What are the Characteristics of High Performance Teams? Part 3
CEQ - Collaborative Equity LLP
Promoting corporate cultures and sustainable business models of shared ownership, shared responsibility & shared reward
I believe in the fundamental truths of how human beings are wired to behave, whether through genetics or environment. So theoretical models are of profound value, in which case we may as well access the healthiest and most aspirational of those models. But I also believe in practical application; in tools and techniques and processes that actually work in the day to day realities of the modern corporation...
We now look at the stage of having 'Utter respect for each other as expert specialist professionals'
3. Utter respect for each other as expert specialist professional
The amount of ‘second guessing’ that goes on in organisations is staggering and it is both inefficient (a total waste of time and energy) and divisive (causing frustration and often retribution). It is an entirely natural human dynamic to want input to and even control over things that happen around you and that impact upon your own plan. It’s frustrating when something happens to divert you, especially when it feels as though it only happened because someone was lazy or incompetent or both. So when you look around the table at your teammates, to what degree do you judge them as being experts in their field; true specialists; complete professionals? Or are you guilty of judging them as ‘less than’ – as people who are not as good in their area as you are in yours; as people who are ok, but not as good as they need to be in order for the team to succeed; maybe even as people that you will need to ‘carry’? (And how are they looking at you?)
Having respect for someone does not mean falsely judging that they are a superstar when they are not. It does not mean hiding your legitimate concerns about their competence, experience, strategy and performance. It does mean being honest with them in your views and opinions, being openly inquisitive and utterly supportive of their growth and success, and being wholly reciprocal in all humility for them to properly respect you back.
I often encounter a dynamic where a team leader will earnestly tell me that they cannot talk openly about each team members’ strengths and weaknesses in front of the whole team, for fear of embarrassing anyone. It’s as if there is something shameful about not possessing 100% skill or competency in a role, or in exhibiting a trait or habit that is getting in the way of peak performance. This is ridiculous in my view. First of all it sets up an unhealthy and inefficient dynamic whereby only the leader possesses certain ‘sensitive’ information (and yet one of the team values might well be ‘absolute honesty’!) and therefore the leader is burdened with expending energy on keeping confidences and having to handle individuals personally and in sequence. Secondly it means that only the leader can support individuals in their growth and development, and then they have to attempt this in total isolation. Can you imagine trying to manage a football team in this way, where you have to keep ‘private and confidential’ the fact that the goalkeeper is struggling to perform to an adequate level? In a football team this would be inconceivable and simply ludicrous. First of all everyone knows when a person is underperforming so there is no point in pretending there is no issue.
Secondly when it’s in the open, all team members can be part of the correction.
The only way the goalkeeper improves and conquers the obstacles to raised and consistent high performance, is if the whole team play their part – protecting, then encouraging, then challenging, but ultimately believing.???
Respecting someone means that we may have to communicate our disagreement; our frustration even. It means not allowing someone to fail needlessly. It means being prepared to be in conflict with someone and handling the unsettling feelings that come with this state. And it means trusting that they will do the same for us. When this exists the team has the best possible chance of assessing a situation or event honestly and reaching the finest decision. If a team fails to do this, it will procrastinate, prevaricate and fudge the issue – it will then expend energy on justifying the flawed strategy. More on conflict specifically under #5 below.
One of the pitfalls I’ve seen many times is where team members adopt a safe and convenient mindset before a team meeting, rather than remembering consciously that they need to trust each other and not shirk the potential tensions and discomfort from a passionate and emotional debate. When we respect each other as expert, specialist professionals, we know and trust that each of us come and advocate our area of responsibility. Rather than each of us coming and advocating the ‘safe’ aspect, we each come with the ‘risky’ aspect – and I don’t mean ‘safe’ or ‘risky’ in the business or commercial sense, I mean it in the emotional sense.
Here’s how it plays out...
?Team dynamics
1)??? Safe??????????????????????????? a? b c????? X?????????????? d e f????????????????????????????? Risky
??
2)??? Safe?????????????? a?????????????? b??????????? c??????????? X?? d??????????????? e f????????Risky?
Often the culture of team meetings is to debate ‘safe’ topics and arrive at ‘business as usual’ decisions. When the time comes for more strategic discussions, maybe at times of key scrutiny, the team might need to consider much more radical options. How do they go about this?
The cultural dynamic may be for individual team members to come well prepared to meetings and put fully formed ideas on the table, usually ones where they have ‘laid the ground’ with the CEO in advance.
After all, the fear is that a ‘poor’ showing at a critical strategic meeting could be career limiting.
What they will NOT do, unless they are very brave, is to come with a half formed idea – something that has been niggling away at them as an option that the company might just have to consider.
So in figure 1, individuals (a, b, c, d, e and f) put their ‘positions’ on the table and the team arrives at decision X, either by a genuine consensus or, more likely, on a tight deadline to end the meeting, after a summing up by the CEO.
This looks like a very satisfactory decision making process, and has the surface appearance of a team that is trusting, open and honest, if a little deferent to the CEO.
The awful reality however is that the team has not in fact reached a decision to which all are committed, and potentially has reached a decision to which none are committed. Individuals have put relatively ‘safe’ views forward, and have thus not been satisfied by being able to truly ‘debate’ the options.
This lack of commitment manifests in a conversation when one manager gets back to their office, to be greeted by their #2 with the typical, ‘how was the meeting?’, and responds ‘well, I am just not sure we are doing the right thing……………’. And thus the rot starts……………….
领英推荐
In figure 2, those same individuals put their true views on the table, or possibly ‘risk’ airing a half formed idea, with the effect that on the surface the team looks like it is at times in unreconcilable conflict. Yet because the fundamental respect is in place, and because the culture here is for individuals to feel safe in airing their passionate views, even though they are not always SURE about what they really think and are genuinely open to persuasion, the quality of the debate is at its very highest potential.
The CEO is this scenario, is a true facilitator, and brings the decision making process to a close, exhorting the individuals to remember that team unity comes before ‘being right’.
Each individual then goes away emotionally and commercially wedded to the decision reached, and willing to put aside their own pre-conceptions and judgements for the good of the unity of the team and the unity of purpose of the company.
This is a true high performance team. So in preparation for a meeting, do you work out what you think you can get or persuade others of and go in with pre-sanitised or pre-consensed options and recommendations? Or do you work out what you truly believe to be best for your area of the company – for your customers, for your people – and prepare yourself to both put those views passionately, to listen openly to others and to be truly open to adopting an entirely different option than that which you’ve argued?
So here are some questions that can be given to people to get them to prepare for a key meeting;
“The acid test is this – can I as an individual go to a team meeting, engage in an open and honest debate, give my views and opinions with all the passion I have for them and listen respectfully to the differing views of my colleagues (without shirking from the discomfort of the conflict), watch as the team reach a different conclusion to me, and then go out and enthusiastically action the decision, as if it were my own?”
I often ask ‘what’s the size of the board room table?’ Have you ever noticed that board room tables are often huge – way bigger than any table we would ever have in our own home. And have you ever noticed the small scale of the debates that go on around such tables – when we respect each other as expert, specialist professionals, we can use the whole of the table, not just the safe and comfortable bit in the middle.?
Why is it that Olympic athletes fall into each others arms immediately after they have been trying their utmost to beat each other? Because of professional respect which turns into brotherhood when the battle is over. Do not be afraid of hurting someone's feelings or of appearing arrogant. If you are respected as a fellow professional striving for the finish line then you have nothing to fear. More than this you have the potential for fellowship. But the gateway to fellowship is not politeness or sociability. The gateway is not being dishonest no matter what positive or caring motive that drives this. The gateway is being truly yourself. The gateway is discharging the totality of your responsibilities to the very maximum of your potential.
Be the expert specialist champion. Be the strident advocate for your area your customers your staff. Be their voice. Don't compromise in advance or sanitise your views to make them more acceptable or more likely to be approved or to make yourself more liked. You do not have that luxury. You ARE the head. You are the ONE. Live up to the responsibility that you have been given. It is a privilege to hold the office you have been given and every moment and every interaction is precious. Do not choke on the edge of the diving board. You have one chance. Every day you have one chance. Every day is your Olympic final. Be at your peak every day. To do this you will need the team’s support, and you will feel that they should get an equal glory to you. But take the glory and let them bask in your success. They want to work for someone who wins, not a nice guy who always come second.
When we describe our journey is it honoured or judged? If we had a frustrating time with traffic delays do people say we were stupid to take the motorway or leave late or do they accept the situation and ask what we need to get us back on time and feeling positive.
High performance means being courageous enough to be a performer. Unapologetically the best you can be. Believing in yourself. Not hesitant, or holding back. When we hold back for fear our passion will hurt or offend others then we deny them the opportunity to be inspired and join us in our mission. Leave people changed yet do not try and control their path.
Criticising a colleague for not being something, is not a constructive act. Our job in supporting colleagues within a team is to help them be the very best they can be, using all their talents and passions. Then we should determine with their agreement and input, how to support them by filling the gaps they will leave in their wake. Its called teamwork.?
And while we are on the subject of respect for professionals, let’s ask ourselves...
What is our reputation as a team? Team unity is vital…………………but so is our reputation as a leadership team. People need to follow us even when we are not around. So how do we get our message out? How do we manage our own PR through internal communications and peer advocacy? Are we a team to be proud of? Are we a team to be copied? Are we a team to aspire to join?
There are times when it’s not just about the quality of the chocolates, it’s also about the attractiveness of the packaging. Brain research has shown that if we are attracted by the quality of the packaging, the product within tastes sweeter to us. It may have the precise same chemical make up as the product in the dull packaging that’s fetching a tenth of the price, but whereas that product will taste at best ok, and at worst terrible, our product will taste great. Same taste and yet not the same – our brains experience a different taste because our brain chemistry has been affected by our expectations.
As a great team we want people to emulate us in our absence, and the best way to achieve this is, having got the product right first of course, to focus on communicating expectations of quality, and ensuring that brain chemistry is working for us not against us – because the opposite is also true.??
Next week's Newsletter will cover:
4. Acceptance of individual idiosyncrasies and personal circumstances
Article excerpted from “And The Leader Is… Transforming Cultures with CEQ” - by Gareth Chick for the CEQ Newsletter: Coaching, Leadership, Change
Exclusive to our Newsletter subscribers, we are offering free 30 minute Coaching Sessions with one of our coaches. Simply fill out the short form below and we will do the rest:
Founder, Operations Thought Leader ?? Helping 700+ agency owners break through the 1.3M, 3M and 7M rev plateaus.
1 年This is a powerful reflection on the dynamics within high-performing teams.