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Winning
Teams
"Teamwork is the ability
to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct
individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives.
It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon
results."
Andrew Carnegie
In
the last two newsletters, I have tracked the progress of Braun
GP - from forming to performing, they have had a winning season
- winning both the drivers and constructors world championship.
Now they deform and reform as Mercedes Grand Prix. It was announced
this week that the German manufacturer is to buy the team and
that they will have two new drivers (Nic Rosberg and probably
Nick Hiedfeld). Jenson Button has signed for Maclaren (my favourite
team). It is all change aand no doubt they will push Maclaren
and the other teams just as hard next season. However, the team
returns to the forming stage and will have to work through the
stages (see graphic below) as the team re-establishes itself.
There
are other teams that have excelled in 2009. The list includes:
- The England Women's Cricket
Team (World Cup Winner 2009)
- Deccan Chargers (winner
of 2009 IPL trophy)
- Scottish Chamber Orchestra
(BBC Music Orchestra of the Year)
- Innocent Drinks Company
(Coca-Cola have taken a 10% stake in Innocent - a sure sign
that this is a winning team, ignoring the ethics of this.)
These teams will have been
through a process of development and have a common set attributes.
In this newsletter, I shall focus on three aspects essential
to teams. What defines a team? I am often asked if the group
that I am working with is a team. My definition is this:
"A team is a team where
the group firstly has a common leader(s) and requires the individuals
to work in a collaborative process to achieve a common purpose.
This means that the group are interdependent, individuals depend
on each other for information, services or products to achieve
the team's purpose and goals."
Get
the foundation right - Establishing a Clear and Shared Purpose,
Leadership and Clarify Expectations
Any of the teams above didn't
magically become winning teams. They had solid foundations on
which the leaders and the team members. There needs to be several
key elements present for a team to flourish. These are:
1. Team Purpose -
why does this team exist - what is its purpose; how does it
support the organisation's goals. It is easy to believe that
everyone in the team knows this. I have worked with a number
of teams where in the course of discussion it became clear that
there was complete disagreement. The purpose must have challenge.
My experience that teams that succeed most need to be stretched.
If the goals are too easy or too hard they are not motivating.
The leader(s) should set goals that have a 50% chance of success.
2. Leadership - The
team leader must be active in developing their team. Actions
that leaders must undertake are:
- Take the temperature
of the team - use a survey tool to identify how the team is
feeling and should identify the level of trust, conflict,
commitment and communication within the team. This is best
conducted on a quarterly basis.
- Awareness of team dynamics
and styles - using one of the many tools - Myers Briggs, Belbin,
etc. understand the preferences of each team member and what
the implications are for the team. Are there blind spots?
Areas where conflict could arise? How should the members adaot
behaviours to support the interpersonal needs of a team? The
use of these tools usuall provides real insight into how members
interact and how they communicate.
- Be proactive - stop
avoiding conflict - tackle it. Toleration of poor behaviours
by team members is a continual problem and a failure of leadership.
The role of a leader is to ensure that issues, problems, ideas
are fully discussed. This requires a set of behaviours around
openness and honesty. A leader should ensure they have an
agreed set of Team Values and Behaviours
3. Clarify expectations
- Just as there can be a lack of clarity around the team's purpose,
I am often faced with a question about expectations. A recent
example is a team with a new boss. They will likely bring a
different set of expectations. One of the first things I would
recommend is the team leader and the team writing out their
expectations of themselves and each other. These lists are then
compared and agreed.
I hope that there are some
pointers to help you with your team. We can provide a range
of team development packages to help you (see news below).
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