Building a Great Team

 

 

Just came across these team training notes, and since my work involves team building and training, I thought this could be helpful.

You cannot build a strong organisation without a strong team. You cannot build a strong team without building the people within the team. Sounds obvious, doesn't it? However many times we see our team as a whole module forgetting the components that make up that module. When dealing with a team I try to keep things as simple as I can. This helps towards effective communication. The chart below has helped me to quickly assess where a team member is at. You might find it overly simple. I like simple. I believe simple can help leaders to unclutter, to see clearly beyond the mess and focus on the results we look for. Every now and then via conversations I ask a team member the following:

1. What is your main challenge at the moment? This question helps to spot problems.


2. What do you fell you need in order to perform better? This question helps to spot their main need.


3. What is your passion? This question helps when recruiting as well as with matching their job description with what they actually enjoy doing. You don't want someone who hates talking on the phone attempting sales calls.


4. What you can provide. This will help you to think of how you can provide a solution in order for the person to perform better within their team.

Let's look a little bit more into the four categories;

Problem - When you detect a problem (e.g. poor performance) within a team you've got to act immediately. You just cannot afford to ignore the issue and expect it to go away. It won't. The longer you take the more the problem will grow and spread among the team. So write the main problem on this part of the chart.

Need - Is the problem caused by a particular need (e.g. training, budget). Assess the need by asking direct questions (e.g. what do you think your primary need is?).  Also assess past performance to detect not perceived but actual needs.

Passion - Do you know what your team member is passionate about? This part of the chart should be revealing something to you. Is the person in the right role? Perhaps their dreams are different to what they are doing at the moment. People will flourish when they start doing what they love. After discussing the topic add their passion to this part of the chart.

Solution - This is your chance to write down a solution in order to move your team member forward. Take this opportunity to describe what is required from you and your team member in order to achieve results. Be concise and clear - I've found that too much information tends to get people confused.

The chart above can also be used as a tool in interviews, appraisals, coaching and informal meetings.  If you want to zero in on a problem, focus, think, develop and provide clear solutions with clear instructions, why not give the above development chart a try and let me know if it worked for you too.

 

Why not keep it simple!