Generating Effective Teamwork

We all have experiences of teamwork, just as we have experiences of sunrise. I recently invited 100+ Human Resources professionals to observe teamwork from different perspectives, as the photo above invites us to consider sunrise in new ways. I welcome you joining in the conversation through this post and six more to follow.

I asked everyone to recall their Best Experience participating in a Team or Performing Arts group. What’s yours?

I then asked everyone to share what they gained from the experience with a person at their table. The room came alive with voices eagerly sharing.

·        What did you gain from your experience? 

·        What one word would you use to summarize what you gained?

There were a lot of positive benefits being shared, and we gathered the collective wisdom of the room in this WordCloud.

It was fun to see the responses come in and reflect on the impact Best Team Experiences have had. How does your one word summary add to this?

I asked how many are experiencing their Best Team Experience now. Are you?

Only 10% indicated they were. The rest are not alone. Research shows:

• Three-Quarters of Cross-Functional Teams are Dysfunctional – Behnam Tabrizi, Harvard Business Review, June 23, 2015
• Almost Three-Quarters of “C-suite leaders rarely if ever work together on projects or strategic initiatives” – 2018 Deloitte Human Capital Trends
• Only One-Fifth of Senior Leadership Teams are high-performing, the rest are mediocre or poor. – Ruth Wageman etal, Senior Leadership Teams: What It Takes to Make Them Great (2007).

 These findings are startling, especially when contrasted with the 2017 Deloitte Human Capital Trends conclusion that the Future of the Organization is a “network of teams.”

Over the next six posts I’ll share what we can do to improve teamwork as the Heart of Organization Success.

I work with teams and leaders to create better results through the conscious evolution of our practice of leadership. Visit GenerativeLeadershipGroup.com to learn more.

Other Posts in the Series:

1. Generating Effective Teamwork
2. Leverage the Team Lifecycle
3. Clarify the Context
4. Assess Team Effectiveness
5. Set Teams Up for Success
6. Our Collective Leadership Challenge
7. Importance of Psychological Safety
8. Intervene to Develop Teams