Welcome back! In Part One and Part Two of this series, I focused on why teams fail.
Now, let’s discuss what you can do to prevent them from falling apart in the first place! Let’s face it – teams, boards, councils, clubs and commissions are made up of people. While that may seem to be a no-brainer, many of us assume groups are “cookie cutter” in composition and purpose.
Oh contraire! People join teams with an agenda – whether it’s constructive or destructive reveals itself over time – but we all have a personal reason for being there.
So the first step is to get into the hearts and minds of folks to probe for answers to these questions:
- Why are you here?
- What’s important about this task or organization?
- Why are you compelled to give up your free time to be here?
The second step is to bump that up against the stated mission, vision, goals or charter of the group. Make sure there is alignment. (Just like a teacher who asks students at the start of the semester, “Are you SURE you’re supposed to be in THIS class?”) Define why you’re all there.
The third step is to clarify what you all expect to achieve at the end of the day, the project, the term, etc. Make sure you quantify it so people have a good understanding of what those goals “look like”. Make them tangible and real. Have them answer this question: “We will know we are successful when we…”
The fourth step is to identify words and behaviors that could lead to destructive outcomes. We spend a lot of time defining mission, vision and values, but we make huge (HUGE!) assumptions about behaviors we will accept and those we shouldn’t. So, specifically list (with the aid of a skilled facilitator like me! Ha!) the red flags that should alert us we’re off track. They can be words that imply we are not all united or speaking with one voice. You shouldn’t hear statements like, “Well, THEY want us to do it THIS way.” The implication being, I do not agree, but THEY are forcing me to go along. You either speak with one voice, or you don’t speak at all! (I’ll do another article on that subject shortly.)
The fifth step is to pause occasionally and ensure everyone is still heading in the proper direction, given the goals, charter, mission, etc. It’s easy to get off course as we add new information, data, case studies and benchmarks to the pot. Before you know it, you wake up one day and realize you’ve moved too far from the reason you came together in the first place.
Teams, boards, councils and commissions are living organisms.
NOT so much like this:
But more like this:
They move and grow within boundaries set by the shoreline. They have a great deal of freedom within those limits.
And when the “season” is over, they fold up and sink back down into the mud.
(Just wanting to see if you’re paying attention!)
