Super teams have a clear story, strategy and road to success. The leaders communicate the ‘What’, ‘Why’ and the strategic ‘How’. They then involve their people in making clear contracts about the ‘Who’ and ‘When’.
Such teams aim to pursue the right strategy with the right people in the right way. They are then more likely to achieve the right results.
Imagine you are leading a team. Let’s explore how you can pursue these themes in your own way.
The Right Strategy
Super teams clarify which mountain they want to climb. They make sure that, as far as possible, they are climbing the right mountain. They sometimes do this by taking the following steps.
They clarify their strengths.
They clarify their perfect customers and the challenges they face.
They clarify how they can use their strengths to help their customers to achieve success.
Super teams do this research. They then clarify the possible strategies – the routes forward – they can pursue in the future. They clarify the pluses and minuses of each option. After a period of reflection, they then settle on their chosen strategy.
Good leaders often communicate this thinking to their people. Why? The employees must be able to explain to new joiners the potential routes the team could take and why it has chosen to pursue a specific strategy.
Such leaders also communicate the game plan to their people. They explain the What, Why, How, Who and When by saying something like the following.
The What. The goal we are aiming to achieve is: To …
The Why. The benefits of achieving this goal will be: a) … b) … c) …
The How. The key principles we want to follow to reach the goal are: a) … b) … c) …
The Who and the When will involve you making clear contracts about your contribution. We will give you the support required to achieve the goals.
Looking at the actual team you work in at the moment, to what extent do you believe it has the right strategy? Rate this on a scale 0 – 10. What are the specific things it can do to maintain or improve this score?
The Right People
Super teams put the right people in the right places. They employ people who have the right attitude and ability to achieve the right results.
Looking at your own team, imagine you were starting it again with a blank piece of paper. Which people would you rehire? What would you hire each of these to deliver?
“But it is so difficult to get the right people,” somebody may say.
Maybe, but just try the alternative. It is even more difficult working with the wrong people.
Looking at your team, to what extent do you believe it has the right people in the right places? Rate this on a scale 0 – 10. What are the specific things that can be done to maintain or improve this score?
The Right Way
Super teams encourage, educate and enable people to implement the right strategy in the right way. They are then more likely to achieve their picture of success.
Imagine you are the team leader. Let’s assume everybody has made clear contracts about their contribution towards achieving the team goals. You can then do several things to ensure people stay on track.
It is important:
To make sure that every team member has the support required to do the job.
To hold monthly update sessions where each person presents the following:
a) The things they have done in the last month towards achieving the goals.
b) The things they plan to do in the next month towards achieving the goals.
c) The challenges they face, their strategies for tackling these challenges and the support they need to reach the goals.
To do whatever is necessary to ensure the team delivers success.
Looking at your team, to what extent do you believe that it implements things right way? Rate this on a scale 0 – 10. How can you improve this score? Try completing the following exercise.
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