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The Six Core Factors
There are six critical success factors that must be in
place before any group begins to function as a leadershp team.
1. Supportive Sponsor
Leadership
teams are usually formed by a sponsor who recognizes that reaching an organizational goal will require a group of individuals
working together to provide the leadership necessary to move a company, division or unit towards the organization's goals. It is the sponsor’s responsibility to create a ‘charter’ that establishes
the leadership team and it’s primary focus. In addition, the sponsor establishes specific goals the leadership team is to accomplish. The sponsor will also select the team leader and gain his or her commitment to lead the leadership team
in defining and carrying out the needed actions. <Click here> to learn about our Dynamic Teamwork Readiness Review Program that leadership team sponsors use to help prepare leaders
of the teams they have formed focus on these critical success factors.
2. Focus on Stakeholder Outcomes
A shared understanding of the leadership team’s stakeholders, their
expectations of the team, and the values the team embraces is essential to create
the focus needed as the leadership team members plan and execute the actions necessary to achieve the team’s goals.
3. Smart Goals
Specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound goals should
be established by the team’s sponsor and then broken into sub-goals by the leadership team. Without SMART goals, the team will lack the milestones necessary to drive action.
Every leadership team needs a leader who focuses the members of the
team on the mission, purpose, and goals of the team. This individual must be committed to the team’s results and must
be willing to be held accountable by the team’s sponsor and other stakeholders, for leading the team through processes
that insure the team’s goals are reached. The team leader must engage each
team member in the processes of the team and build a platform of mutual trust that leads to open debate, collaboration, individual
commitment, and personal accountability.
5. Mutual Trust
The most important element of successful team work is the establishment of a platform of mutual trust that enables
the leadership team to engage in open debate and decision making that leads to commitments to action by individual members
of the team. Building this trust requires an openness that allows team members to know and understand the beliefs and behaviors
of all members of the team so that team actions can be structured to take advantage of each member's uniqueness and talents.
Behavioral and values assessments are powerful tools <Click here to learn more> in developing an understanding how each member of the leadership team views themselves and responds to others in the
team.
6. Engaged Leadership Team Members
An effective leadership team will have team members who are actively engaged
in the work and focus of the team. This will require that each team member emotionally
commits to actively and openly participate in the team’s processes in the pursuit of the team’s goals. The team member must willingly commit to carry out action plans to complete individual actions necessary
for the team to reach their team goals. The team member must be dependable and
carry the full weight of personal responsibility to complete their individual commitments by the date committed to. Engaged team members enthusiastically support each other and add value to other team members. They prepare for team processes and choose to engage others in a positive manner to find solutions to issues
and challenges they individually or as a team face. They constantly seek to improve
themselves for the benefit of the team and never, never, never quit.
The Four Factors of Execution
The following four critical success factors will insure the leadership team
carries out the actions necessary to reach their designated goals.
7. Collaborates To Set Direction And Solve Problems
The power of teamwork dynamics is engaged when the leadership team members come together to focus collectively
on goals, issues, challenges, and problems. Team leaders must carefully manage the processes of team meetings in order
to maximize the power of the collective knowledge and skills of the team members. Our research indicates the most effective
leadership teams include at least three but no more than six individuals who follow a meeting methodology
that is focused on dealing with issues requiring the leadership team's attention and maximizes the power of the collective
knowledge and skills of the team members. Patrick Lencioni's book "Death by Meeting" <Click here to learn more> provides excellent guidance in planning and conducting team meetings.
8. Obtains Individual Commitments
The work of a leadership team is carried out by individual members of the team. When a team has developed
a plan of actions that are necessary to achieve their goals or overcome barriers, individual members must commit
to carrying out specific actions which in many cases will include actions by the individual teams they in turn lead.
The leadership team's collaborative processes must include steps to:
- Define individual actions,
- Gain the commitments by individual team members to complete the actions,
- Document due dates, and
- Establish status reporting processes.
9. Establishes Discipline Of Personal Accountability
Team goals will usually not be realized until individual commitments are completed. Leadership team
members must embrace a discipline to complete their commitments as scheduled. They must agree to hold each other
personally accountable for completing, as scheduled, the commitments each person has made to the team. Each leadership
team member must continuously report the status of their open commitments to the team so that barriers to completion can be
identified early in order to permit the leadership team leader and other team members the opportunity to deal with the issues
before overall deadlines are impacted. <Click here to learn how we help establish personal accountability>
10. Identifies and Removes Barriers
Barriers to team and individual progress will occur in every leadership
team effort and must be dealt with quickly to continue progress towards the team's goals. The team leader must continuously
monitor the status of each individual's commitments and initiate barrier removal processes where appropriate. Team-based
processes for developing action plans to overcome barriers impacting individual commitments should be
instilled as a part of the team's culture. <Click here to learn more about how we help teams identify and remove
barriers>
Your Leadership Teamwork Experiences
We would like to hear about your teamwork experiences and your thoughts
on what it takes to create a powerful team driven organization. Please visit <Contact Us> to share your thoughts and expereinces with us.
How Teamwork Dynamics Helps
Teamwork Dynamics, Inc. is dedicated to helping executive and leadership
team leaders develop dynamic, team-oriented organizations that deliver powerful and sustainable results.
We do that by engaging in the process
of developing committed leadership team leaders who have 1) the drive to lead
a team and 2) the abilities to build consensus, take risks, and communicate effectively.
We help them create a cooperative environment that engages team members in enthusiastically delivering the outcomes
expected by the team’s stakeholders.
Under our coaching and mentoring
processes, we help these team leaders build the skills necessary to 1) gain individual commitments through collaborative problem
solving, 2) implement a discipline of personal accountability, and 3) remove barriers impeding progress.
Please <contact us> directly should you wish to discuss your teamwork and team leader development needs.
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