When you are forming a new team and there is a bit of competition among members rather than collaboration, how do you turn that around?
The Team Doc Says…
There’s nothing wrong with competition among team members as long as it doesn’t turn toxic and infect the rest of the team. Your challenge is to take that competition strength of those team members and turn it into a valuable asset for your team.
Team members who have strong competition talent naturally measure their progress against the performance of others. Their goal is to win.
So here’s what you might do. If you have measures for your team’s success (you should!), put this person in charge of tracking and managing these measures so the team can be a winner and their competitive streak can be satisfied.
To help these team members participate in team collaboration, acknowledge their competitive strength by putting it to work identifiying how what is being discussed can be the winning alternative.
About Denise O'Berry
but what about colleagues who compete to create a negative work enviroment? I think it depends on case to case. Few member compete because of a insecure feeling & because of the fact that they are scared of loosing a deal & so they opt method that reflects negativity.