Based on the conversations I’ve been having with leaders, executives, and employees, most managers know more about collaboration, communication, decision-making and strategic planning than ever before. But managing through a business recovery creates additional pressure: how to increase productivity in the wake of a crisis. A speedy business recovery requires maximum performance and highly productive teams that can deliver.
In the organizations where I consult, I have noticed that highly productive teams and business units develop and commit to:
- A common purpose: team members shape their common purpose. They understand how their individual and collective actions create value for their clients, the organization, their team, and individually.
- SMART goals: team goals link to their common purpose, and benchmark achievements are recognized throughout the process to energize performance.
- Trust in processes: appreciation of diverse skills, mutual accountability, and access to the resources required to reach goals and build continued commitment.
Trust is created and nurtured with ongoing dialog, honest feedback, and follow-up. This can be a challenge if processes are changing, new teams are forming, and/or team members have shifted to virtual or remote work.
You see, most of our communication is non-verbal and relies on visual cues. When new team members are from different business units, or even different cultures, strong communication is even more important. Building cohesiveness, commitment to a shared purpose, and trust is critical.
Here are a few tips you might find helpful.
Best Practices of Highly Productive Teams
During a virtual team meeting, explain that you will be sending a confidential email survey of three questions to each member of your team.
Create your survey. I recommend using a spreadsheet where you can compile the results, or use a program like SurveyMonkey, where responses can remain anonymous. Your questions should include:
- On a scale of 1 to 10, how well are we working together as a team?
- On a scale of 1 to 10, how well do we need to be working together as a team?
- If you could change two key behaviors to help us close the gap between where we are and where we want to be, which two behaviors should we all try to change?”
Compile the data and calculate the averages for numbers one and two. Note that the “average” team member believes that his/her team is currently at a “5.8″ level of effectiveness, but needs to be at an “8.7.”
For question three, notice if there are any themes, and how they align with productivity, goals, purpose, and mission. Prioritize the suggested behavior changes. Which are the two most important?
Turn the Key
At your next team meeting, share the scores, suggested behaviors, and the two behaviors you would like the team members to adopt (and why, linking to mission, purpose, and goals.)
In addition, ask each team member to choose two behaviors for personal change, to track their progress, and prepare to share their results in follow-up meetings.
When team members commit to this type of accountability, they focus on their own behaviors. When people are working together toward a common goal, trust and commitment follow. Productivity improves.
What do you think? How do you maximize performance and nurture a highly productive team? I’d love to hear from you. You can reach me here, on LinkedIn, or give me a call: 561-582-6060.
