Effective Teams
A number of key conditions need to be met for a team to work together effectively and achieve high performance. Extensive research at Harvard Business School found that there are 5 enabling conditions for effective teams. They need to:
- Form a real team and feel like a team
- Share a compelling purpose
- Be organised in a structure that supports the purpose
- Operate within a supportive context
- Have access to expert coaching
What most leaders know and what the research confirms is that most teams do not work efficiently based on these conditions. Whilst we can't affect whether or not the organisational context is supportive of your team's purpose, we can help you make the changes required to address the other 4 enabling conditions. This type of intervention is effective for senior leadership teams, management teams or intact work teams.
In addition we know from research that teams frequently exhibit the 5 common team dysfuinctions:
- Absence of trust
- Avoidance of accountability
- Fear of constructive conflict
- Lack of commitment
- Inattention to team goals
Our team effectiveness intervention normally starts with us analysing how people currently work together, how the structure operates in practice, how information flows and decisions are made and to what degree team members share and further the team's goals. We conduct this analysis through 1:1 interviews and observing the team in action.
Based on the initial assessment we design a suitable intervention to improve team effectiveness. These interventions typically include, but are not limited to:
- Individual coaching
- Group coaching in the context of group workshops
- Changes to structures, roles and responsibilities
- Addressing conflicts within the team
- Eliminating unnecessary information flows
- Building trust and commitment
- Dealing with politics and hidden agendas
- Clarifying the team's purpose
- Improving leadership flexibility
The impact of such an intervention on team performance, especially in the case of management teams, is staggering. A team really can be so much more than the sum of its parts - but only if it works effectively. To learn more about how you and your team can benefit, contact us today.
