During the past fifty years I have had the opportunity to work with many senior teams. Many sessions involved them clarifying their strategies for achieving future success.
Some teams were really serious about doing what was required to achieve their aims. Some teams met challenges they had not anticipated, however, and found it hard to achieve their goals.
One of the keys is for a team: a) to clarify their strategies and anticipate the pluses and minuses involved; b) to be prepared to manage these and do what is required to achieve the picture of success.
This final part is crucial because it can be important to ask the team to explore the implications of what they may need to do. Bearing this in mind, it can be good to ask them to explore the following questions.
Are you serious? Are you really prepared to do what is required to achieve the goals? Are you prepared to find ways to build on the pluses and manage the minuses?
Imagine that a team is serious and prepared to do what is required to achieve its aims. If appropriate, they may go through the following steps.
They clarify the real results to
achieve and translate these
into a clear picture of success
Great teams often focus on their purpose and the principles they want to follow. Bearing in mind what they can control, they clarify the real results they want to achieve and translate these into a clear picture of success.
They often build on their strengths and clarify what it may be possible to achieve. They do lots of due diligence and explore the possible ways forwards.
Such teams then settle on their chosen route. Different teams use different terminology when clarifying their goals. Some clarify the desired end state, some talk about the desired picture of success. For example:
They clarify the strategies to follow –
and how to manage the challenges –
to increase the chances of success
Great teams focus on how they can increase the chances of achieving success. Bearing in mind what they can control in the situation, they work through the following steps.
They clarify the key strategies they can follow to give themselves the greatest chance of achieving the picture of success.
They clarify how to manage any challenges they may meet on the way towards achieving the picture of success.
They clarify their action plan and rehearse following the strategies plus managing any challenges on the way to achieving the picture of success.
Such teams test the strategies until they are sure they have done everything they can to prepare properly. They then do the following exercise.
They clarify whether they are serious
about doing what is required
to achieve the picture of success
Great teams explore the implications regarding what they need to do to achieve the picture of success. This can lead to them asking the following questions that were described earlier.
Are we serious? What may be the potential pluses and minuses involved in working towards and achieving the picture of success? On a scale 0-10, how serious are we about doing what is required to achieve the goals?
Such teams explore all the pluses and minuses. Much depends, of course, on the kind work they intend to do. Bearing this in mind, however, here are some of things that may appear when exploring these themes.
The Potential Pluses
May Include The Chance:
To focus on our core strengths … To survive and then thrive as an organisation … To improve product quality and customer satisfaction … To increase profitability … To improve morale … To increase the chances of shaping a positive future.
The Potential Minuses
May Include The Need:
To be selective to be effective … To make some tough decisions regarding: a) the areas we want to focus on; b) the people we want to build on; c) the moral way we can help some people to move on.
Different teams will describe different topics. They may then focus on the specific things they can do: a) to build on the pluses; b) to manage the consequences of any minuses.
They may then rate the extent to which they are serious about doing what is required to achieve their goals. This needs to be at least 8+/10. Here is the exercise on this theme.
They move in action, perform superb
work and do their best to
achieve the picture of success
Great teams then move into action. They pursue the strategies they want to follow and aim to get some quick successes. Such teams often aim to take they following steps.
They do superb work, provide great service and deliver consistently high standards.
They stay agile by reading reality and aiming: a) to build on what is working; b) to tackle areas for improvement.
They find solutions to challenges, do their best to achieve the picture of success and, when appropriate, add that touch of class.
There are many models for building superb teams. Whichever route people take, however, they are more likely to achieve their goals if they make a serious plan.
Let’s return to your own work. Imagine that you lead a team, can you think of a situation where you may want to follow elements of this approach?
Looking ahead, what may be the specific situation? How can you clarify the real results the team wants to achieve? How can you clarify the key strategies to follow?
How can you clarify the potential pluses and minuses involved? How can you build on the pluses and manage the minuses? How can you rate the extent to which you are serious about doing what is required to achieve the picture of success?
If you wish, try tackling the exercise on this theme. This invites you to complete the following sentences.
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