How to Be a Team Player — Without Burning Out | The Way We Work, a TED series

Collaborative work is everything we do to come up with big new ideas

翻译人员: Yip Yan Yeung 校对人员: Grace Man

如果我们要想出宏大的新想法，

制定与他人一起实现它们的计划， 我们都会选择团队合作。

and make plans to bring them to life with other people.

The modern workplace is set up with so many ways to foster collaboration:

如今的职场 促进合作的方式五花八门：

meetings and brainstorming sessions,

开会、头脑风暴、

Zooms and Slack channels, email, instant messaging,

Zoom 和 Slack 频道、 邮件、即时消息，

so many tools to help us work closely together.

各种各样的工具 让我们可以密切合作。

And aspects of this are great,

虽然这种情况有好的一面，

but we're doing more collaborative work than ever before,

但是我们的团队合作比以往都多，

and the problem is it's overloading us.

导致它给我们带来了 过重的负担。

[The Way We Work]

[我们工作的方式]

From launching a new product to creating a vaccine,

发布新产品、研制疫苗，

almost every endeavor we do at work requires working with others

我们工作时付出的每一点努力 都需要与他人合作，

towards a common goal.

朝着一个共同的目标努力。

And collaboration is a great thing.

合作是个好东西。

It can help us work better and smarter.

合作让我们更好、 更聪明地工作。

It can help us come up with ideas we never would have had on our own.

我们可以从合作中产生 我们自己不可能想到的想法。

And it can make us happier than executing tasks alone.

合作比独自完成任务更令人快乐。

But collaborative work has risen 50 percent over the past decade.

但是团队合作在过去的十年里 增长了 50%。

It's now taking up to 85 percent of most people's workweeks.

大多数人工作日 85% 的时间都在合作。

And those numbers from my research were pre-pandemic.

我研究中的这些数字 来自疫情之前。

Studies show that people are working five to eight hours more a week now,

研究表明，人们现在 每周要多工作 5 到 8 小时，

with collaborations drifting earlier into the morning

合作蔓延到了早上更早、

and later into the evening.

晚上更晚的时间。

When I came into this research,

刚开始研究时，

I was 100 percent convinced the enemy was external.

我 100% 确定 罪魁祸首来自外界。

It was emails, time zones and demanding clients, to name just a few.

都怪邮件、时差、 要求严苛的客户等等。

But after hundreds of interviews,

但是在几百次访谈之后，

I've discovered that even when given a choice not to participate,

我发现就算人们有不参与的选择，

people are taking on more collaborative work than ever before.

还是会比以往更多地合作。

We’re just too eager to jump in to collaborations that burn up our time

我们迫不及待地加入 榨干我们时间的合作，

and that might actually run better without 20 people in the fray.

也许没有 20 个人的扯皮， 我们可以干得更好。

About 50 percent of the collaboration overload problem starts

大约有一半的合作过载问题源自

with the beliefs we have about ourselves and what it means to be a good colleague

我们对自己的认知， 我们对好同事、

and a productive person.

高产出员工的认知。

These beliefs are hard to change,

这些认知根深蒂固，

but if we examine them more closely,

但是如果我们仔细观察，

it can allow us to make stronger choices about what we do at work

它们可以帮助我们做出 关于工作时的所作所为、

and who we do it with.

合作对象的更有力的选择。

There are many triggers that spark our desire to say yes so often.

有很多因素可能会 激起我们频繁说“好”的欲望。

But today I want to focus on the top three:

但是今天我只想说前三名：

the desire to help others,

帮助他人的欲望、

the need for accomplishment and fear.

对成就感的需求，还有恐惧。

The first trigger is the desire to help.

第一个诱因是施以援手的欲望。

And the desire to help others is a positive, constructive thing

帮助他人的欲望 是个积极、有益的东西，

and an important factor in success.

也是走向成功的重要因素。

It fulfills a deep need to be useful

它满足了人们对“成为有用的人” 深入骨髓的渴望，

and bolster our identity as a good teammate,

巩固了我们作为好队友的形象，

But it's also one of the most significant drivers of overload.

但也是过载的重要因素之一。

The more you're helpful, the more people ask for your help.

你帮得越多，越有人要找你帮忙。

The problem is that you get so bogged down in helping

导致了你深陷帮助他人的泥沼，

that it prevents you from meeting your own goals.

无法达成自己的目标。

And over time you become a bottleneck, slowing others down.

随着时间的推移，你变成了瓶颈， 阻碍了别人的脚步。

And this is all coming from a good place,

这一切的初衷都是好的，

the desire to help.

那就是帮助他人的欲望。

The second trigger's the need for accomplishment.

第二个诱因就是对成就感的渴望。

Our drive to achieve is another admirable trait critical to success

我们向往成功的动力 也是另一个通向成功、

and productivity in the workplace.

提高工作效率的美好品质。

And it also feels good,

它也让我们感到很爽，

as little wins throughout the day and week give us a burst of satisfaction.

平凡生活中的小小成就 能激发起我们的满足感。

The issue is that the cycle can get addictive.

问题是这个循环可能会让人上瘾。

It leads you to solve more and more small problems for other people

导致你会为他人解决 越来越多的小问题，

and avoid the bigger, thornier ones critical to your own success.

回避了那些与你自己的成功 密切相关的大问题、棘手问题。

This is my trigger.

这就是我自己身上的诱因。

If I see a five-minute window,

如果我有五分钟空闲，

I will inevitably try to jam 60 minutes of these little fixes into it

我肯定会花上一个小时 解决一堆小问题，

and completely ignore the three hours of coordination I need to do

却完全忽视我需要 花上三个小时的协调工作，

to get my team on board with what I'm up to.

与我的团队成员 同步我手头的情况。

And then I end up overwhelmed six weeks out,

然后在接下来的六周里， 我都手忙脚乱，

again, all from a good place of trying to get something positive done.

又是如此，初衷是好的， 只是想做好某件事。

The third trigger is fear.

第三个诱因就是恐惧。

Fear is a major driver of overload today that takes several forms.

恐惧是如今过载的一个重要因素， 有各种各样的形式。

The fear of missing out on better projects,

害怕错过好项目、

better colleagues, better opportunities,

好同事、好机会，

can become a persistent, nagging problem that never lets you rest.

这会成为一个无法摆脱、 纠缠不休的问题，让你无法安宁。

You feel a frantic need to be a part of things,

你狂热地渴望成为一份子，

worrying that it'll be your last opportunity.

担心这就是你最后的机会。

The fear of losing control is just as bad.

对失去控制的恐惧也不亚于此。

It makes you reluctant to delegate or connect the people around you,

这会让你不想把权力分给身边的人， 不想与周围的人交流，

sentencing you to a life of doing everything yourself.

让你注定独自干活一生。

And the fear of what others will say is powerful, too.

担心别人言论的力量也很强大。

Your knee-jerk response becomes to say yes early and often,

你条件反射地 早早说出“好”、频繁点头，

so everyone can see how responsive you are.

让人们看见你有多有求必应。

Unfortunately, these fears drive unproductive choices

不幸的是，这些恐惧是 我们低效率的选择和

and lead us into burnout today.

如今精疲力竭的根源。

Chances are you recognize yourself in one or more of these triggers.

你有可能会发现 自己身上有其中一个或多个诱因。

And since I gave you three triggers, how about three ways to deal with them?

我刚给了你三个诱因， 不如再给你三个解决方法吧？

Number one, learn to get comfortable saying no.

第一，学会心安理得地说“不”。

Don't let yourself fall into the belief

不要让自己陷入

that you don't have power in situations where your help is requested.

有人找你帮忙， 但你没有其他选择的思想。

Remember that your answer doesn't have to be a binary yes or no.

记住，你的答案不一定非得是 绝对的“好”或“不好”。

If you get a request from a boss or a colleague,

如果老板或者同事有个请求，

chances are they have no idea what obligations you're juggling.

他们很有可能 不知道你手上有什么活。

Be clear about what projects or deadlines you have ahead.

说清楚你眼前 有什么项目或者截止日期。

Ask them to help you prioritize.

让他们帮你理清优先级。

And if you just don't have the bandwidth,

如果你没空干这个，

ask the person if you can show them how to do the task they're asking

问问这个人，能不能让你 教他/她怎么完成他们要做的事，

or discuss if there's a different way to accomplish their goals.

或者谈谈有没有达成 这个目标的其他途径。

At the end of the day, every yes means saying no to something else.

说到底，每个“好” 都代表着对别的事说“不”。

Save your yeses for when they really matter to you.

把你的“好”留给 真正对你重要的事吧。

Number two, remember, you can delegate.

第二，记住， 你可以把事交给别人。

Opting out of a request can actually help others become more self-reliant.

不插手请求其实可以 帮助他人独立自主。

I’ve found that the most efficient collaborators get their sense of worth

我发现最高效的合作者 要感受到自己的价值

not from always giving input and being involved

不会来自持续的付出和参与，

but from developing others and positioning them to grow, too.

而是来自帮助他人发展、 让他们找到成长的位置。

Draw a line between tasks that really do require you

清晰地把真正需要你的任务

and lower-risk ones that you can delegate without concern.

和可以毫无顾虑分派给别人完成的 低风险任务区分开。

Look for moments when you can give partial direction, empower someone

寻找一个你能提供部分引导的时刻， 全权交给他/她，

and then step out of the way.

然后把舞台留给他们。

And celebrate other's wins.

为他人的成就喝彩。

Don't succumb to the temptation

要忍住指出“要是我， 我会怎么做”的冲动。

to point out how you would have done it differently.

Number three, be intentional in crafting your work life.

第三，精心设计 你的职业生涯。

High performers are strategic in knowing their goals

高绩效的员工 非常清楚自己的目标，

and identifying what they can and should take on.

他们能判断自己有能力 且应该承担的责任。

They think about their priorities not only for the week ahead

他们不仅仅会思考 下一周的任务优先级，

but on a two-to-three month time horizon too.

还会思考 2 到 3 个月的规划。

So when a collaboration surfaces,

面临合作时，

make sure you're not making an emotional decision based on a false belief.

请你确保自己没有基于 一个错误的认知做出冲动的决定。

Ask yourself, how does it align with my goals?

问问自己， 这和我自己的目标方向一致吗？

How much time and energy will it take each week?

每周要花多少时间和精力？

And what are the upsides of the outcome?

合作的结果有什么好处？

Try to maximize those collaborations where you want to do the work,

在你想发展的领域 尽量加大合作，

it contributes to your goals and you're the best person to do it.

为你的目标努力， 而你也是这个任务的不二之选。

The crazy thing about collaboration overload is that it feels good

合作过载的奇葩现象是 你会一直感觉良好，

right up until it doesn't.

直到感觉不妙的那一刻。

All it takes is one thing too many to start a downward spiral.

只要有一根压死骆驼的稻草， 你就会深陷旋涡。

Remember, you're the only one who knows all your goals and obligations

记住，只有你自己了解 你的目标和责任，

and that you often have more choice than you think.

而且通常你都有 比你想象的更多的选择。