Team Performance
High performance teams are what organizations count on to drive change, fuel innovation and achieve goals. Whether they are management, project, cross functional or remedial teams, they all share the challenge of integrating the diversity of their members’ mindsets, priorities, roles and organizational sub-cultures to achieve a common goal. When there is clarity, trust, alignment and commitment great things happen. When there are varied and hidden agendas, fractious relationships and unclear roles, the timeliness and quality of execution suffers.
We work with new or existing, successful or struggling teams. Depending on the team’s needs, we design a development program that typically includes the following activities:
- Qualitative and/or Quantitative assessments
- Team building activities
- Facilitated meetings
- Individual coaching
Although each team requires a unique approach, we use the lens of our Integrative Leadership approach to build the essentials of awareness, relationships, processes and execution that make up a great team.
INSIGHT: Purpose and Diversity
Mindsets, Personalities and Preferences. The human condition is diversity in personality, temperament, style, experience, values, attitudes and beliefs. Individuals bring this to their teams in all its opportunity and all its difficulty. Effective teams have an awareness of the character as well as technical strengths each individual brings to the team.
Diversity. Valuing diversity is the foundational mindset of high performance teams. Synergy is created when team members see their own perspective as valid but partial. This enables them to welcome each others perspectives to get a complete picture of what the team’s most effective action will be Believing that ones own perspective is privileged over all others creates an obstacle to effective relationships and action.
Purpose. A common understanding and belief in the value proposition and intrinsic meaning of the work to be done is the foundation for fulfillment beyond success that motivates team members to exceed expectations.
INTERACTIONS: Culture of Trust
Trust. Positive interactions based on agreed upon values builds trust in the character of team members and the team. Accountable execution builds trust in the capability of the team and its members. Extending trust supports the creation of a team culture of mutual respect and achievement.
Communication. The accurate exchange of meaning is essential for alignment, discovery and execution. The challenge is addressing difficult or conflicted conversations where there are highly charged, hidden or personalized issues. The ability to speak openly, respectfully and honestly as well as listen and inquire non-judgmentally is an effective team’s core competency.
Collaboration. Positive, proactive engagement that encourages team members to openly share information, resources, perspectives and leadership sets the stage for innovative solutions for superior results.
INFRASTRUCTURE: Structure and Practices
Operating Practices. High performing teams explicitly define expected behaviors to establish standards for their interactions and then efficiently address variances to those standards.
Meetings. A rhythm of weekly, monthly and quarterly meetings with distinct purposes and reporting enables teams to systemically address obstacles to execution, update operating practices and maintain alignment to strategic or project plans.
Roles and Responsibilities. Role clarity enables teams to focus on their necessary interactions and individual execution to achieve their goals and hold each other accountable.
IMPACT: Execution and Achievement
Goals. Specific, measurable, time bound goals establish the desired outcomes that will fulfill the purpose of the team and enable members to act with integrity.
Execution. Meeting goals is the end result of the attention brought to bear in organizing and deploying the team in the other quadrants. Individual competencies in self motivation, time management, prioritization, technical skills and deploying resources make up the ability to execute the tasks necessary for success.
Accountability. Full responsibility for both good and bad results and the rewards and sanctions related to performance make the value of achievement real.
Through this systemic approach we look to help teams achieve their specific goals, build effective relationships and anchor individual leadership learning. In this way the team members become a source of learning for others in the organization.