Team Conversations
 

Ten Conversations of Teams

All teams can experience improvements in their performance and results by focusing on the effectiveness of the conversations they have as a team. 

  1. Alignment - Shared vision, purpose, values and goal

Ensures that everyone on the team understands and has played a part in creating the team’s overall purpose, what that looks like as outcomes and the principles that guide the team.

  2. Coordination - Coordinating the actions needed to deliver the shared goal

Ensures that the team is rigorous in making and managing the network of commitments that together will deliver the shared goal. 

  3. Ownership - Owning the shared goal

Each team member’s actions and behaviors arise from a common desire to achieve the agreed team outcomes. This requires individual team members to take a broader view and focus on what will benefit the team as a whole.

  4. Accountability - Fulfilling the team role

Every team member is on the team for a reason and it is expected that they will do their utmost to be successful.  This will often require help, input and challenge from the rest of the team.

  5. Navigation - Planning, anticipation, learning and innovation

Teams need to have a shared understanding of the strategies and actions that will enable the team to be successful.  These are captured in the team’s plan.  Teams will be successful to the extent that they review progress against the plan, anticipate problems, learn from both successes and failures and develop new ways of thinking.  This requires that plans are constantly evolving as the team navigates complex projects.

  6. Decision-making - Structure of authority

All teams need to interface with customers, resource managers and others outside of the team. It needs to be clear who is authorized to speak on behalf of the team and on what topics.  This will typically be the leader.

  7. Trustworthiness - Creating team trust

Successful teams enjoy a high level of trust that enables difficult issues to be addressed as soon as they arise.  Strong trust also supports the high level of creativity needed in high performing teams.

  8. Mood - The team’s commitment to create a mood for success

The mood or culture of a team will ultimately determine what is possible for the team.  It is important to be sensitive to the changing moods of the team and individuals and to know how to shift them when necessary.

  9. Performance - Standards of performance

Successful teams work consistently to high performance standards that they set for themselves and continually evaluate how successful they are in meeting those standards.

 10. Future - The future of the organization, team and careers of team members

Team members have careers that go beyond the life of this particular team.  They are most productive when their work is in line with what’s important to them in the short and long term.

Learn about the Team Conversation Survey

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