The Team Leader
Here’s a thought
“What’s it like in your team?”
Does your team produce the required results easily or is it hard work?
Are the team members energised and fully engaged or are you having to push hard and rely on ‘incentives’ and ‘consequences’?
Does your team have a shared vision of success or are you imposing yours and trying to get them to ‘buy in’?
Has the team developed a ‘good strategy’ to achieve the vision or are they floundering and complaining about a ‘lack of communication’?
Has the team agreed their collective focus for the next three months in order to implement the strategy or is everyone busy on ‘day job’ in their silos?
Has the team got a mechanism to review and appreciate progress towards their collective focus or is it head down backside up, keep going, no time to reflect and learn?
Is there a ‘safe environment’ where team members can freely express themselves, their concerns and stress in order to prevent shocks or is that for wimps?
Do you have a robust methodology for working “on” the team or is everyone “in” the team on task all the time?
Do you have support just like a Premier League team has various coaches, physiotherapists, nutritionists etc. to help develop, sustain and strengthen fitness, technique, tactics and collective performance or is it only footballers that need to be ‘fit for purpose’?
And is your team clear on its purpose so that all members are doing things ‘on purpose’ or is everyone putting in long hours going through the motions?
So, what do you think? What would you say your team was?
Unconsciously competent – they work together and achieve the right goals effortlessly and without even thinking about it, the team is like a car engine all the parts are finely integrated and it ‘just works’.
Or
Consciously competent – the team’s performance is getting better, they are ‘in training’ as a team though have to concentrate on team functioning and how all the people and parts fit and how they work together, it’s a deliberate act.
Or
Consciously incompetent – the team is not performing and they know it, morale is low and getting worse, people are leaving. Getting stuff done is hard work and stressful. You are having to apply increasing levels of force. You are working longer hours and expect others to show similar ‘commitment’ though it’s just not there – perhaps you are also wondering about your own future here.
Or
Unconsciously incompetent – the team is not performing though team members think it is.
What do you think, what’s it like in your team …