3 Key Strategies to Positively Win as a Team

College basketball’s annual trek up the Final Four mountain has started.

While the school names change from year to year, the qualities of championship caliber teams are consistent. What are they? And how can you learn from them to win championships at work?

Here are 3 Key Strategies to Positively Win as a Team as you Work Positive:

Play Offense and Defense
Championship teams know how to score a lot of points and how to keep the other team from scoring as many. Lots of teams excel at one or the other. Championship teams do both well.

What about your work team? Do you play offense and defense equally well?

It’s easy in a challenging economy to play defense well. To cut spending and increase productivity so you get more done in an hour than you once did in a month. And that’s important to keeping the doors open.

How’s your offense? Do you seize opportunities decisively to increase sales? Do you shoot high percentage shots—think of them as lay-ups—AND look to put up the three-ball?

Who is an underserved group in your primary target market segment? How can you solve their problems and fulfill their dreams? When will you take a shot?

Sure, you’ll make a lower percentage of long shots, but the return follows the risk. You score faster and get ahead of the competition more quickly.

See the Whole Court
Championship teams understand their mission is to score and resist being scored on. Their court vision focuses on the current play and simultaneously beyond it. They see the whole court, aware of playing conditions now and in the next second. They transition quickly and effectively from defense to offense and offense to defense.

What about your work team? Are you in the moment while planning for the future? Do you see the entire playing field of your industry, how it’s playing today and how it’s trending toward the future?

What are you doing today to serve your customers while anticipating how to serve them in the future?

Execute Plays as Practiced
Championship teams practice to win and play as they practiced.

Former NC State coach Jim Valvano used to have his team practice cutting down the nets, replicating the thrill of winning the ACC Title and NCAA championship…which they did.

Each player takes personal responsibility for executing called plays successfully so the team wins. Sure individual stats are kept, but only the team wins or loses.

Does your team win as a team and also take personal responsibility for fulfilling a role? Clarify the roles. Practice winning plays. See yourself as a winning team.

As you play offense and defense, see the whole court, and execute plays as practiced, you increase sales with greater productivity so you leave the office earlier to celebrate your victory with family and friends!