Team

performance and functioning

• Not just for junior leaders / Uniquely relevant for executives & Boards:

move from good to great.

• No finger pointing:

Assess the team as such, rather than its members or its leader.

• Surface best actions to take by the leader (based on the maturity phase of the team).

• Pragmatic and fact based:

Produce data/numbers, not a “jumping from bridges" approach, ownership by team members is

enhanced.

• Sustainable:

A process that does not trigger dependency on the external consultant.

What makes the approach unique?

A. Define the current state, and, the most impactful thing to work on now. (Ownership. Awakening)

1. Diagnostic (questionnaire + 1h interviews).

2. Report

3. Action taking Workshop: Feedback, build further on the suggestions, prioritization.

B. Complementarity enhancement.1. Interviews (my expectations of others, my needs, how to get the best out of us ….).

2. Action taking Workshop: Feedback, build further on the suggestions, prioritization of suggestions.

B. Continuous improvement actions. (Desire. Knowledge. Abilities. Re-enforcement)

3. The team agrees on question/team efficiency topic to work on together

Each on selects one but is interviewed on all in next step. A list of questions exists, based on 3 levels of functioning.

2. Interviews to go from symptoms to root causes/suggestions and experiments to try out.

3. Action taking Workshop: Feedback, build further on the suggestions, prioritization of suggestions.

C. KPI of the team functioning. Light (Conflict, Commitment, Accountability, Results, Trust) and/or In-depth (Diagnostic as in “A.”)

Process

The numbers:Global: 38% of maxTask delivery behaviours: 18% of maxInterpersonal behaviours: 65% of max

TASK DELIVERY

INTE

RPER

SON

AL

Immature

Fragmented

Sharing

Effective

x

x

xX AVERAGE SCORE

X

x X

x X

x x x

How do, team members, view the functioning of the team?

x = a team member

A team can be in one of 16 types of team functioning

A) Task delivery• Grade 1: Where are we going and why are we here• Grade 2. Ways of working • Grade 3. Information and knowledge sharing, internal and external • Grade 4. Collaborative solution finding, internal and external. B) Relationship • Grade 1. Passivity and prudence of team members • Grade 2. Resistance, internal and external. • Grade 3. Solidarity, internal and external. • Grade 4. Synergies, internal and external.

Stage I :Immature Group. Team members look to the leader for all leadership, direction, support and task definition / productivity. They are mildly eager, have positive expectations, and show anxiety about the task and each other.Stage II : Fragmented Group. There are leadership struggles, incomplete communication, arguments and taking things personally. Team members experience a discrepancy between their initial hopes and expectations and what has become the «reality» of the situation. They appear confused, and they may express concern about competence. Stage III : Sharing Group. There is an open exchange of feelings, facts, ideas, preferences and support. There a comfortable condition, and team members thus do not want to "rock the boat." Stage IV : Effective team. See next slide

Most team members can, want and actually do identify the blockers and enablers of the team tasks being accomplished. Task delivery related issues are solved before they become serious problems and impact on the morale and performance of the team.

The agenda of team meetings and of team work are set as much by team members as by the team leader. Appropriate leadership by one of the team members emerges spontaneously. Team members decide together to function as a group or as subgroups, according to the need and/or according to the interests or skills of team members.

There is an explicit, open, transparent, and shared decision-making process, as opposed to it being e.g. ad-hoc.

When a team member is entrusted with a task or a project, the team leader delegates responsibilities fully, thus giving the member a feeling of a great sense of control and responsibility with the results the team reaches. The team leader acts as a neutral mediator and as a mentor, with regards to best accomplish tasks together.

The team has a process that constantly monitors the relevance of its goals and action plans. Most team members actively participate in setting the “what” and “how” goals of the team.

All team members have their eyes on the organization´s end customers when they act on behalf of the team. The team focuses more on its customers than on itself. All team members work well with other teams and the team is seen as cooperative and creating synergies with other teams.

All team members discuss problems objectively and do not form coalitions to pressure others into agreement. Team members confront each other's assumptions in ways that enrich creativity and problem solving. As a rule, to see another team member win an argument is really not an issue for team member loosing the argumentation. Most team members not only work hard together, they also have fun together. Team members all talk and listen in roughly equal amount and interest, thus keeping contributions short and constructive.

Enthusiasm for new ways of seeing things takes as much weight as playing it safe when considering options in a decision.

All team members truly believe they need each other to achieve the team’s tasks. All team members truly believe they need each other to do the task they are accountable for outside of the team.

Some team members may disagree with a decision, but they will fully support its execution.

The team spends scheduled time to improve relations inside the team. The team spends scheduled time to improve relations it has with the rest or the organization and customers.

A well functioning team

Questions to be used in the continuous improvement stage.

Why we are here / what do we want to achieve thanks to the team´s existence? How, when and on what elements,

will we serve the organization´s end customers interests? What is our value added / the thing we cannot delegate -

how can we excel at it?

What is our plan to achieve the team’s goals (responsibilities, time frames, KPIs and progress reviews)?

How can we ensure that we both make the most of what we have but also build the future/change the game?

How can we ensure our goals are aligned in a crystal clear manner with the rest of the organization’s goals?

How do we ensure that meetings are as much about reporting data as about taking decisions? How will we ensure

that meetings or discussions are focused on critical decisions?

When should we work as a team vs. work in sub groups?

How do we avoid that being part of the team is an add-on to team members´ regular work? How will we ensure that

the priorities team members have outside of the team are not in conflict with the team’s priorities?

How can we ensure that there is an explicit, open, transparent, and shared decision-making process, as opposed to it

being e.g. ad-hoc? When we make decisions, what makes something “Important, Urgent, Feasible and Impactful”?

What are the rights and duties of each of us? What behaviours should be forbidden?

How will we avoid that efforts to build a consensus shut down critical thinking?

Step 1. Collection of individual

How will we ensure that all invest enough in getting decisions implemented? How can we ensure that all have the

authority to act on the team’s decisions?

How do we avoid that internal struggles take place ''under the table'' or “through hidden agendas”?

How do we avoid that disagreements are at times taken as personal critic? How do we avoid that a few team

members dominate or control the team? How do we avoid that some team members communicate mainly with one

other team member?

If we trust each other more, what would i do more and others do more?

If i accept to depend more on others in the team and outside of the team?

If others can rely more on me to be successful in the team and outside of the team?

What are we doing well, and, how can do more of it?

How can we best use the time we spend together in meetings?

How can we make a team member ´s regular job (easier outside of our teamwork) easier?

How can we ensure that issues are solved before they become serious problems?

How can we ensure that each of us are proud of the team?

How can we ensure that all voices have the same weight and “space”? How can we ensure that no important

decision is made until the opinions of absolutely all team members have been heard?

How can we focus less on data and more on insight?

How can we ensure that the team takes external and internal customer’s perspectives into consideration when

making decisions?

How can we ensure that we use the strengths of each of team member, to the benefit of the team?

How can we ensure that all volunteer to help each other before they are asked to do so or before the need for help

becomes critical?

How can we ensure that we demonstrate excellent skills in giving feedback, and in making it easy for others to give

feedback? How can we ensure that we hear or express gratitude, or that we make thankfulness a habit?

How to avoid that success blinds us, gets to our heads, make us take on behaviors we did not adopt when were

successful?

Step 2. Group of peers.

How can we avoid that interactions are superficial or at a “toe in the water” level? How can we ensure that all are

open with information* they possess that is relevant to the team’s tasks (*this may be facts, feelings, opinions,

intuitions)? How can we ensure that all spontaneously and constructively critic elements related to the functioning

of the team? How can we ensure that all are comfortable being vulnerable with one another (e.g. willing to share

openly their weaknesses and to request for help from other team members)?

How can we ensure that when one of us struggles, others team are always there to help? How can we avoid that we

sometimes hesitate to hold one another accountable because we fear it could jeopardize the personal relationship

we have towards each other? How can we ensure that we hold together and remain effective, even under severe

stress?

How can we ensure that unacceptable behaviour is proactively prevented or that we ensure that nobody slips into

them?

How can we ensure that we view each other as friends or as agreeable colleagues, towards which they make efforts

to build up a strong relationship?

What can move us from good to great?

What is the thing that you would like to change but feel is not possible to change?

How can we not only work hard together, but also have a lot of fun together?

What triggers complexity?

How can we improve our decision-making / dilemma solving?

How can we reduce reporting, and, increase discussions?

How can we ensure that all identify the blockers and enablers of the team tasks being accomplished?

How can we ensure that the agenda (what and how) of team meetings and of team work are set as much by team

members as by the team leader?

How can we ensure that all team members discuss problems objectively and do not form coalitions to pressure

others into agreement?

How can we ensure that we focus more on our customers than on our team´s interests?

How can we ensure that “enthusiasm for new ways of seeing things” takes as much weight as “playing it safe” when

we consider options in a decision?

How can we ensure that all team members truly believe they need each other to achieve the team’s tasks? How can

we ensure that all truly believe they need each other to do the task they are accountable for outside of the team?

Step 3. Team of team members.

How can we ensure that we decide together to function as a group or as subgroups, according to the need and/or

according to the interests or skills of team members?

How can we ensure that we confront each other's assumptions in ways that enrich creativity and problem solving?

How can we ensure that the leadership by one of the team members emerges spontaneously?

How can we ensure that we spend scheduled time to further improve relations inside the team?

How can we make the formal team leader even more efficient in helping us run the team?

How to avoid that when things get bad we pull together rather than pull apart?