Building Effective Teams
/Based on our 30+ years of organisational experience, successful teams usually meet 10 requirements. For your team to optimise its effectiveness you will have:
- Defined your Mission – a clear purpose (Why do we exist?) that is fully comprehended by all.
- Defined your desired Reputation – clearly articulated the values, and the associated behaviours, of the team. These describe what the team wants to be known for and therefore, how they will act/conduct themselves.
- Defined your team Vision – a clear goal (future-oriented state) that is fully comprehended by all.
- An articulated Strategy to achieve this goal.
- Agreed and clearly understood Technical processes that achieve the team purpose. This usually means some level of documentation.
- A way to Measure your processes for effectiveness and then improve the processes further.
- Clear Roles. Be clear about who does what. Include team maintenance roles as well as technical roles.
- Have clear processes for Team maintenance issues i.e.:
- ommunication,
- Decision making,
- Providing feedback within the team,
- Problem solving, and
- Conflict resolution
- Have each member of the team working on some aspect of Improving the team’s processes/performance. A minimum for any one person is to be improving his or her own personal capability. Most can be working on improving some aspect of the team’s processes as well.
- Appreciation within the team of the value of differences, without letting difference become an excuse for not performing.
At Organisational Capability Solutions (OCS) we have developed a tool to help you assess the effectiveness of your team(s) on these requirements. We are also able to assist you in working on any one or more of these requirements.