Every team has its challenges. And leading teams is hard on a good day. But when leaders were forced abruptly to Lead from Any Space with little to no training or support, that’s cause for trouble.
When the pandemic hit, everyone switched to survival mode. As such, some leaders forgot about their leadership toolkit and the fundamental cornerstones of what makes a team thrive, thus causing the foundations of their team to crack. Now that teams are pivoting to flexible, hybrid and return to work arrangements, and more is generally understood about what’s different about virtual work, it may be time to level-set once again.
The 6 Factors of Highly Effective Teams
The 6 Factors of High Performing Teams, as outlined in Jennifer Britton’s Reconnecting Workspaces, provides a level-setting tool for leaders and coaches to use to identify the performance gaps within their teams or clients’ teams and work together to establish goals and accountability around these gaps. Whether your team needs a reminder around shared vision, goals, practices, commitment or performance measures, or a facilitated brainstorm around setting clear rules and holding everyone accountable, it’s always worth looking at each of these areas as a team and dealing with pain points directly.
When planning your next team coaching session around these topics, you’ll need to take into account all the spaces that your team or client team operates in, as well as any geographic and cultural variations within your team. Whether your team is 100% virtual/remote, 100% face-to-face, or if you operate in a hybrid or flexible work arrangement, consider the following in your planning stages for your team coaching session around each of the 6 factors to help frame your questioning:
Factor | Impacts on Team Effectiveness | What's Important to Consider for Virtual, Remote, Hybrid or Flexible Work |
1. Shared Vision, purpose & Values (WHY) | · Direction · Alignment · Possibility · What we do · Focus · Goals · Priorities | · Keep it visible · Incorporates different people in different locations. Is the vision different regionally? · Team members may work on different visions |
2. Shared Performance Goals (WHAT) | · Results · How things are done · Priorities · Quality of Work | · Shared measurement · Who does what? · How does it feed into one another? · What are the checkpoints? |
3. Behaviour Norms (HOW) | · Action · Behaviour | · Clarify expectations at the Start · Remind along the way · Visibility |
4. Clear Roles (WHO) | · Results · Relationships · Conflict | · Results · How things are done · Priorities · Quality of Work |
5. Shared Team Practices (HOW) | · Relationships · Communication · Connection · Sharing · Alignment | · Make it intentional · Make it regular · Provide team roles |
6. Shared Commitment (WHAT) | · Follow-through · Accountability · Sharing | · What is our commitment? · How do we have each other’s backs? · How connected do we feel to each other? |
Source: Reconnecting Workspaces, Jennifer Britton, Page 57-58.
To access a series of coaching questions to use with your team during a team coaching session, head over to the cited source cited below the chart. If you’d like to get specific feedback on your team’s unique situation, feel free to book a FREE 15-minute consultation with Jennifer Britton using this link.
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