Wastewater Visibility News
How Wastewater Treatment Teams Exemplify Teamwork
November 20, 2024
Denver Stutler, Jr., P.E.
Part 8 in the USST Safety Series looks at the principles of teamwork and how wastewater treatment teams can demonstrate exceptional teamwork.
Throughout History, Strong Cultures Have Been Built Through Teamwork
Civilization advanced when early cultures learned to work as teams. Four people could move the boulder that one person alone could not budge. Psychology Today observes, “Civilization itself is the result of the pooled effort of innumerable people over thousands of years.”
Teams are inevitably greater than the sum of their parts. In the workplace, when workers synergistically combine their minds, muscles, skills, and passions, they can take companies from surviving to thriving.
We grow through teamwork because:
- Humans are intrinsically social. Even loners and introverts can function at higher levels through teamwork.
- Teamwork increases safety, problem-solving, and the sense of task or project ownership. As the teams at USST and SediVision hear me say frequently, “People tend to support that which they have a part in developing.”
Workplace Environments that Encourage Teamwork
From wastewater treatment teams to workers in finance, healthcare, hospitality, manufacturing, or almost any sector, high-performing teams happen causally. Thoughtful and strategic leaders inspire strong teams.
Does your organization praise teamwork but reward individual performance? Many organizations make the mistake of doing exactly this, talking the talk about the importance of teamwork while only offering rewards (monetary, job advancement, company perks, etc.) as recognition for individual performance. As a leader, when you ask for teamwork, you must be prepared to reward the team when it excels.
Do leaders in your organization help teams collaborate, providing influential harmony to nurture teams? Or do you leave employees to work out team dynamics as best they can?
Does every team member know the goal? Does every team member have a clear understanding of the challenges ahead? And most importantly, is each person on the team trained and equipped for the role and contributions they will be expected to make? You know the saying about a team being as strong as its weakest link. When a team fails because of poor training or being ill equipped for the job, then the weakest link is found in the leadership that failed to effectively prepare the team, and not within the team itself.
Teamwork at US Submergent Technology
Whether you see one USST team member or several on your job site, no single worker operates alone. While a segment of a task may call for only solo performance, everything leading up to or following the steps within the task is planned and executed as part of a team-driven initiative. USST members recognize that not only are they accountable to and for the actions of others on their teams, but that during the time they are on your job site, they are an extension of your team, and they are equally accountable to you, the valued customer.
US Submergent Technologies (USST) 12 – Part Safety Series
This article is the eighth in a twelve-part series on safety and leadership in the wastewater industry. In this series, Wastewater Visibility News continues to examine the twelve values identified by US Submergent Technologies in its company Mission and Values Commitment Statement. (Read the complete company values list here: https://ussubmergent.com/mission-and-values/)
You’ll find the first seven installments from US Submergent Technologies (USST) published on Wastewater Visibility News here:
- INNOVATIVE: When we solve problems using our capabilities, we are safer, faster, and more cost-effective than anyone else.
- DEPENDABLE: When we show up on time, do what we say, and always follow up.
- KNOWLEDGABLE: When we learn from our experiences and understand our limits.
- EFFICIENT: When we do not waste time.
- EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS: When we care, communicate honestly, and do our job.
- LEADERSHIP: When our team leaders take responsibility for their actions and everyone who is part of the team.
- ACCOUNTABILTY: Leadership in the Wastewater Industry Starts with Accountability
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