Fuzzy goals or objectives

If a team does not know with absolute clarity what it is to deliver, chances are that at best it will deliver something of little value or at worst nothing at all.  Don’t compromise the ability of the team by leaving it to try and finger out what it is to deliver.  Make it crystal clear.

Roles are not defined

Just imagine a scenario.  Something has not gone as expected and everyone is saying that they thought that someone else was doing the task that was so critical.  When riles are not defined things fall down a track and when things fall down a crack no one wins.  Get clear on who is doing what.

Bad decision making

Taking decisions as a team is different to taking decisions individually.  It requires team members to rely on each other, a concept that might be alien.  One thing is certain you will get some decisions wrong.  The key is to aim to get a clear decision making process on the team that everyone understands.

Policies and procedures that are past their sell by date

Organisations, especially big organisations need to have some boundaries and protocols which are typically set out in policies and procedures.  Trouble is these policies and procedures can easily become onerous our out of touch with current practice.  Make sure that policies and procedures are still relevant.

People don’t interact with each other appropriately

We all based on our experiences, background, professional disciplines have different preferences.  Trouble is people often forget this and fail to adapt their style to move closer to the people they are interacting with.  Make a point of thinking about the other person’s preferences when interacting.

Bottom Line- Teams when working well together have the potential to deliver great results.  So what’s getting in the way of successful team working in your organisation?

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps professionals improve their leadership and management skills and improve team working.  Click here for more information.

Let’s look at something that is probably quite topical in organisations right now, which is cost reduction.  One area of commonality is that every individual or group will be thinking what does it me for me or us. 

On the other hand if you asked people for their views on how others might view the issue, you might hear something like the following:

“The accountants will be in their element and finally feel like they are doing something useful”

“At last an opportunity to reign in those rogues in sales and marketing who never pay attention to any financial procedures”

“The CEO is only interested in engaging us to save his or her own skin”

“I hope that they don’t expect us to contribute as we are already cut to the bone in terms of staffing”

“No doubt it will be the lowest paid and least respected that will get a rough deal”

So if you are the leader who is trying to move things forward, how can you utilise these different perspectives?

Listen a lot

The real challenge is to get to the heart of the issue and that requires you to listen.  You often find that what they are presenting as the surface level problem is not the real issue.

Ask questions

Questions are another great way of really understanding the different perspectives.  Combine this with great listening and you are going to be well ahead of most.

Stand back from the detail

It is all too easy when times are tough and difficult choices need to be made to unconsciously become a collaborator.  While you need to listen and understand, don’t let it result in you losing sight of the issue or challenge.

Be open

In organisations, it is often the people closest to the point of delivery that come up with the best solutions.  Be open to these opportunities rather than needing to be right.

Bottom Line – We all to a greater or lesser extent view challenges through one lens. The challenge to be more successful when it comes to team effectiveness is learning to understand and utilise the different perspectives.

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?