A Leader's Challenge: How to Develop Teams that have Strong Relationships & Drive Results

Have you ever led or been part of a team that had extraordinary talent but failed to work together effectively? The results for these teams rarely match the level of talent that has been assembled. Great leaders know that the key to successful teams isn’t bringing together a group of all-stars and asking them to accomplish a shared goal. Success is bringing together a group of capable individuals who have a shared motivation to do their best work and value the contributions of all members of the team. I have experienced both ends of this continuum - the joy of seeing a group of individuals come together to experience immense team success and the frustration of not being able to effectively bring together a team of talented individuals.

During my more than 20 years as an organizational leader, I have learned that no matter the team context or make-up (personality or technical) - all teams face one important paradox that will either drive their success or become the primary reason the team fails. This paradox is the need for the team to constantly drive towards accomplishing their most important goals AND to ensure there is a culture of trust, safety, and inclusion. In other words, teams need to constantly balance their Results and Relationships.

James Zenger published a fascinating survey that shows how this paradox plays out within organizations. His work shared the results of a survey of 60,000 employees to identify how different characteristics of a leader combine to affect employee perceptions of whether the boss is a “great” leader or not. Below are some of the results.

• Results-oriented leaders are rated as good leaders 14% of the time
• People-oriented leader are rated as good leaders 12% of the time
• Leaders with both strong results orientation and social skills are rated as good leaders 72% of the time

The combination of being able to be effective at driving results and building relationships seems to be the key for being perceived by others as an effective leader.

Google also recently shared their research on the secret of building a more productive team, called Project Aristotle. In studying more than 100 teams, the one factor that stood out above all others was a team culture characterized by psychological safety. The strongest teams weren’t filled with the brightest minds or the hardest workers; the #1 thing that led to team success was psychological safety defined by the following characteristics:

• Team members were skilled at reading emotions based on nonverbal cues. If someone appeared down, others showed concern and support.
• Each person spent roughly the same amount of time speaking during conversations—showing value for all perspectives.

Thanks to Google for sharing its internal research, we have a better understanding of what makes a team excel. Google’s data-driven approach highlighted this fact: the teams that excel at delivering results are the teams that respect one another’s emotions and are mindful that all members have something valuable to contribute and should have the opportunity to be heard.

A Leader's Challenge

The findings from these two research projects highlight the importance for leaders and their teams to be effective at both driving results and building strong relationships. Given this fact, it is critical for leaders to understand the levers they have for developing teams that have the ability and agility to drive results and build relationships.                        

How can leaders build teams that develop strong relationships and drive results?

I have studied, researched and used many different models to help teams succeed with both results and relationships. I continually come back to a concept that I learned in my early 20’s when working as an Outward Bound instructor. The framework is called GRPI, which is an acronym for the 4 dimensions (Goals, Roles, Processes, and Interpersonal) that foster team development and performance. It is a framework for how leaders can build team effectiveness that was created by Richard Beckhard, who was one of the founding pioneers of organizational development.

As Outward Bound instructors, we used the GRPI framework to quickly bring groups together during an experiential outdoor wilderness expedition usually lasting between one to three weeks. GRPI served as a clear view of the pillars for building an effective team. During the expedition, the framework was revisited daily within planning and reflection sessions as the group evolved into a highly functioning expedition team. Since my Outward Bound days, I have used the this framework to help teams assess their effectiveness and as a guide to improve team results and interpersonal relationships. GRPI has proven to be a simple, practical, and effective approach for developing team effectiveness. Below is a quick overview of each of the 4 dimensions of the GRPI framework.

Goals

The importance of effective goals on an employee’s performance, engagement and motivation has been thoroughly researched and well-documented. We know that setting effective goals provide the benefits of clarity, focus, increased performance, professional development, and accountability. Goals give direction to a team, allowing them to understand where they are now, to define where they want to go and to unite each individual effort in getting there.

They create identity: a common goal is what makes a team a team. Without a uniting goal, any kind of team development will have a limited impact. This includes multiple levels of clarity and connection that encompass the following aspects of goals.

• Purpose – Fundamental reasons of the team and project; why we’re here.
• Values – The set of beliefs that drive our everyday behavior.
• Team Goals – What we want to achieve; a description of a successful end point at a particular point in time.
• Individual Goals – Clear individual goals that are aligned to team goals

Roles

Clarity and agreement of team member’s authority, responsibilities, and tasks that are needed for the team to effectively accomplish its goals. To enable the team to function, each team member should have a clear picture of who is doing what, who is responsible for what, and the extent of their authority. They should understand, agree and be satisfied with their roles and responsibilities, being accountable individually and collectively.

It is crucial that team members cooperate with each other and accomplish goals as effectively as possible. Research shows that role clarity is at the foundation of productivity, motivation, and performance for individuals and teams.

Processes

Setting clear and effective processes for decision-making, conflict management, problem solving, communication procedures, resource allocations, etc., will support the team’s goals by defining the important interactions needed for team effectiveness. The amount and types of processes depend on the task, size, and team composition. Examples include:

• Decision Making - How does the team make decisions on a collective level? How are different team decisions made?
• Resource Allocation - How does the team prioritize resources to accomplish its most important goals?
• Conflict Management - What is the process for resolving conflict? 
• Learning - How will the group continuously learn and evaluate its progress? 

Interpersonal

Teams need to be both social and results-focused for success. Problems can occur when individuals continually face challenging project deadlines or unexpected setbacks, as the natural tendency is for team members to put their heads down and push through it —abandoning any social component.

In his book Social: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Connect, Matthew Lieberman shares that evolution has built our brains with different networks for handling analytical thinking versus social thinking, making it difficult to be both socially and analytically focused at the same time. These two networks function as a neural seesaw. Lieberman says, “In countless neuroimaging studies, the more one of these networks got more active, the more the other one got quieter.”

Focusing solely on tasks can work for short periods of time, but over a long haul these behaviors deteriorate a team’s social bonds. This isolation is problematic, as a strong social support system is the most important factor in creating resilient and productive teams.

Leaders must invest in building their team’s social networks, especially during times of setbacks, challenges, change, and high demands. Below are some ideas for how leaders can support their team members in building strong relationships.

• Celebrate Wins - Too often, teams focus on the next mountain without acknowledging their successes. Take time out to celebrate wins.
• Gratitude - Take time in meetings to share appreciation for others or what has gone well for team members during the last week.
• Emphasize Team Collaboration - Leaders need to emphasize the importance of collaboration and address collaboration issues immediately.
• Team Building - Effective teambuilding activities are excellent for cultivating a sense of unity and camaraderie among employees.

The GRPI dimensions are important levers for leaders to help their teams succeed with achieving results while building strong interpersonal relationships. I like the way Shawn Achor summed it up in his book The Happiness Advantage: “The greatest predictor of success and well-being is one’s social support network. Countless studies have found that social relationships are the best guarantee of heightened well-being and lowered stress, both an antidote for depression and a prescription for high performance.”

 Your reactions, shares, and comments are always appreciated.

Tony Gambill is a principal consultant for CREO Inc., an innovative management consulting and advisory firm based in North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park. Tony brings more than 20 years of executive experience in leadership and talent development within global for-profit, non-profit, technical, research, healthcare, government and higher educational industries. www.CreoInc.net