Team meaning: a group of friendly people doing something valuable

Ali’s team is always desirable. In June 2017, Jack Ma communicated with young people who had received scholarships funded by him in Hangzhou. Jack Ma bluntly said that what he is really proud of is not the victory that Ali has achieved now, but the group of people who created this victory and continued from victory to victory. What makes Alibaba successful is not Jack Ma alone, but a team. Are those people in your company a team or an accomplice?

I worked for Alibaba for nine years, and then started my own business for four years. After leaving Alibaba, I came into contact with many companies. In the process of providing management and cultural training for them, I saw many corporate teams, such as Business teams and technical teams cannot be called teams. To be more precise, it would be more appropriate to call them "accomplices". Because I don't see what a team should look like in these people.

Usually, we understand the word "accomplice" as "people who gather together for benefit". It is derogatory in daily context and can easily make people think of "criminal accomplices" and "criminal accomplices". accomplices in the crime." Closely related to "complicit crimes" are: sitting on the ground to divide the spoils, uneven distribution of the spoils, brawls in the den, etc. Everyone in the "partners" is calculating their own interests. If it is beneficial, they will join together, and if it is not beneficial, they will break up.

Temporary, unstable and short-term are the main characteristics of "accomplices".

It is undeniable that from the perspective of short-term benefits, the number and even performance of an "accomplice" will increase rapidly. Because there is a clear profit incentive, "accomplices" rarely screen talents and usually It is natural elimination after people join.

However, "you only know who is swimming naked when the tide goes out." Once you lose or achieve your short-term profit goals, you will either fall into "lose without profit" or fall into "chaos" "infighting" situation. Many "collaborators" have internal disputes due to uneven distribution of interests, and eventually fall apart. So, what is a team?

Management scientist Stephen. P. Stephen P. Robbins believes that a team is an organization composed of two or more interacting and interdependent individuals who are combined according to certain rules for a specific goal.

This statement seems blunt and difficult to understand.

Alibaba’s definition of a team is: a group of affectionate and righteous people doing something valuable and meaningful.

For example, Alibaba’s “China Supply Iron Army” is a veritable “iron-blooded team.” Within Alibaba, according to the company's development cycle, it is divided into three main teams: "China Supply Department", "Taobao Department", and "Payment Department". The “Taobao” team corresponds to e-commerce business platforms such as Taobao and Tmall; the “Payment” team corresponds to Alipay. These are all easy to understand. The "Chinese Supply Department" is a very mysterious team. It is a B2B business organization that was born to create blood when Ali was in embarrassment in its early years.

The "China Supply Chain Army", a marketing team known for its toughness, has a large number of influential figures. Later, they left Alibaba one after another to start their own businesses, and their business accounted for almost half of the Internet world. "China Railway Supply Army" was established in October 2000. It helped Alibaba get out of its lowest point, survive the Internet winter at the turn of the century, and provided many senior executives to Alibaba and the Internet arena.

The "China Railway Supply Army" back then had a very strong combat effectiveness and would work hard to achieve the goals they set. Salesmen visited more than a dozen customers every day. Even if they encountered security obstruction from the customer company, they still had to find ways to meet them. Customers, several people crowded into a small room eating instant noodles... I am afraid that few Internet people nowadays have such a strong spirit. This group of people used their subsequent achievements to prove that the hardships they endured back then can be exchanged for huge rewards.

The reason why this group of people can help Ali "conquer half of the country" is because they are united in their hearts and have the same ideals and goals. This is a team, this is a group of kind and righteous people doing something valuable and meaningful. We often say that people together are called a party, and hearts together are called a team. A team must first be together. Only when the hearts are together can we have the same thoughts and the same goals.

Not every homogeneous entity composed of employees and management is called a team. The biggest difference between a team and an accomplice is the people's hearts.

Only those who follow the right path and win the hearts of the people can develop sustainably and achieve success; those who only pursue selfish interests and cannot win the hearts of the people will inevitably lose their way and have little help.

Seeing this, managers please stop and think carefully: Are the people in your company a team or accomplices? A group of loving and kind people doing something valuable and meaningful

Now that we know what a team is, let’s take a closer look at Alibaba’s definition of a team and what a team should be. What kind of.

As a member of the "China Iron Supply Army", I have a deep understanding of the saying "a group of caring and righteous people do something meaningful and valuable". Although this sentence is simple, it brings us a lot of information.

We have heard the words "affectionate and righteous" and "valuable and meaningful" a lot, but for managers, we have to think about its true meaning and learn to break it down.

① What is "affectionate and righteous"?

"Love" is as big as the vision and mission, as small as the affection between brothers; "Yiyi" is our morality, our rules, and our bottom line. A "loving and righteous" team must have a foundation of mutual trust.

When I lead a team, I often share this story with my team: There is a very famous team in the NBA—the San Antonio Spurs. results. There are three core figures in this team, called the "GDP combination". In the 2013 NBA Finals, Tim. Tim Duncan is 40 years old and will retire after playing in this finals. In the final minute of the game, the San Antonio Spurs were still four points behind when coach Gregg Popovich called a timeout. According to past experience, when the coach calls a timeout, he will arrange the tactics in detail, such as who will shoot, who will pick and roll, etc. But this timeout, the old coach did not make any tactical arrangements and only told all members of the team. Such a paragraph:

We have played together for more than 20 years, and this may be our last battle. Go to the court and give your back to your teammates!

This is "love and justice" - trust each other and dare to give your back to your teammates. Only in this way can each teammate focus on his own field and achieve "1 + 1 > 2".

In addition, I think "affectionate and righteous" also refers to a spiritual connection between teams. This connection does not only refer to mutual help between team members, because Sometimes, in order to achieve a goal, each other's quarrels are also "friendship".

The way the team interacts with each other, the way superiors and subordinates communicate, the way colleagues work together, etc. These may seem like communication, but in fact they are also the "camaraderie" in the team. This includes "small camaraderie" between team members, such as the need for friendship, the need for manager responsiveness, and the need to be satisfied by working in this enterprise. Therefore, in order to commemorate the number of years employees have been on the job, Alibaba created a ring-wearing ceremony - "One year of fragrance, three years of aging, five years of mellowness". The purpose is to respond to the efforts and dedication of employees at Alibaba. This is a relationship between the team. "little friendship". There is also "great friendship". What is the "big camaraderie" of a team?

For example, if we are in an Internet company, then the team must love the Internet; if we are in a catering company, then the team must love catering and exist for the value of the enterprise. This is the " Great friendship".

② What is "valuable and meaningful"?

"Valuable" means what kind of customer value we have created, how much efficiency we have improved and how much cost we have reduced; "meaningful" means "it is different because of you." As managers, we have done a lot in terms of "valuability", so here I want to focus on "meaningfulness".

Meaningful, in fact, it is what we often call building a team atmosphere.

What should the atmosphere of a team be like?

There is a scene in the TV series "Band of Brothers": after the war, a group of injured soldiers are helping each other to move forward. At this time, the scene changes, and the grandson of a retired veteran asks He: "Grandpa, are you a hero?"

The retired veteran said: "Grandpa is not a hero, but all the comrades who fought with grandpa are heroes!"

The team is What? The team is the soil where heroes are born. On this soil, everyone will become a hero. This is meaningful because of you.

Being meaningful because of you means personal recognition and sense of belonging to the team, breathing the same destiny as the team. Managers must create a soil for heroes and achieve success for everyone. At the same time, managers should let everyone have the team, the organization, and the great goals achieved together in their minds. When one day, your teammates treat the team like their alma mater, and do not even allow any outsider to say bad things about the team, then the concept and awareness of the team will truly take root in the hearts of the people.

Speaking of which, can you feel what a team of "a group of caring and righteous people doing something valuable and meaningful" looks like?

To sum it up in one sentence: trust each other, work hard together, a team atmosphere of never abandoning or giving up, plus a deeply rooted team consciousness.

You may be feeling in your heart: This is such a difficult thing to do. Indeed, to create such an "Iron-Blooded Team" requires a very practical method of "building a team". In the following chapters, I will share it from three aspects: ideological team building, life team building, and goal team building. How to build an "Iron-Blooded Team".