Have you ever been in a team that is actively meeting, communicating, working collectively and individually toward the team's goals, and yet the team is not moving forward in accomplishing the goal?
It is time for a team reality check. Ask questions to get honest answers from all team members (do this anonymously for newly-formed teams that have not established a high level of trust yet). The questions may include:
- What is our team goal?
- What is your intention toward the team?
- What effect are you having on the team?
- What adjustments can you personally make to align with the team goal?
- How do your past and future actions move away/toward the team goal?
- Do you or others have other goals that differ from the team goal?
- How has the team been more aligned in the past? What changed?
- What would make the team more aligned, combine individual intentions?
The purpose of this exercise is to get the team aligned in the same direction toward a collective goal. Often team members don't know why their team is not performing well together, or they may blame others -- which doesn't help align the team, but they can answer questions about themselves to be aware individually and to be accountable to the team to resolve their own issues.
Once this exercise is completed, agree as a team to start each team meeting by everyone stating his/her individual intended meeting outcome, align into one outcome and redirect any divergent intention during the meeting. This should keep the team intention aligned going forward and working toward accomplishing the team goal.
Are you constantly following the direction of others? Have you ever attended a meeting where someone stopped the meeting to take a moment of silence and asked everyone to imagine what could be possible? Do you take silent time to think of possibilities in your life, your work, your team?
If you have not experienced this recentlly, take a silent moment to think of new ideas and use your imagination. I have heard life coaches and management coaches talk about this in business meetings and books within the past year. I have seen the value of giving everyone in a team a moment of slience to process and contribute imaginative ideas that progress the team effort and create more innovative ways to succeed in teamwork.
I personally developed my own business concept after a talk on this topic, silently driving home in my car (after struggling to decide on my business direction this for a few years). If one person can completely change the direction of her life in a moment of silence, imagine the progress that is possible when a group of team members align and enact their collective imagination.
Many of us have taken at least one personality test during a college class, like the Myers Briggs test, to see how we work and interact with others. I remember the first time that I took the Myers Briggs in an MBA class, I was either an INTJ or an ENTP. I thought this was very flexible of me to be able to switch from I to E and from J to P, depending on the situation. My professor walked by, heard this comment, and said that actually meant that I am hard for others to read...
It is funny to me that most people I have met have only ever taken the Myers Briggs test, which seemed accurate to me, but not very helpful in explaining me and how I work most effectively and process thoughts and feelings to contribute to a team. It was a good tool years ago, but limited to 16 personality types.
Last year, I completed the HELM Senior Leadership Program through Goodwill Industries International and I completed the RightPath Self-Assessment for the first time. What a life-changer! I completely understood myself, my strengths and weaknesses, and my team members' same traits; plus we used this information to work more effectively as a team together. I have also used this assessment to help me in my marriage and family interactions. http://www.rightpath.com/
Before this, I could not figure out what it was about me that always made me the first choice of team members to lead teams. It turns out, others sense your strengths, sometimes before you do. In team interactions, we tend to look at everyone else, but fail to know ourselves well enough to improve ourselves and function well within a team. Start with yourself, then work with others!