Unleashing the Power of Effective Team Mindsets and Relationships
With most work today needing to get done through multiple people across organizational boundaries, effective teaming is not just a nice workplace mantra; it is an imperative for business success and employee engagement. To get teaming right, effective team mindsets and relationships are required to place individuals in the roles that make the most sense to the individual and the team.
But we know from employee engagement training data that effective team mindsets and relationships do not come easily. They take intention, alignment, and continuous improvement.
The Importance of Teaming
A recent study published by Salesforce and McKinsey respectively found that:
- 85% of employees consider an overall lack of teaming (i.e., collaboration and poor communication) to be the primary reason for failed projects.
- 97% of workers indicate that the lack of alignment within teams or coworkers is the number one factor that has the most adverse effect on the outcome of work-related projects or tasks.
- There is a 1.9 time increased likelihood of having above-median financial performance when the top team is working together toward a common strategic vision.
That is not a surprise to us. Our organizational alignment research found that aligned teams outperform unaligned teams in terms of revenue growth, profitability, customer loyalty, and employee engagement. And project postmortem participants tell us that the power of effective team mindsets and relationships makes or breaks project success.
3 Steps to Unleashing the Power of Effective Team Mindsets and Relationships
If you want to create effective team mindsets and relationships to create high performing teams, follow these three research-backed steps:
- Agree Upon Team Direction
It is difficult to unleash the power of effective team mindsets and relationships unless the team is highly aligned and committed to a common direction. In fact, strategic clarity accounts for 31% of the difference between high and low performing teams. When teams have a shared belief about why they exist and have a clear line of sight to how they each contribute to organizational and team success, the foundation for high performance is set.Teams that understand and agree upon the “why” behind their collective endeavors exhibit higher levels of commitment, passion, and resilience. Shared visions that resonate with each team member’s values and aspirations can ignite a sense of purpose that fuels intrinsic motivation and aligns individual efforts toward a common goal.
Do your teams have clear team charters for success?
- Agree upon Team Roles & Responsibilities
High levels of team clarity and alignment allow you to thoughtfully put the right people in the right roles to get desired results in a way that makes sense. We know from organizational culture assessment data that team collaboration and motivation improve when the roles of individual team members are clearly defined and well understood. Conversely, a lack of role clarity causes an increase in misalignment, negative workplace politics, and task redundancy.Do your team leaders ensure that all team roles and responsibilities are clearly understood and accepted?
- Agree Upon Team Norms
Once team goals and roles have been clearly defined and agreed to, the next step in creating a high performing team is to define the team norms by which the team will hold themselves accountable to following. High-functioning teams are intentional in their interactions and agreed-upon behaviors. High quality team interactions are characterized by high levels of psychological team safety, trust, open communication, and a willingness to embrace constructive debate.When team members have confidence in and appreciation of each other’s talents and strengths, team loyalty and connectedness grow. When team members feel valued, respected, and supported, they are more inclined to take risks, share ideas openly, and embrace vulnerability. Cultivating a high performance culture requires leaders to lead with empathy, actively listen to their team members, and foster an atmosphere where mistakes are viewed as learning opportunities rather than failures.
Are your teams purposefully designing a healthy and productive team environment where people can do their best work?
The Bottom Line
By starting with a compelling “why,” agreeing upon clear roles, and fostering authentic connections, leaders can cultivate teams that are not only high-performing but also resilient, innovative, and deeply connected. In embracing these principles, organizations can unlock the full potential of their teams.
To learn more about unleashing the power of effective team mindsets and relationships, download 3 Steps to Set Your Team Up to Make Better Decisions