Working in a team involves a number of challenges as combining different people - with different personalities, cultures, ways of working and thinking, strengths and weaknesses - can create chaos when there is no clear direction on how the team should progress.
According to the research conducted by Gallup, they found out that the one of the most powerful predictive factors in high team performance is having a framework of clear and compelling performance goals and expectations.
Teams that have clear and compelling goals and expectations are more productive, cost-effective, creative and adaptive. (Gallup)
Here's a summary of the 5Cs of Team Success by Gallup:
Common Purpose
It should start with a Common Purpose. The leader or the manager should effectively define the goals and expectations. He or she have more influence over team culture when all members share the same vision, mission and purpose.
Here are some guides to define the goals and expectations:
Define the team's vision, mission and purpose.
Set up SMART goals - goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-bound which are derived from the team's vision.
Create a vision board.
Connection
It is very important that the team members are aligned and connected to the Common Purpose. Conducting a kick-off meeting or a team briefing is crucial to ensure that the team members are aware of the vision and goals of the team.
To increase the team's awareness and leverage their strengths to contribute and be connected to the Common Purpose, as a leader or manager, you may do the following:
Discuss the team's vision, mission and purpose.
Share the team's goals.
Identify each team member's strengths. You can consider the tips defined in this post.
Ensure clarity in terms of the expectations for the team and each team member.
Aside from being connected to the Common Purpose, it is also important that the team members can relate to one another. Come up with activities that the team members can take to stay connected to one another. Identify the team's cheerleader or someone who can rally the team together.
Communication
Communication is vital to team's success. As a leader or manager, you should communicate effectively the expectation to each team member. The team should have a safe space as well with you to talk about their plans, successes and challenges. Encourage effective communication among the team members, too.
Effective communication can help minimize misunderstandings, create better relationships, helps handle conflicts better, builds empathy and trust and increasing self-awareness.
There are 7C's for effective communication: clarity, correctness, conciseness, courtesy, concreteness, consideration and completeness.
Collaboration
Encourage collaboration among team members. You may setup daily stand-up meetings for the team to discuss their accomplishments, targets for the day, progress of on-going activities and challenges. It is also encourage to incorporate strengths-based discussion in the stand-up meetings.
Have the team to collaborate as well in finding the best and most effective methods to work together and use the team's resources. Have an open discussion where the members can share their suggestions and assess on how these can add value to the team's and individual's goals and performance.
Conduct retrospective and encourage engagement and contribution from each team member.
Celebration
Celebration is equally important to the other C's to achieve team success. Celebrate small wins, recognize the unique contributions of each member. Identify strengths that are at work and affirm each member on how their strengths contribute to the progress of the team. Make the team's success known by the senior management.
Aside from celebrating team's success, add some personal touch into it. Celebrate personal milestones such as birthdays and festivities among others. But don't forget to understand your team member preferences as they might not prefer this type of activity.
May these post gave you some insights on how to gear your team towards success. If you have further inputs, feel free to comment below!
References:
Gallup, Inc. The 5 Tactics of Teamwork: A Blueprint for Team Management. https://www.gallup.com/workplace/275387/tactics-teamwork-blueprint-team-management.aspx
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