Teams Unleashed

How to Release the Power and Human Potential of Work Teams

Phillip Sandahl, Alexis Phillips, Alexis Phillips

• Publisher: Nicholas Brealey Publishing
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9781529337044
• eBook ISBN: 9781529337051
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Mentoring & Coaching
• Index: Business

FROM THE CO-AUTHOR OF THE WORLDWIDE BESTSELLER, CO-ACTIVE COACHING Teams Unleashed provides a map and compass for engaged, sustainable, and improved team performance. This practical approach uses the everyday language of teams to highlight what's working, and uncover what's not, and gives teams the tools to to incorporate new practices that build team effectiveness. This is an approach proven in the real world of teams since 2005 and used by thousands of teams worldwide.The steps outlined are based on the fundamentals of coaching - a powerful, repeatable process to support and empower change that makes a difference. Teams Unleashed introduces the five core competencies for working effectively with teams, describes the essential team coaching skills and provides exercises and activities to generate the important conversations that lead to new understanding and new team norms.This is a book for those who work with and lead teams: team and executive coaches, internal HR, OD and L&D professionals, and team leaders. This is an approach that gives teams a way to get clear "We are here"; the tools to design "Where we go from here"; and the structure and accountability to stay on track for team success.

PART 1

How to Consistently
Create High-Performing
Teams

Our data from more than 10 years of team-assessment results tells us two things—and these two things are related.

First, as we noted in the introduction, our data shows that fewer than 10 percent of teams rate themselves as high-performing. A survey of executives by McKinsey & Company found only 20 percent thought their team was a high-performing one.⁴ Pick your statistic, that is still an alarming revelation, and it ought to be a resounding call to action.,

Second, even with no special training or development work with the team, one in 10 teams do rate themselves high-performing. And if one in 10 can do it with no help, imagine what would be possible if we simply figured out what those high-performing teams do well. That would lay the groundwork for a process designed to transfer that know-how to other teams. That’s the focus for the first five chapters of the book.

We start by distilling the essential attributes of high-performing teams. Out of that exploration we build a team-effectiveness model—a template any team can emulate. You will see how those attributes sort easily into two primary dimensions: qualities that optimize a team’s ability to get the job done and qualities that optimize the team’s ability to collaborate.

A viable model is a great start, but it’s not sufficient when the outcome we want is a process that will help any team work more effectively. If the goal is growth and development, like learning any new skill, it takes more than reading a book, attending a workshop, or—for teams—having an engaged conversation. Change—real change—takes place over time by practicing new behavior. That is why a coaching methodology is ideal for this purpose. In fact, a coaching model not only provides a structure to practice new ways of interacting, it holds the team accountable for that behavior to help ensure change is integrated into life at work.

In this section we will look at each of the 14 team effectiveness factors that make up the two dimensions. This section will show team coaches or team leaders how to explore those factors with a team in engaging ways. We describe the change/coaching process for teams and what distinguishes it in comparison to other modalities. You will discover the key differences between individual and team coaching and see the guiding principles on which this team coaching methodology is based.

The coaching process begins by putting a pin in the map, as a team, and saying, “We are here.” That awareness leads naturally to a team conversation about “Where we want to be” and “How we will get there.” The model provides a compass for the team development journey, and coaching provides the means to stay on course.

CHAPTER 1

The Model for
Great Teams

The central question is this: What makes great teams great?

If we knew the answer to that question, we would be a long way ahead in helping teams work together more effectively. It’s a question that has been widely studied, so there is a vast amount of research available.⁵ And there is another, simpler way to get to the heart of the matter right now without digging into the published research. For the purposes of simplicity, do this exercise, tapping into your own experience.

Take a moment and think about a really great team you’ve been on. Scan back in your memory for a team that really stands out. It could be a work team, or a sports team. It could be an experience from theater or music. It could be a current team you’re on, or a recent team, or a team from your youth, but that team stands out in your memory. That was a great team.

Relive for a moment what it was like to be on that team. Remember the people you were with, what you accomplished, maybe even what you had to overcome. Recall a special moment with that team. What did it feel like? Savor that experience.

We’ve done this exercise with dozens of teams, hundreds of team members. The stories they tell are uplifting. One story after another—very different teams and circumstances but the energy created by these memories is inspiring: A school sports team, perennial underdogs, with grit and spirit stronger than their individual talents, wins the state championship. A new team, pulled together under impossible project deadlines and limited resources—long hours, late nights, and many pizza boxes later they deliver, and what they remember most is the laughter. The stories aren’t all about overcoming great odds. Sometimes it is simply the unexpected magic and personal connections that last years after the team has dispersed to other organizations and other lives.

In each remembrance you can feel the unique spirit of that team. The stories remind us of the commitment people felt for one another and the commitment to the team’s goal or mission. You can see it on the faces of the storytellers. There was a powerful feeling of “we were in this together.” Those teams that stand out in the storytelling are teams that were truly alive, engaged, and empowered by a common purpose and spirit.

Teams like that, that’s what’s possible. You know that’s possible because, if you’re like nearly every team member who has ever participated in this “best team” exercise, you’ve been on a team like that.

Now ask yourself this question: What were the qualities that made that team a great team? What sets that team apart from other teams you’ve been on? Here is a sample list of qualities we consistently hear from team members:

Clear roles. Everyone knew what their job was.

Support. I’ve got your back, you’ve got mine.

Clear goals

Fun—despite the pressure

We had a great mix of personalities, skills, and experience.

People were accountable.

Mutual respect

We didn’t always agree—it sometimes got heated—and that was okay. We worked things out.

People cared. They cared about the project and they cared about each other.

Even when things looked the worst, we knew we could do it.

We were unstoppable. Nobody thought we could do it, and we did.

From your own experience of being on teams, what qualities of great teams would you add to the list? When you study the list of attributes, over time a structure emerges. You begin to see that the list can be sorted into two categories. Here is how we sorted them.

The Productivity Dimension

We start with a fundamental premise, that teams exist to produce results. That’s the ground on which we stand. There is no other reason for an organization to put a team together. That premise then leads us to a very obvious question: What are the conditions necessary for teams to get results; to get the job done; to be productive?

Those “productivity” attributes are there in the list of “best team” qualities. From a long list of possibilities, we settled on seven that we believe—and research supports—are essential for teams and, by the way, where high-performing teams excel. These are the Productivity strengths. In chapter 2 we will go into more detail about each of these Productivity factors and how they show up as strengths on teams. We will also include activities to help teams improve in each of the seven areas. For now, here is an overview.

Seven Productivity Strengths

Team Leadership

The team leader’s role is clear. The team leader is supportive of the team as a whole. There is also a strong sense of team leadership; team members step up as the need for leadership arises, and that leadership is empowered. In one sense, everyone on the team is responsible for leadership.⁶

Resources

This is not about the quantity. We have yet to meet a team that says, “Resources? Oh, we have plenty, thank you.” Instead, it’s about the ability to effectively manage what the team has. Think of resources broadly: material resources, skills, training, time, team capacity, human capital.⁷

Decision Making

The team has clear and efficient decision-making processes and is adept at applying different processes to different situations. Excellence in decision making is both the ability to make timely and effective decisions and the commitment to learn from decisions that are made.⁸

Proactive

A proactive team is a team that takes initiative—rises to the challenge. Some teams are satisfied with “good enough.” As Jim Collins pointed out in his book, Good to Great, these days “good enough” is no longer good enough. Teams that are proactive show it by being creative and innovative and by embracing change.

Accountability

When we look at accountability through a team lens, we see that it is more than a high level of individual accountability. On high-performing teams, team members hold one another to a higher team standard and actively support each other to meet that standard.⁹

Goals and Strategies

The team has set challenging objectives; targets and outcomes are clear and reinforce a strategic vision.

Alignment

There is a sense of common mission and purpose. The team values cooperation, cohesion, and interdependence. Team members are all pulling in the same direction.¹⁰

These seven are like different muscles. Each one is distinct and serves a particular function, and they are all important in order for the team to function as a whole. Some teams are very strong when it comes to these seven attributes. They would be “High Productivity” teams. Some teams are not, and they would be somewhere lower on the Productivity scale. Notice that we keep looking through the lens of “the team.” Every team member will have their own unique contribution to these attributes; our primary focus is on how the team as a whole functions.

When taken together, these seven attributes define the team’s capacity to be productive. That word “capacity” is important. It doesn’t mean that a team that scores well in those seven areas will be productive by whatever business measures are relevant to that particular team. But it does mean the team has the ability to be productive.

The Positivity Dimension

We also know that the culture of a team exerts tremendous influence on the ability of team members to work together collaboratively.¹¹ The Positivity dimension represents the relationship infrastructure of the team; these factors form the environment in which the work gets done. A team culture can be enormously empowering and supportive, and it can be a toxic fog that sabotages the team’s ability to work together.¹² You know this from your own experience on teams. The team morale and the prevailing team attitude—whether it’s sunny and smooth or a cautious walk through a potential minefield—affects every team member and the team’s ability to perform.

This is the team experience—the invisible cloud, the air that the team breathes every day. It can be invigorating and it can be poisonous. This ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Praise for Teams Unleashed
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Part 1: How to Consistently Create High-Performing Teams
• Part 2: Five Essential Competencies for Effective Work with Teams
• Part 3: Final Questions
• Endnotes
• Bibliography
• What the TCI Team Performance Data Reveals
• Team Coaching Toolkit
• TCI Four Integrated Assessment Tools
• About the Authors
• Index