Ask Me Anything: Team Development, Part 3

Recently, I’ve been fortunate enough to host a series of web-based dialogues, offering insights drawn from my experience at the highest levels of corporate strategy and branding. During the structured Q&As, entrepreneurs, C-suite execs, and even students were free to ask questions related to business and marketing. I would do my best to provide actionable insights or, at least, a fresh perspective.

In our highest attended session to this point, we hosted over 250 excited executives and entrepreneurs, curious about how to activate their teams, amplify results, and foster the ultimate career experience within the walls of their companies.

Initially, we asked them: what is the team dynamic of your organization? Have you ever wondered how you can improve company culture? Are you building a team and looking to set the right tone before you scale? How are your employee retention rates? Are your employees raving fans of your culture and how often do they refer new candidates to the team?

Is company culture the missing ingredient in their businesses. Can they improve team dynamics to improve outcomes? This installment follows these previous articles (1, 2).

Should all teams be recognized for their accomplishment(s)? -Flora

Hi @Flora. Yes, absolutely. The team should be recognized for its accomplishments. It should also be accountable to not meeting goals or expectations. That is, a postmortem analysis should be done to learn why the output did not meet projections or forecasts and corrective action taken for both process and personnel.

I do not think, however, that every team member should be recognized. Although every one of them should receive one on one coaching from someone. They should be given feedback on performance, attitude, teamwork, and areas of focus for improvement. They should also be given a forum to offer their feedback and to ask questions.

I prefer to see top performers recognized and then asked to teach any methods that made them successful. I also support having them recognize those who may not have seen the best outcomes, but put forth great effort or exemplified team work and attitude.

This creates a ‘waterfall’ of praise and constructive corrections that will groom your top performers for advancement and build strength within the team, instead of only top down.

How can we follow our progress toward important objectives as a team? -Andreea

Well, you need to track it @Andreea. Most teams ‘keep score’ somehow. Many companies decide on a set of Key Performance Indicators (KPI) that allow a snapshot analysis of team output. Reporting is helpful for leaders, but also crucial for team members. And progress updates are only useful in the context of the goals. So…

In order to track progress to advance towards important objectives you must first communicate what those goals are. Do not move past this point until the entire team understands the goals and can communicate them back to you. Then discuss the resources and additional development (if any) needed to complete the objective.

The more complex the objective, the greater the need to break it down into smaller checkpoints or gateways. You will be able to focus on and analyze the daily efforts necessary to reach the individual checkpoints as you go. Once each is completed, the team should discuss what worked and what didn’t. They should talk about additional resources needed to reach the next checkpoint. They should celebrate the accomplishment and then move on to the next task. You should see momentum and team confidence build as you go.

Another great element of progress analyze is third party verification. If you are producing a product, have an individual from another team check the viability of that product and offer feedback. The source must be objective to insure a candid appraisal. If your team delivers a service, you should elicit customer feedback. They will tell you if you’ve undershot their expectations or if you’ve ‘wowed’ them.

“If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.” — Peter Drucker. Simply, you can’t verify the success of the team unless success is defined, communicated to the team, and tracked.

Does a team leader need a process for sharing information with all team members. -Dewayne

Good question @Dewayne. It is the role of the team leader to insure and promote favorable conditions for success and one way to do so is to inform the team on all pertinent information.

I would recommend a strategy or process for information sharing that empowers open discussion and feedback. There can be a huge misallocation of resources when we don’t solicit feedback from your team. Daily meetings or status checks are warranted for some teams and some levels of leadership. For others, weekly is more appropriate. I also advocate some type of status board to list updates or evolutions to projects. A whiteboard works very well for this.

Try to steer clear of email updates. Inboxes get flooded, team members desensitized, and action item deprioritized. It also sets a dangerous precedent when important issues are driven through depersonalized methods. If you don’t care enough to communicate effectively with your team, they won’t either.

The more urgent or relevant the information, the higher the need for face to face communication. You can always send a follow up email for reference.

What are the political dynamics of a team? -D.

Office politics, like most politics, are driven by power dynamics within the team. In my experience, every office or team has its own politics and they tend to mirror the personality of its leader. If that leader is absent, then the political dynamic often shifts to the strongest personalities on the team. In either situation, those dynamics can be counterproductive if they are rooted in self-interest or ego. It is important to make sure that your leaders and most vocal team members understand the necessity of every player on the team.

Blind meritocracies can also leave a developing team member in a lurch. The goal is to create an environment where both output and human interests are served. A third party, or objective sounding board like HR or a company culture champion, can help to better understand power dynamics within a team so that team members are not disaffected or alienated.

I’ve always found that the real power of a team is what you can accomplish when you’ve activated an entire group towards one goal.

How do I help coworkers to clearly understand the purpose of our team? -Faye

Great questions @Faye. I think you start, first, by asking the question that you have here. Your interest in being supportive is a huge step toward helping them achieve understanding. Next, clearly define for yourself what you want to convey and work through it a couple time to simplify and streamline the concepts. However, oftentimes an abstract idea is more easily demonstrated than explained.

Take a moment to look at your customer or the problem that you solve. How do they look or feel prior being introduced to your solution? What is the experience like when they are introduced to it? Have you improved or simplified their life in some way? Do you have any testimonials from satisfied customers?

Bring this to the team. Introduce them to the customer and show them the journey. Ask for their feedback on the transformation. Did they see the customer’s need? Could they feel the impact of the solution?

Now, begin to introduce your teaching concepts with the backdrop of the example you’ve shared. The team should be able to understand how the details fit once they’ve seen them in action.

Don’t worry, I saved some time for a couple personal questions…

What is your background? -Nicz

Thank you for asking @Nicz. I have been in leadership roles my entire career, but my background -like many- is more complicated than that. I studied education in college, but didn’t pursue it as a career. I was lucky enough to land with a multi-national retailor with an amazing leadership development program and was groomed in systems and team dynamics. I transitioned into consulting and oversight of specialized retail distribution. I was responsible for the hiring and development of key individuals in distribution and team leadership roles.

Then, I was recruited into the medical device world where I consulted with highly-specialized practices, promoting good business principles and tactics while innovating their business model for efficiency and profitability.

My last four years have been spent in corporate branding and digital consumer acquisition. I was lucky enough to have a full slate of speaking engagements annually through which I could meet the needs and curiosity of a larger audience and to effect more change.

Through it all, I have worked with, and learned from, some of the most talented, driven, compassionate, and visionary individuals I could’ve asked for. I hold that fact above all, as my greatest success.

How many teams have you worked with? -Ivy

This is a great question @Ivy and one that is tough to answer. I’ve led several teams at three companies over a 17 year career. Many times, there were multiple teams within the same organization as my responsibilities or focus changed. I also have been a part of several boards and teams as an athlete or in other social engagements.

The biggest teams were supplemented by seasonal support to handle specific duties along 60–90 day timelines. That influx of energies and expectations created interesting, and sometimes complicated, dynamics for the permanent team members.

The smallest teams consisted of only 2–3 direct reports as we built a new department within the existing structure of a firm. Expectations and routines were constantly in flux until we had dialed in our efforts and outcomes.

I’ve lead teams all housed in one office building as well as remotely as the opportunity for mobile offices and video chat became more available.

In my experience, every single team had one common flaw and its effective antidote. And that was communication. Not marching orders, but real talk. We were always less effective when I wasn’t listening. We got more effective when I took the time to teach more, ask more questions, to listen, and to learn about the individuals. Even the quickest learners are susceptible to making assumptions about a process or desired outcomes.

Communication, empathy, and accountability to one another will always improve team dynamics.

I hope that you’ve enjoyed reading along with this Q&A and that you’ll allow me to bend your ear for a few more going forward. I want to hear your feedback and I am eager to learn from each of you. Please don’t hesitate to reach out.

The views expressed in replies are my own, but have been influenced by years of collaboration with amazing people along with a willingness to fail and to learn.

Best,

Cliff Carey

Founder, American Reserve Clothing Co.

cliff@americanreserveshop.com | americanreserveshop.com

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