Teamwork and Rock Crawling

 

I don't know how many of you are familiar with the term "rock crawling" or have actually had the experience of spending time behind the wheel of a Jeep or other four-wheel drive vehicle and picked you way up a boulder-strewn stream-bed or other similar trail. However, if you live near the mountains like I do, it's one of the pleasures of owning a Jeep.

Yesterday, my colleagues and I had the opportunity to take some Razr 4x4s out into the mountains for a working? off-site to cap off a successful end of the second quarter. There were a couple members of the team who had done this kind of thing before, but there were others who had never been behind the wheel of a four-wheel drive off-road vehicle.

I have to admit that I really enjoyed bombing down the fire-roads with my foot to the floor—drifting around the corners throwing up dust and grinning from ear to ear. However, the highlight of the day for me was watching one of my colleagues who had never done anything like this before pick his way up a very technical section of trail. Our boss (who does this all the time and was very familiar with the trail we were on) talked him through almost every boulder and was encouraging every step of the way. He did a great job climbing the trail—which wasn't diminished at all by the "mentoring" he received on the way up.

I think project teams should work the same way. I think teamwork includes more experienced team members helping less experienced team members pick through the obstacles that often tend to crop up in the middle of a project. And like my rock crawling colleague, sharing "beta" about the trail never diminishes the achievement of project success—I think it sweetens it.

Do you encourage your project teams to work this way? Please share some of your successes with us.