5 Team Work Lessons from Team Avengers

The Avengers introduced the world with a bunch of superheroes. Each has their unique abilities, motivations, and sparkling personalities. And the most important lesson they have spread across is how to get along and function as a team, where collective heroics are celebrated over individual exploits!

The Avengers, they don’t just teach us about teamwork, but the value of teams themselves.

Being part of a team is not enough, especially when you’re used to being a solo contributor and think that the work revolves around you. But if a super soldier, a spy, a playboy, a god, a giant green rage monster, and all other extremely gifted and naturally human with the most common set of abilities can come together and kick out of the most dangerous of situations, then you can too.

Knowing how to be both part of a team and successful on a team is a fundamental skill everyone should learn.

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1. KNOW YOUR ROLE 

If you have ever played football, or for the fact, have ever watched any game, you must have noticed that not all payers are able to perform at all positions. Each of them has a particular strength and they know where they need to be as the game unfolds.

Being good at something is not enough – knowing when, where, how your skills can benefit your team is the key. Each team member should be aware of each others strengths and weaknesses so that when the time comes, you should be prepared work as a team to complete the task.

This is very much like the Avengers. Each member of the team serves a different purpose. At macro level, Iron Man is the brain, Hulk is all about anger management and muscle power, Captain America is the moral builder,… everyone is known for their own set of skills and abilities, but none of them could have defeated an army of Ultron’s if they would have fought on their own.

2. WORK YOUR WAY AROUND

Don’t fight, don’t blame – work through the initial conflicts before it turns into an ugly argument.

Take the example of Iron Man and Captain America, they both have a completely different worldview, and they don’t compromise so easily.

Their disagreement is not of ego. They respect and trust one another because they can see the value each brings to the table. When the time comes and they really need to work together, they seamlessly fall into their roles, and the next thing you know – the world is saved!

The abandonment of ego is what allows you to become part of a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.

This hasn’t always been easy for the best of us, and it’s still a challenge.

3. IRON SHARPENS IRON 

You don’t have to be super close friends with every member of your team, but it helps to have at least one person in your corner.

Team relationships are most important. It is only when you have two pieces of iron—two people of similar quality—that they can REALLY engage in a mutually beneficial relationship.

The Avengers are a group for whom this is painfully true. While they’re all impressive individuals on their own, it’s only by spending time and working together that they improve— not only as a team, but also as individuals.

4. CONSULT THE TEAM BEFORE YOU MAKE BIG DECISIONS

If Tony Stark had just been like, “hey guys, what if I made a super advanced AI program to guard the world so we don’t have to?” then the rest of the Avengers would have gotten to talk it over and maybe Ultron wouldn’t have turned out to be such a jerk.

since you work as a team, you ought to take decisions as a group instead of announcing that changes have already been implemented. It would come across as a shocker to all for they were never a part of the decision-making process.

5. CELEBRATE SMALL WINS

Celebrating small victories boosts team morale and keeps everyone going and also strengthens the bond.

Research shows that groups perform best when all of its members have positive feelings towards one another.

To become an effective manager, you must learn to set positive feedback loop in motion. You won’t have to figure out how to x-ray the inner work lives of subordinates; if you facilitate their steady progress in meaningful work, make that progress salient to them, and treat them well, they will experience the emotions, motivations, and perceptions necessary for great performance.

For you the Avengers maybe just another superhero movie for entertainment purpose. But I believe, if you look at anything with an eye, there are great lessons to be learned from all great adventure stories.

Want to know how your team can be just like the Avengers?

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