The Role of Teamwork in a Healthy Culture

One of the attributes of a healthy culture is teamwork. Regardless of how passionate a leader is about developing a healthy culture, without teamwork, it is virtually impossible. We will use the experience of the GM Tonawanda Engine Plant to demonstrate the role that teams played in creating a healthy culture.

At the plant, the number one team was the executive group. This multifunctional group was made up of managers who coordinated the day-to-day operations of the plant. Given the friction between the union and management, it was unlikely that any change would take place without the cooperation of the union. Realizing this, Don Rust and his management team reached out to the union leadership, asking them to join forces with management to create a plan that would save the plant from closure. As Jim Collins described in his book, Good to Great, this newly formed team faced the brutal fact that unless they worked together as a team, the plant would close. Think about this concept for a moment:  two adversaries with a long history of conflict forming a group that would work in harmony. It happened, and it paid dividends that could never have happened without the creation of this newly formed executive team. 

Here are a couple of other examples of teamwork at the engine plant.

The plant needed new tow trucks to transport heavy parts within each engine line.  The traditional way of purchasing trucks would be to delegate the task to purchasing. Don Rust believed that the workers who would be driving these vehicles were in the best position to choose the best truck for the job. With the cooperation of the union, he chose six experienced workers and tasked them with finding the best tow truck available for the plant. After researching several manufacturers, they reported back with good and bad news. The good news was they had found the perfect truck for the plant. The bad news was it was made in Japan. General Motors had a policy of not purchasing anything made in Japan. In this case, the decision was made to purchase the trucks but remove all evidence of where the trucks were made. The decision to purchase these trucks would have never been made if the traditional approach to purchasing had been used. It took a team of experienced workers to buy the best truck for the plant. 

Another team effort was formed as a result of a change in the 60-degree V6 engine produced at the plant. GM decided to change the engine from relying on natural gas to gasoline combustion. They were concerned about the potential for engine fires. Rust and his newly formed executive team that included union officers selected five experienced mechanics to look for any defects in the engines that could lead to a fire. This team examined these engines in detail, including talking to Buffalo car dealers to identify any reported problems with the engines, such as cracks, leaks, noises, or missing parts. The team’s job was to diagnose and fix any problems with these engines before they were manufactured. They did their job well. There was never a fire reported in these engines produced in the Tonawanda plant.

These are just a few examples of how teams became essential to the success of the plant. By putting the best talent together to make important decisions, a new culture of cooperation and joint problem solving became the norm. Tapping into the knowledge of workers and giving them added responsibility to engage in problem solving was critical to the quality and productivity of the plant. This reinforced the culture of cooperation and collaboration between management and workers. Rather than an obstacle, the union leadership was in full cooperation with management. It would have been impossible to create these teams without this cooperation.

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