False or true? Teams that work well together can boost the success of an organization.
Not just “true”, but absolutely true.
It may seem straightforward and easy, but forming the right group, leading a winning team, or being a part of the success of a team isn’t as simple and straightforward. The keyword”successful” is “successful.”
The process of forming a team is simple. The process of putting yourself in the chair as the leader isn’t difficult. Membership in a team could be as simple as being present.
Are you successful? Keep waiting for a second.
This article focuses on two essential factors that are essential to team success. Each requirement is addressed, and we will look at specific action items to assist in ensuring that your group meet these needs.
The first step is trust.
Trust: A Team’s Fundament
A team that has built its trust foundation has the ability to be relaxed and enthusiastic, resulting in the best results. Indeed, the trust-based foundation creates a harmony that is all the sweeter.
Steven Covey, author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People The book is a statement by Steven Covey, author of the Seven Habits of “Trust is the most powerful level that human motivation can take. This brings out the best individuals. However, it requires patience and time …”
Trust and team are nearly the same things. But, it is not a given that trust is innately part of the personality of the team. Making trust–what it is and how it operates, and why it’s important to the forefront of each team member’s thoughts can be an important step toward the team’s success. An excellent step that requires your focus.
There are three fundamental advantages that your company and its customers will be able to enjoy once your team is working in a trust-based environment.
More Efficiency — Because the team members are confident that every individual will be able to fulfil his duty, everyone can focus on their duties more fully. This decrease in distractions leads to the team a boost inefficiency.
Increased unity — the more each team member is able to trust the other team members, the stronger the team gains. This strengthens the team’s dedication to achieving its goals.
Mutual Motivation When 2 (or more) people are able to trust one another, Each person consciously and subconsciously tries to maintain the trust of others. This motivation drives each team member to achieve their best performance.
How do you establish trust as a key team member?
The short answer is to create an organized structure and process to encourage trust. Members of the team want to be able to trust each other from the start. If the tools for building trust and techniques aren’t in place, they’ll be unable to establish the trust.
Here are three characteristics that help build trust between team members. Note how each one of the traits focuses on the interactions between team members.
Open Expression -Every member of the team has the right to share their thoughts on the team’s mission, processes and procedures, the team’s performance and even personality. From the beginning, the leader of the team can provide every member with the chance to comment on their actions as a team. A leader who is effective ensures that even the quietest member is heard (and thus becomes more comfortable speaking about their opinions). The more often everyone in an organization has the opportunity to speak up and freely, the more everyone gets used to speaking out freely as well as being heard. The freedom to express yourself quickly is a pleasure for everyone, not only the responsibility of the leader.
Information Equity – In the case of information that is relevant to the team’s and team’s mission, the principle should apply “all for one, and everyone for one.” The information available to one team member has to be available to all team members. The key to this characteristic lies in its method. Common procedures for sharing information in a fair manner are easy to implement. Just a few minutes of setting an email address for the entire team and holding a five-minute update every morning are two instances. These can establish everyone-gets-to-know-what-everyone-gets-to-know behaviour patterns. Trust levels rise when everyone is confident that they will receive less information than the others.
Performance Reliability -We trust the people we can rely on. We trust people who follow through with what they say they will do when they promise to perform it. A careful and focused effort in the two first characteristics yields results on the third. Communication that is open and transparent improve team members’ performance confidence. The open communication process can lay every team member’s performance information across the table: strengths and weaknesses, as well as confidence and anxieties. The sharing of information with everyone allows everyone to be aware of how each individual team member contributes to the success of the team. This information results in an environment of shared praise, support, and help. What’s more team-oriented than this? When the expectations of every team member are clearly stated and transparent, each team member is expected to work fully for the benefit of the entire team.
TIPS TO ENGAGE TEAM TRUST
The five suggestions below are a good way to ensure that Open Expression, Information Equity and Performance Reliability increase from the way teams communicate within themselves. These suggestions are intended for the team’s leader as well as every person on the team.
1. “Talk the Talk. Assume responsibility for role modelling Open Expression. Don’t be afraid to talk about details about yourself. Encourage others to follow suit. Continue to work at it.
2. Develop the pattern. When you meet with your team members and engage in water-cooler chats, create the tell-and-ask format. Discuss what you are doing, and then ask questions regarding your teammate’s work. It takes some repetition to establish the pattern. It’s well worth it.
3. Distribute information to Discuss. Create a consensus among the group that the main reason to share data with all is you can discuss the information. “New information” is a frequent agenda item during meetings. “What is your opinion?” is often a common inquiry within the team.
4. Make Good News. People generally want to finish their work, not fulfil duties. There’s not much to discuss the job one is assigned. Plenty to discuss one’s job. Provide opportunities for individuals to share their good news about the work that they do. (Bulletin boards, emails with announcements, lunch discussions, for instance).
5. Use a constructive question. Your team should select a question that accomplishes two things focus attention on the goals of the team, and promotes conversations. It can serve as an icebreaker during team meetings, or a typical response to “Hi! How do you feel?” in the halls is a common part of team reports. Example questions: What kind of progress has been made? What have we accomplished that makes us feel proud? What challenges have we faced?
Tim Wright, President/CEO of Wright Results, Inc., is a consultant to organizations who aid their employees “blow out their performance.” Tim’s Blow the Lid Off Performance program is currently an eight-course course that focuses on personal/personal performances, group performance and the performance of leaders.
