Dare to dream

One thing we love about the work we do with teams is the discovery phase.?

That’s when we get to know the Leaders and learn about not only their vision, but their hopes and dreams for the organisation.??

It’s often like a first date, and we feel ourselves developing our own aspirations for the team.?When it’s a good fit–chemistry wise–we become invested and start brainstorming about all the ways we know we can have an impact on their system and catapult them forward from where they are now.??

Those first few meetings start with a series of powerful questions that we hope the teams will continue to ask themselves long after our partnership ends.?

Here are some of our favorites:

• What's the challenge for your business that's going to happen in 2 years time that you half know about now?
• What is the purpose that requires you to be a team?
• If your stakeholders were in this room what would they be saying about your team?
• How effectively does the team learn about how it can work together better?
• What is the specific, measurable goal that defines team success?
• How aligned are the values of each team member with each other and the organization?
• How well do team members know and trust each other?
• How clear is the path to results? How well does the team anticipate, avoid and mitigate risks?
• Is communication open, honest and transparent among team members?
• How effectively does the team bounce back and move forward after setbacks?
• Does the team know the conversations they need to have in order to move from vision to result?

These questions help teams slow down, reflect, and get really honest with themselves about where they’re doing well and what needs to shift.??

It’s an exercise in self-awareness.?It’s the beginning of our journey and it helps us lay a roadmap for what work needs to be done.?

Article:

And it’s the moment when we ask ourselves, “What’s possible for this team?”?

To dive deeper into powerful questions to explore with your team, read what Harvard Business Review has to say: Good Leadership Is About Asking a Question

Fact:

Between 4 to 9 people should work in a team for optimal success. Smaller teams are prone to more delays and skills/knowledge gaps, whereas larger teams often lack cohesion, efficiency, and accountability.

Research has shown that the most productive teams consist of a happy medium of around 6 people.

Here is the source.

Book Recommendation:

Often, simple behavioural change among team members can boost a team's performance and help an organization to become stronger with better, more connected and committed team players. An engaging and practical must-read for every member of your team if you are serious about upping the level of teamwork.

Buy it here.

What we've been working on:

We’ve developed a cheat sheet with easy exercises you can implement right now to get your team connecting better.

Access here to get a free copy.