Posts Tagged ‘team success’

Leaders’ priority is to deliver results.  When leaders deliver results they create success for the organisation’s they lead which leads to more personal success.  While leaders deliver results those leaders that are truly successful recognise that creating and building teams are critical to their success.   So why are teams so critical to your success as a leader?

Only one of you

As a leader you are probably extremely good at what you do and highly capable.  After all you would not have achieved the success you have so far unless you were good.  That said, there is only one of you and you have finite amount of time.  24 hours a day, 168 hours in a week, and 744 hours in a month is what you have no matter how great a leader you are.  With this limit in time, there is a limit on what you can get done on your own.

Skills, knowledge, experience and expertise

Teams bring a much greater of range skills, knowledge, experience and expertise than any one leader could ever have.  Think about it.  Every Managing Director or CEO started out their business career in a particular discipline.  It might have been marketing, sales, finance, operations or human resources to name just a few.  They started out experts and became generalists and more rounded.  At the same time they recognise that they can never be experts in every area of business so they build teams with complimentary skills, knowledge, experience and expertise.

Creativity

You might be a highly creative person. Imagine having 5 or 10 other creative people contributing ideas, knowledge and enthusiasm into creating a compelling vision for the organisation.  How much richer would the final product or output be in this situation?  Leaders who achieve success know that much more can be created through teams working together than working on their own.

So teams maximise the possibilities and achievements but what can leaders do to leverage the benefits of teams and achieve success:

1. Know what you are brilliant at

2. Be aware of the gaps in your skills, knowledge, experience and expertise

3. Make sure that your teams are full of people with complimentary skills, knowledge, experience and expertise

4. Make recruitment a priority area in your business so that you attract and recruit the best people

Bottom line – The best leaders know that teams are critical to their success.  So what steps are you going to take to be an even more successful leader?

Highly effective teams can achieve extraordinary results for the organisations that they serve.  Achieving success for the organisation leads to greater personal success, and achievement.  Yet in truth, team success is not guaranteed.  So what are 5 common barriers to team success and what can you do to avoid them?

Barrier 1: Fuzzy outcomes

If a team is to prosper and deliver results, it needs to be crystal clear about the results or outcomes that are expected to be delivered by the team.  Too often teams are set outcomes that are fuzzy and vague which unsurprisingly leads to little in terms of results.  Make the outcomes specific and measurable.  For example, reduce waste from product X by 10% by 31 December 2008 is both specific and measurable.

Barrier 2: Unproductive conflict

All successful teams need to have challenge and conflict otherwise it all becomes too cosy.  On the other hand, it is important to ensure that conflict is productive rather than destructive or unproductive.  Lively and heated debate that actually results in a better outcome or solution is an example of productive conflict.  Challenge that focuses on all of the negatives without offering any alternatives is unproductive.

Barrier 3: Playing it safe

Making a step change in performance or turning things round requires teams and team members to take some risk and step out of their comfort zone.  This will only happen if the culture within the organisation supports and rewards this type of innovative and balanced risk taking approach.  For example, if the culture is to look for scapegoats when things go wrong, people will keep within the safety boundaries rather than taking a chance.

Barrier 4: Individual agendas

If a team is to prosper, all members need to sign up to and be committed to the team goals first foremost.  For many this is particularly challenging as in business, we are used to being concerned about our own individual situation.  Creating a reward system that relies on the group can be a useful stepping stone to encouraging teams to focus on the team agenda.

Barrier 5: Leadership

In teams someone has to take on the role of the leader.  A team without a leader is like a ship without a captain.  The team might select a leader or as the team develops someone may emerge who is the natural leader.  However, any successful team needs a leader.

Bottom Line – Teams can achieve great results but it is essential that the barriers to team success are identified and addressed.  So what barriers are getting in the way of your teams success?

In all walks of life teams exist to get results.  Getting results depends on teams being both productive and positive.  Teams can be highly productive running at 100 miles an hour but have low levels of morale.  On the flip side they might be highly optimistic but never get anything done.  So what are essential ingredients of highly productive and highly positive teams?

Set clear goals

If teams are to be productive, they need to know where they are heading and what they are going to deliver.  In other word they need to have absolute clarity on their goals.

Common mission

Teams need to be aiming in the same direction, working together towards a common vision or mission.  Without this they are merely a collection of individuals who will pursue what is right for them personally.

Create accountability

When a team needs to account for what it has achieved and what it has not, there is a greater likelihood of achievement rather than below optimal performance.  Accountability is not something that is viewed as negative but a means of staying on track.

Secure resources

Resources (manpower, money and materials) are another ingredient in productive teams.  The resources (whatever they are) once secured need to be used effectively.

Make effective decisions

Highly productive teams take decisions, avoid procrastinating and get things done.  Effective decision making does not happen by chance.  A decision making process is essential.

Encourage proactiviness

Being proactive is about looking out for opportunities to change, develop and improve and then acting swiftly to exploit those opportunities.  Being proactive is about anticipating and thinking outside of the boundaries.

Effective leadership

Effective leadership is core to any team that gets results whether it is in business, communities or sports. 

Be optimistic

People can generally fall into the glass half full or glass half empty category.  The glass half full are the optimists, the glass half empty are the pessimists.  Which group do you think achieves more?

Build trust

Trust is about creating an environment where people can speak openly and objectively without fear.  Trust comes from knowing that others can be counted on, even when the going gets tough.

Respect each other

Respecting each other is not about agreeing with everyone or liking every one.  It is about being willing to listen, understand different points of view and respecting those differing views.

Effective communication

The best teams communicate clearly, avoid ambiguity and see listening as just as important as speaking.

Welcome conflict

No matter how well a team works together, conflict will arise from time to time.  It is how it is dealt with that really matters.  Utilised effectively it can unleash creativity, open new possibilities and contribute to development and growth.

Create sense of belonging

Camaraderie is extremely powerful, especially when the going gets tough.  The best teams work on creating and maintaining that camaraderie.

Value diversity

We are all different.  We all have different personalities, backgrounds, experiences, ways of looking at things and approaching things.  Valuing that diversity gives teams much greater range and helps that to get better results.

At the end of the day teams exist to get results.  So what will you do to develop your team and get even better results in 2009?

Teams exist to deliver results and when they do it well they deliver much more than any one of us could do individually.  Pillars are the foundations that contribute to success and include:

1. Having a common purpose or goal
2. High levels of trust
3. Good communication
4. Positiveness
5. Proactiveness
6. Strong results focus

To learn more about leading and managing successful team, check out this free audio masterclass