Effective teams are capable of delivering exceptional results.  So what are my 6 top tips for making teams more effective?

Tip 1:  Focus on performance

Give the team a real performance challenge to address rather than setting up a committee to talk about an issue.

Tip 2:  Give them a clear purpose

Avoid being vague about the purpose.  Be crystal clear on what the purpose is.  If it is to reduce the cycle time by two hours on a process make it clear that this is what the purpose is.

Tip 3:  Get the right skills

You are setting up a team to fail if you don’t ensure it has the right mix and blend of skills in the team.

Tip 4:  Support in addressing skill deficiencies

If you are the team leader, make sure you address skill deficiencies rather than let them be a barrier.

Tip 5: Create conditions for effective teamwork

You need to ensure that the team is truly dependent on each other to deliver and that the performance and reward structures are geared towards team rather than individual performance.

Teams have the potential to deliver exceptional performance.  What else would you add to the list of tips to make teams more effective?

If you are to have any chance of standing out at job interviews you need to be prepared.  As a minimum make sure that you:

1. Do some background research into the organisation you are being interviewed by.
2. Understand the key challenges facing the organisation or the industry in which it operates.
3. Have two or three really strong questions to ask the interviewers about the business and progression opportunities.

With information so freely available these days there really is no reason not to be prepared for a job interview.  So start setting yourself up for success at job interviews.

In any job interview there are two questions that are almost certain to be asked:

1. What are your strengths?
2. What are your weaknesses or areas you need to develop?

So how can you discover your strengths and development needs?

1. Self assess or reflect personally on your strengths and development needs based on your performance to date in different areas.
2. Seek feedback from others formally and informally
3. Take some form of assessment or profiling such as Myers Briggs

By taking these three simple steps you can give yourself a real edge in job interviews.

Leading is challenging at the best of time.  In the current economy, the need to make change is even more pressing for many organisations and those working in them in management and leadership roles.  The big barrier that managers and leaders need to overcome is not about process or project management.  So what is it?

Getting others to see the need and importance of making change

So how do you address this big barrier?

1. Explain in very clear and simple terms the current situation.
2. Outline the likely consequences for the organisation and individuals of doing nothing.
3. Set out what needs to happen and by when to address the situation.
4. Gain support from a sufficiently large cohort of the workforce and their representatives to make it happen.

What else would you add to the list to remove the biggest barrier?

Anyone who takes the step into a leadership role wants to prosper and achieve success in my experience.  So what are the top 5 mistakes that less successful leaders make and what can you do differently?

Mistake 1: Survival rather than results focus

Your role as a leader is to get results.  Yet in my career I encountered a number of people who were more interested in survival than getting results.  When you are in this mode your focus is not on making things happen but in staying safe or protecting your status.

Mistake 2: Not taking responsibility

This can often happen in situations where there is a need for different organisations to work together to deliver results.  In these situations, it is often a case of pass the parcel, with people not taking responsibility for delivering on their part of the process.

Mistake 3: Focusing on the circumstances

Leading an organisation whether it is operating in the public or private sector is challenging.  Sometimes, especially when under pressure, it is tempting to focus on the circumstances rather than on the way forward.

Mistake 4: Trying to do it all themselves

No matter how good you are, there is only one of you and you only have strengths in certain areas.  Successful leaders know that it is teams rather than individuals that deliver high performance.

Mistake 5: Selective listening

Have you ever noticed how some leaders want to listen really well when you are sharing a success but seem disengaged when you are sharing a problem.  Good leaders listen in both situations and help and support you to achieve more.

I wonder what you would add to the list of mistakes.  I invite you to add a comment with your perspectives and experiences.

If you are reading this blog, I am guessing that you are probably someone who wants to achieve success as a manager or leader and have a successful career.  When it comes to our career and setting goals , very few have a clear idea of what they want and why they want it.

Think about your career 10 years from now and ask yourself the following:

What level do I want to be at 10 years from now?

If I was in my perfect job I would be ……?

I want to be known as a manager and leader who……?

Now think about why you want it.  The obvious answer is the financial rewards that come with success.  Yet in truth, money alone is not the long term driver. 

So what is it that makes you want to achieve career success?

Pick up any newspaper, trawl the internet or turn on your TV or radio and you are probably hearing a lot about the economy.  At times like this, leaders really earn their salary.  In many ways times like now really set apart the best from the rest.

If you are in a leadership role right now, you are probably having to make some tough choices or calls.  This might be about:

• Reducing the headcount
• Putting investment projects on hold
• Selling part of the business
• Getting into new markets that are holding up better in the current economy
• Gaining new skills to manage major change

The question is are you ready and willing to make these tough calls.  If you are you might be unpopular for a little while.  If you don’t, you are risking the long term future of the organisation you lead which ultimately could mean that you are not there for the very people you exist for- your customers and clients.

In your experience, what is it that gets in the way of leaders making the tough calls?

Communication is not just a core leadership skill but also a core ingredient to your success.  Communication includes speaking, writing and listening.  As a leader, you need to master all three.

Speaking

How many times each day do you speak.  Probably quite a few.  As a leader you need to get your message across as clearly as you can.  No matter whether it is a vision, one to one meeting or a presentation of results on performance you need to get your message across.

Writing

Emails, reports, letters to suppliers and customers, presentations, web content are just a few of the types of writing that you need to undertake.  All successful writing relies on you being clear on the purpose and thinking about how to structure it in the best way to make it as easy as possible to understand.

Listening

Listening is probably the most challenging of all the communication skills most likely because most of us are never taught to listen.  When we listen we get ideas, insights, suggestions, understanding and the chance to create even more success. 

You probably know that communication is key to your success.  So what would have the greatest impact when it came to you developing your communication effectiveness as a leader?

If you are a manager you are probably trying to keep a whole host of tasks and projects moving forward at the same time.  You probably know that you could achieve more if you were to delegate more.  In my experience managers often come up with a whole host of reasons for not delegating.  I wonder if you recognise any of the following:

“I don’t have time to delegate”

“If you want a job done right do it yourself”

“It takes too long to delegate, I could do it quicker myself”

“I tried delegating once and I was let down by someone else”

Chances are you have heard one or more of the above, many times.  By not delegating, you are probably experiencing some specific costs or consequences.  It might be:

1.                  Continually staying late at work

Maybe you find that you are the person who is always first to arrive and last to leave.  If that’s you, chances are that you could benefit from delegating more.

2.                  Missing key deadlines

If you are finding yourself always delivering things at the last minute or even worse missing deadlines completely, it might be time to take stock of what you are doing that you really should pass to others.

3.                  Feeling stressed or under constant pressure

When we start to feel stressed or just constantly under pressure it impacts on our ability to take decisions, solve problems or focus on the bigger picture.

4.                  Poor performance rating

If you are in a management role, a large part of how your performance will be assessed will be on how well you manage.  If you are focusing all of your time and energy on doing rather than managing, chances are you will be poorly rated.  This might mean no pay increase or your job being in jeopardy.

So what steps would you take to improve your delegation skills?

One trait that you probably identify in the best leaders is self awareness.  Self awareness is about knowing what you do best, what makes you tick, what impact you have on others and where you still need to grow and develop.

The benefit of being self aware is that you can aim to play to your strengths and as a result achieve greater success.

So how self aware are you and what could you do to develop your awareness even more?