, where she aids clients to powerfully engage in sustainability-related issues and stakeholder communications in the social space. She can be contacted at www.taigacompany.com | @taigacompany | Facebook/TaigaCompany