It is inspiring to watch a team play beautifully without missing their beat. One wonders how they do that, like the members of an orchestra playing beautifully on key or football players executing feints and moves with pinpoint accuracy and score – it’s incredible!
In contrast, it’s hard not to feel empathetic embarrassment when watching a team that doesn’t work. The ball is passed, but no one is there to catch it. The team was failing miserably.
Over the last thirteen years, working with many teams across different industries and sectors from MNCs, SMEs, government to non-profit, we’ve identified four types of teams.
- Type 1 – High Morale, Low Value-Creating
- Type 2 – Low Morale, Low Value-Creating
- Type 3 – Low Morale, High Value-Creating
- Type 4 – High Morale, High Value-Creating
What do we mean by High Value-Creating? Dr Peter Hawkins, Professor of Leadership at Henley Business School, defines it as “A team is value-creating when it continually co-creates greater beneficial value with, and for all, their stakeholders, current and future”.
What can leaders do to move teams to Type Four?
Six critical conditions are required in a high value-creation team:
- Team goals are more important than individual goals
- Achieving team goals is recognized and rewarded above attaining personal goals.
- The team commits to clear actions with accountability and follow-through
- Team members are mutually accountable not just for their areas but for collective goals
- The team has been selected to have a good range of the necessary complementary skills
- The team attends to developing each of its members
We all know that teamwork is vital for success. However, not everyone knows how to build a team to get the job done right. If you’re looking to develop your team or improve upon one already in place, consider the six critical conditions so your company can see more success than ever before!
Reach out to Broc Consulting if you need help with your team. We help teams become resilient to the ever-changing dynamics of the VUCA world. We offer team Coaching programs that facilitate extraordinary performance, create alignment between teams and their organisational goals, and enhance collective pro-activity.