So just how good is your team?

Here are seven questions to assess your team

If you are in any level of seniority, then chances are you will be in charge of leading a team. What will be obvious from your experience is that you need more than a group of high performing individuals to make a high performing team. What may be less obvious is how to make this happen.

Margaret Wheatley points to the power of teams being in the relationships within the team:

“In organisations, real power and energy is generated through relationships. The patterns of relationships and the capacities to form them are more important than tasks, functions, roles, and positions.”

In the work I do coaching teams and individuals, it’s clear how team dynamics get in the way of the full potential of a group of people in the room. We spend a lot of time focusing on individuals, giving them feedback on their own performance assuming then that the team will then come together and be the best team.

There are obvious cases of teams not working at their best. I think of the team where the head of product threw his phone at the CIO in a board meeting. Or the team that was so bruised from the almost collapse of the organization in the previous year were unable to talk about the future of the company. Or the team which had to endure an ice-cold stand-off between the CEO and CFO.

These examples above also showcase more extreme breakdown in team functioning. What is more common is the ‘meh-ness’ in team dynamics — teams that ‘muddle along’ in their day-to-day existence. Whilst not as painfully toxic, who on earth wants to be part of that kind of team? It’s a disaster for motivation of the individuals in it. What a sheer waste of human potential. We show incredible capabilities to solve complex problems when we work together.

General systems theory has much to contribute to our understanding of improving team dynamics. The great system theorist, Dr Russell Ackoff states that the essential properties (think behavior) of any system (think team) depend on how the parts interact.

He goes on to say that in any system, when one improves the performance of parts taken separately, the performance of whole does not necessarily improve and frequently gets worse.

Dr Ackoff uses this example in his lecture:

“Say there are 450 types of cars out there. Let’s imagine we buy one of each and bring them into a huge garage. Then bring in 200 of the best mechanics and give the problem to find which car has best motor. Say Rolls Royce has best engine. Best transmission? Mercedes. And so on. One by one, we find out which car has best parts. We instruct mechanics to remove these best parts and construct the best car.

Do we get the best possible car? Of course not — we don’t even get a car. Why not? The parts don’t fit! It’s the way the parts fit together that determine performance of system not how they perform taken separately. And yet we conduct systems — like companies and universities — as if though the improvement of parts taken separate improve the whole. It’s the way the parts fit together not how they perform taking separately. But we conduct systems as though the improvement of the parts taking separately improve the whole.”

This car metaphor is a fantastic way of helping us know where to put our attention as people leading teams. The focus is on the connections between people.

You may not have obvious signals of team dysfunction such as bullying or flying phones. So I offer you some questions to help think more deeply on how your team is working together.

There are some key elements to a great team, which include accountability, trust, alignment and relationship to conflict. Score the team on a scale of 1–10, where 1 is no/none/appalling and 10 is yes/absolutely/brilliant:

1. What is the degree of alignment in this team around its purpose?

Is the team clear in how its purpose helps fulfill the organizational strategy? Can each team member articulate the team mission and purpose? Does each team member know what the piece the other person holds and why?

2. What is this team’s relationship to conflict?

When disagreements arise, how is the team able to work it through? What is the team’s capacity for difficult conversations? Are there any ghosts of previous arguments or fall out lingering in the room?

3. To what degree are all voices heard in this team?

Are meetings dominated by the louder voices? Have the quieter voices given up? Is there democracy in how and when all the voices are heard?

4. What is the level of safety in this team?

This is related to trust. Without safety to voice your own view, there is no trust. Are there consequences for being the ‘other’ voice in the team? Or is diversity of opinion welcome. How much is the BCC function being used on email?

5. What is the team’s capacity to hold each other to account? People are often comfortable with holding those below them in the hierarchy to account. What capacity is available in this team to hold each other — and you as their leader — to account?

6. What is the team’s relationship with feedback?

Are the team able o give each other meaningful and constructive feedback? Do you as their leader get feedback? Is feedback skillfully focused on building strengths (rather than highlighting weaknesses)?

7. How clear are team members of their roles? In a leadership team, people are usually clear on their role as laid out in their functional job description. Are they clear on their role as a member in this leadership team? Do they know how to contribute and what their unique offering is to this team?

The beauty and poetry of human relationships are never more apparent than in real moments of teams working together. Much like EQ that can be enhanced and grown in an individual, teams can learn how to perform more effectively as a high performing team. It is possible to build flexible, resilient high performing teams.

I’m continually fascinated in the capacity for humans to create magic when they come together intentionally and in good faith. If you want to share the answers to your questions, I’d love to talk more. If you think there is a key question missing, let me know. We are all works in progress.

Stay in touch!