Unclear goals Individual members promote Remind members of team goals during each outcome that is in conflict with the meeting team Ask how each action being discussed will Team members capitulate too quickly in contribute to the teams goals discussions Be suspicious of premature agreement. Ask Team is spending an inordinate members to play advocate’ about issues ‘devil’s amount of time discussing actions that around which everyone quickly agrees are not aligned with team goals Harvard Business Essentials. Creating with an Edge. Harvard Business School Press, Boston: Massachusetts, 2004. Problem Characteristic behaviours Strategy Inept leadership Leader does not solicit enough Be brave: meet with leader to involvement from team members express concerns about perceived leadership deficiency Leader does all the work Consider how you might help the leader Team falls behind to be more effective eg. volunteer for Conflicts become unhealthy additional tasks Lack of vision If leadership problems persist, Leadership perspective is myopic; it express concerns to sponsor represents one area rather than full constituency Lack of Work of team is rejected by One of several preventable problems management management has occurred: support Team does not have an adequate Senior managers express discomfort sponsor about the team’s work Sponsor has not off’ on goals Necessary resources are not provided ‘signed and resources Team sponsor and/or other stakeholders have not been adequately informed of team progress Work with sponsors to clarify team charter and resources Lack of resources Team assignments are not coupled Negotiate with sponsor ‘work’ with a trade-off from regular job and member’s supervisors responsibilities Negotiate for budget No budget for necessary materials or If sponsors and stakeholders will not outside participation contract for needed time or resources, team success is unlikely; consider disbanding the team Absence of trust Team members unwilling to be Identify and discuss individual strengths vulnerable within the group and weaknesses Team members are not genuinely Spend considerable time in open with one another about their meetings and working sessions mistakes and weaknesses Fear of conflict Teams do not engage in unfiltered and Acknowledge that conflict is passionate debate of ideas required for productive meetings Establish common ground rules for Discussions characterised by veiled engaging in conflict discussions and guarded comments Understand individual team member’s natural conflict styles
Unclear goals Individual members promote outcome that is in conflict with the team Team members capitulate too quickly in discussions Team is spending an inordinate amount of time discussing actions that are not aligned with team goals Remind members of team goals during each meeting Ask how each action being discussed will contribute to the teams goals Be suspicious of premature agreement. Ask members to play ‘devil’s advocate’ about issues around which everyone quickly agrees Harvard Business Essentials. Creating with an Edge. Harvard Business School Press, Boston: Massachusetts, 2004. Problem Characteristic behaviours Strategy Inept leadership Leader does not solicit enough involvement from team members Leader does all the work Team falls behind Conflicts become unhealthy Lack of vision Leadership perspective is myopic; it represents one area rather than full constituency Be brave: meet with leader to express concerns about perceived leadership deficiency Consider how you might help the leader to be more effective eg. volunteer for additional tasks If leadership problems persist, express concerns to sponsor Lack of management support Work of team is rejected by management Senior managers express discomfort about the team’s work Necessary resources are not provided One of several preventable problems has occurred: Team does not have an adequate sponsor Sponsor has not ‘signed off’ on goals and resources Team sponsor and/or other stakeholders have not been adequately informed of team progress Work with sponsors to clarify team charter and resources Lack of resources Team ‘work’ assignments are not coupled with a trade-off from regular job responsibilities No budget for necessary materials or outside participation Negotiate with sponsor and member’s supervisors Negotiate for budget If sponsors and stakeholders will not contract for needed time or resources, team success is unlikely; consider disbanding the team Absence of trust Team members unwilling to be vulnerable within the group Team members are not genuinely open with one another about their mistakes and weaknesses Identify and discuss individual strengths and weaknesses Spend considerable time in meetings and working sessions Fear of conflict Teams do not engage in unfiltered and passionate debate of ideas Discussions characterised by veiled discussions and guarded comments Acknowledge that conflict is required for productive meetings Establish common ground rules for engaging in conflict Understand individual team member’s natural conflict styles
Building-our-teams-(MGC)-2017.docx