Building The Dream Team: 4 Ways to Unlock Innovation & Potential

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A recent study by?Gartner ?revealed that only 41% of employees are performing optimally - as in, they're consistently giving their best work and are confident they can sustain this level over the next year.?

This means that 59% of employees are NOT performing optimally. I find this shocking. Imagine how this impacts business results, employee motivation, and organizational growth.

Leaders can play a pivotal role in turning this around. By better leveraging the talent in your team, improving engagement, ensuring alignment to team goals, and managing performance, you can unlock the latent potential lurking in your people and elevate your team to new heights.

The four strategies of our TEAM coaching model (Talent, Engagement, Alignment, Management) can serve as a roadmap for mapping your way forward.

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1. Leveraging TALENT

Each team member brings a plethora of knowledge, experience, and skills to your team, but how much of this is utilized in their current role? By being more aware of the capabilities of each team member, you can assign opportunities where they can excel.?

Our Strengths Map focuses on four key dimensions that leaders can use to better understand the talent each person contributes to the team.

• Knowledge:?What experience and expertise do they bring? For example, their technical expertise, industry experience, cultural awareness, and people network. Look back at least ten years to uncover hidden opportunities.
• Skills:?What are their capabilities and competencies? For example, are they strong in critical thinking, problem-solving, communication, collaboration, organization, and attention to detail?
• Learning Style:?What is their preferred approach to learning? For example, using the?Honey & Mumford ?learning styles, are they more of an Activist, Pragmatist, Theorist, or Reflector?
• Personality: What character traits and temperament do they contribute to the team dynamic? For example, using the?Lumina Spark ?styles, what are their preferences for Big Picture Thinking, Extroverted, Outcome Focused, Down-to-Earth, People Focused, and Inspiration Driven?

When team members feel their unique talents are valued, they're more motivated, productive, and innovative. Plus, you can better leverage the diverse talents and perspectives of the whole team and enhance collective performance.

Team coaching questions to ask:

• What are the unique talents that each of us brings to the team?
• How can we leverage our team's diversity to enhance performance?
• How can we create a culture of excellence in our team?

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2. Improving ENGAGEMENT

In a dream team, everyone works together as a cohesive unit and brings their best efforts to the table. For this to happen, there needs to be a strong sense of trust and "psychological safety" in the team. According to a?Google ?study conducted in 2015, this was the most important sign of a high-performing and innovative team.?

You can cultivate "psychological safety" in your team by encouraging open communication, establishing clear expectations, and fostering a collaborative atmosphere. Tension in teams is inevitable, so when it arises, address it quickly by creating a non-judgmental space for everyone to express their concerns, find common ground, and explore different perspectives. There could also be a brilliant solution lurking beneath those stormy waters!

Team coaching questions to ask:

• How can we create a safe environment where everyone feels free to share ideas?
• What are our shared values, and how can we uphold them as a team?
• What role can conflict play in making our team stronger?

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3. Ensuring ALIGNMENT

When teams are aligned around a clear vision and strategy, they're more motivated to pool their skills, knowledge, and efforts to achieve high-quality results. Decision-making becomes more streamlined, and accountability improves as team members take ownership and responsibility. This drives better results.

Alignment starts with sharing a compelling vision that inspires your team, coupled with a clear strategy and roadmap. Involving your team in shaping this can dramatically improve buy-in. This becomes your team's "why?" and helps everyone to stay focused on the end game.

When shaping the strategic roadmap, I recommend using The?3 Horizons ?developed by McKinsey consultants. Start mapping out Horizon 3 by capturing the embryonic ideas and ideal vision. Then identify the core elements that already exist in Horizon 1. Finally, plan out what you need to build in Horizon 2 to get you from where you are today to where you want to be.

Team coaching questions to ask:

• What is our shared vision and purpose as a team?
• How does our team add value to the organization?
• How can we ensure everyone is working towards the same goals?

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4. Performance MANAGEMENT

Having clear measures of success and tracking progress ensures everyone stays on track to achieving the team's vision and goals. You can also detect potential issues early on and address them before they escalate. Plus, you can identify gaps in individual capabilities and areas for professional development.

Managing performance starts with setting clear goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART). Another goal-setting methodology I recommend is OKRs (Objectives and Key Results), where the Objective is an ambitious statement of the ideal outcome, and the Key Results are specific, measurable milestones for getting there.

Then, coach and support your team members to achieve their goals and objectives. Shift away from telling them the answers and empower them to develop their own ideas and solutions. Give regular feedback to address performance gaps, and provide learning opportunities where needed.?

Team coaching questions to ask:

• What are our key measures of success as a team, and how can we track them?
• What is holding our team back from being more effective?
• What are our top three priorities as a team over the next 90 days?

As a leader, the power to build the dream team is in your hands. By better leveraging your teams' talents, improving engagement, ensuring alignment with goals, and successfully managing progress, you can unlock the brilliance of each person and elevate your team to new heights.

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