Redefine Winning

Sure, it's Friday, but we're got a bad news alert for you. Most teams are carrying around what we call 'team debt'. It's the driver of dysfunction that they've been living and working with for years. And it makes it much harder for the team to be successful. People only notice it when they leave the organization (the relief is palpable!). Most leaders try to resolve this by setting up time for a team building day. This doesn't solve for team debt, it just builds on a dysfunctional and ineffective foundation. Average is avoidable. We're all complicit until we speak up and challenge. And building strong team foundations exponentially shifts outcomes. Eliminate team debt through team breaking! https://lnkd.in/gXmWs8_J #teamdebt #dysfunction #inefficiency #ineffective #leadership #teaming

Business outcomes and career growth depend on effective meeting culture. Why don't people speak up in meetings? People may feel disconnected from the cause. May not care. May not believe it matters to them (“it’s not part of my remit”). May feel the decision process is theater because the decision is already made. Don’t understand the topic and don’t want to be seen to be ignorant. Fear they’re the only people thinking in that way. Have been belittled in the past. Need more time (especially if they’re an introvert). Can’t get a word in because of all of the extroverts in the room. Every team member must help break the cycle and encourage significant participation. Leaders - you need to set the scene and give permission for them to do so. #meetingdna #meetingculture #businessresults #riseup

How do you expect to drive operational efficiency through AI integration, navigate the changing market, transform your processes, and delight your customers with a team that is struggling to work together effectively? You have to unleash potential to disrupt the market and succeed exponentially. Our passion is helping teams achieve their highest goals in the fastest time, and in the most joyful way possible. Book a free, no obligation consultation now: https://lnkd.in/eih9nr-W

What’s interesting to us is what is not being said in the silence in a meeting. “A whisper in the darkness holds more truth than a shout.” (Taupin and John, 2013.) If vocalized, the whisper or silence could surface a better idea, engage your team, demonstrate that success is a shared endeavor, and more. ? One might firmly disagree with an action, decision, or other discussion point, but may not speak up because of the absence of a better idea. Why is this a barrier? In most work cultures, another assumption comes into play; disagreeing means you have a better idea. It’s perceived as insufficient to just disagree for good reason. Yet, in highly effective teams, one could disagree and use the power of the team to ideate solutions. We have to normalize being able to say, "This idea doesn't work for this reason, and I need the team's help to figure out a better option." Silence isn’t golden after all. #surfacebetter #bebetter #teamswintogether #crossthefinishlinetogether #silenceisntgolden #teamcohesion

Take a look through this list and see which of these your leaders fall foul of. We've seen them all - and more - in our time coaching teams around the world. While it might seem difficult to stop doing all these things (or hold others accountable to better behaviors), we've cracked the code of the short cut. It's a set of foundational commitments in teams on the right strategies, behaviors, practices, and tools. And it is flexible enough to work in every team application. So save yourself some time, energy, and stress, and get in touch to learn more about Team Cohesion?. https://lnkd.in/dh7iU_Qp

When we run team sessions (whether for an intact team, cross functional team, or for a transformation effort) we will inevitably find ourselves in a position where there is an opportunity for us to challenge a behavioral norm in the room. One such example of this is whether silence in response to a question is approval and consent, disagreement, or neither. As most teams have never had a conversation about how they will work together and what their ground rules are, this becomes an illustration of the lack of clarity and significant assumptions that play out every day. During such a conversation, if I ask everyone to write down, in private, whether silence is approval, disagreement, neither, or something else, the responses will be as varied as the participant count. Has your team established agreements about how it works? The highest impact, highest performing, and most successful teams in the world have. Consider this your invitation to join them. (And we'll help you; just ask!) #issilencegolden #impact #outcomes #agreements #winningteams

Ask your team - or your colleagues - this question; “Are we collectively focused on the right things?” In that simple question, the ‘right’ things may be consistent across an aligned team at the rational level but will vary depending on the emotional and political drivers of the individuals in the team. Teamitis? is real! ? We call this kind of underperformance in teams,?Teamitis; the intent being to create an easy and safe term, that is socially acceptable to use, that speaks to a team’s performance gap and instantly offers a positive way forward together. Find out more here: https://lnkd.in/g8vxi_zw We're always happy to discuss how we can help you get exponential results, so reach out if you'd like to chat. #teamitis #aligned #collective #crossthefinishlinetogether

Is your team suffering from the paradox of choice? When we work with client teams, we often hear folks discussing actions and decisions and agreeing to defer these. (Oftentimes, that's because people weren't listening in a meeting, perhaps because they were multitasking.) People often celebrate that they can choose now or decide later, but what they miss is that by not choosing in that moment, a choice is still being made. Inaction to do something is just as much a decision as doing something, and may come with its own benefits, costs, opportunity costs, and tradeoffs. These are rarely considered. This is known as the paradox of choice, and it emphasizes that by not actively deciding, you are still deciding to let circumstances unfold, or to allow external factors or others to make the choice for you. Effective teams recognize this and make timely decisions and take action when it is needed. Does yours? Want to learn more about effective teaming? Head over to our website and enjoy our free team diagnostic, too. #teamdynamics #leadership #employees #work #effectiveteams #diagnostic

Most people have heard about group think. But... I’d propose you watch an excellent example of this phenomenon in the film, Twelve Angry Men (1957, but still relevant today). Driven by harmony and conformity within a group, team members prioritize unanimity over independent thinking and suppress dissenting opinions, leading to irrational decision-making. It can result in adverse outcomes for the group, which can then ripple out into the loss of value for the entire organization (or, in the case of the film, a different jury decision than one might expect). Top tip: If your team may be suffering from group think, separate gathering input up front from the decision making phase. Make the initial input gathering blind, through post-it or anonymous electronic submission. Set the scene up front that people need to truly candid to help move things forward. Notice how different the discussion will be that follows and how decisions may vary as a result. To find out more about team dynamics affecting your meeting, check out our full research article here: https://lnkd.in/gg3KQ34B #teams #leaders #effectivewaysofworking #groupthink #twelveangrymen

This week we'll be sharing a small selection of team dynamics that may derail effective actions, decisions, and more. The intent is to help you identify when the team isn't making success easier to achieve. Talking of which, sometimes people act with strong positive intent but actually harm the team. The desire to help, or our egos getting the better of us and pushing us to act when we are unprepared or unable to do so, plays out in most team settings. In coaching conversations, I hear people share stories of meetings they are in where people speak up solely to be heard. Oftentimes, people have nothing to say that adds on to what has already been said, but they feel compelled to speak up to assure that they are seen as valuable in the meeting. This is a classic example of a political driver. What happens is that they waste time and inhibit the truly valuable conversations from taking place, which reduces the effectiveness of the team. Top tip: Invite active participation in your meetings, and also explain that contributions that are the same as someone else has already made can be supported with "ditto" rather than long statements that don't add value to the conversation. #toptips #teammeetings #teammembers #leaders #strongertogether