High-Performance Teams - Reasons and Goals?
Jim Collins in Good to Great said that you need to get the right people on the bus, then the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats and only then do you figure out where to drive it. I don’t agree with the last point, you can in fact know where you want to drive the bus before you recruit and select the right people.
This then begs the question as to what are your reasons for wanting a bus, that is, a High-Performance Team? Also, what personal and professional goals do you have in mind because you surely want to get as much out of the team-building exercise as possible. This presents an opportunity for you to express what you like, don’t like and are happy to give up in respect of yourself and your team
1. Reasons
List the reasons that make you want to improve your team? Here are a few examples:
I don’t like my management style, it’s ineffective.
Lack of respect for me as a manager.
Being told that I don’t listen.
Low team morale and job satisfaction.
Lack of team direction.
Repetitive, non-challenging work, boredom in the team.
Little opportunity for my own and team members professional growth.
The number of mistakes being made.
The level of team member turnover.
To uplift the skills, knowledge and competencies of the team in preparation for:
Downsizing.
A corporate merger/acquisition.
Outsourcing.
Team mergers.
2. Personal Goals
List the personal goals you want to achieve and against each describe the measure you will use to show that you have achieved them. Here are some sample personal goals and measures:
Need a better work/life balance. (More personal time).
An enjoyable lifestyle as a result of higher remuneration. (Increased remuneration).
Need to get to the gym more often. (Now getting to the gym three days a week).
To have a better career.
To increase my job satisfaction level.
To reduce my work-related stress.
To become more professional.
To work with people who are loyal, supportive and trustworthy. (Loyal staff, low turnover).
To be able to overachieve in comparison to others. (Higher recognition of my work).
3. Professional Goals
Write down your Professional goals and against each what measure you will use to show that you have achieved them.
Before thinking about specific goals, first, think about the problems you might be trying to solve. Here are some examples of problems that can be converted into goals.
Need to acquire new skills, knowledge and management behaviours.
Lack of preparation to successfully lead.
Lack of promotion.
Lack of confidence.
Developing managerial effectiveness.
Team member engagement.
Stop micro-managing.
Communicating objectives to my team.
Establish the team’s purpose.
Manage team talent.
Leverage team norms to drive performance.
Resolving team conflict.
Managing difficult People.
How to let someone go.
Delivering bad news.
Staying motivated.
Being respected and being liked.
Empowering team members.
Engaging introverts.
Fostering collaboration.
Improving work performance and productivity.
Fostering an environment of trust.
Here are some sample professional goals and measures:
Transition to a progressive, transformational management style.
Upskilling my management competency and capability.
Addressing particular departmental issues.
To prepare for a major strategic business initiative.
To manage increasing workloads.
To improve morale and job satisfaction.
To do more with fewer resources or have a faster start-up/reaction time to new unplanned business needs.
Lack of preparation to successfully lead. (Feeling more confident about managing).
Lack of promotion. (Received a promotion, managing more staff).
Developing managerial effectiveness. (Team is working better, getting more done).
Team member engagement. (Good team member relations).
Stop micro-managing. (Have stopped micro-managing).
Communicating objectives to your team. (Team has a common goal).
Leverage team norms to drive performance. (Team has direction).
Mastering team conflict. (Conflict management process is in place).
4. Summarize
Review what you have written and list the top three (or more) Reasons and Goals that are the most important to you. Keep these in mind as you read future posts.