Building super teams

Imagine you lead a successful team. Your bosses admire what the team has achieved, but they wonder if it is too dependent on your personality. This is now going to be put to the test. Last week the Chief Executive called to say:

“I would like you to consider taking over part of your boss’s role for the next 6 months. They will be running a global project and must release some of their responsibilities. Many of these play to your strengths. Are you interested?"

"If so, it means spending at least 50% of your time on the role. That has implications. You will need: a) To nominate somebody to deputise for you in your present role; b) To get your team to be more self-managing. Is this something you are interested in doing?”

Assuming you take the role, it will require everybody in the team taking more responsibility. Let’s explore how to make this happen.

1) You can ensure the team wants to become more self-managing.

Start by choosing somebody to act as your ‘deputy’. Agree with them on: a) The team’s goals; b) The role they want to play in guiding the team to reaching these goals; c) The support they want from you. You are then ready to talk with the rest of the team.

Before tackling the actual contracting process, however, ensure that people really do want to become more self-managing. Certainly they will answer ‘”Yes,” but underline the work involved.

As ever, the old coaching rule applies: ‘People must have the will before they learn the skill.’ Gather people together and go through the following stages.

* Explain the reasons for the session.

You may say, for example, that you have accepted part of your boss’s role. This will mean spending less time with the team. Some of your duties will be taken over by your deputy.

Your authority will continue to be: _______. Your deputy’s authority will be: _______. But you will be asking everybody to take on more responsibility and become a self-managing team.

Later in the session you will make contracts about the broad roles people will play. You are sure, however, that the team will continue to deliver success.

* Re-communicate the team’s agreed picture of success.

Revisit the team’s goals for the next six months. Invite people to ask questions and add suggestions to the goals. Then ask them:

“On a scale 0 – 10, to what extent do you feel confident you can deliver the goals? What can be done to improve the ratings?”

Compile their suggestions for improving the chances of success.

* Ensure they want to become more self-managing.

Explain that the next steps will be:

a) To outline the overall roles that people must play in reaching the goals.

b) To involve them in crafting the these responsibilities.

c) To meet with each person to make clear contracts about their parts in achieving the goals.

Bearing in mind the work involved, ask if they want to become more self-managing. They will probably answer “Yes.” If not, you may need to bring other people into the team.

2) You can make clear contracts about people’s roles in building a self-managing team.

Start by explaining people’s overall responsibilities in such a team. Looking ahead to the next 6 months, explain:

a) The leader’s role (including that of the deputy).

b) The team members’ role.

Invite people to do the following exercise. Ask each of them to write Post-it Notes under the respective headings. (See below.)

Give people 15 minutes to write the ideas. Then invite each one in turn to place their Post-its under the relevant headings – plus give their explanations for the suggestions.

Discuss the suggestions that emerge. You will have the final say on people’s roles, but it is good to get everybody’s ideas. The process also ‘educates’ them about the team principles. Finalise the ideas and then communicate the respective responsibilities. Together with your deputy, meet with each person and make clear contracts about their individual contributions.

3) You can ensure people translate the contracts in action and become a more self-managing team.

Great teams have the right spirit and systems to achieve success. Your team has the right spirit – people want to become more self-managing. They can then follow their agreed ‘systems’ to reach their goals.

For example, people can hold a monthly meeting to stay on-track. The deputy can start such a session by updating people on the whole team’s progress towards achieving the picture of success. Each person can then give a brief update on:

* The specific things they have delivered in the past month towards achieving the goals.

* The specific things they plan to deliver in the next month.

* The challenges they face, their strategies for tackling these challenges and the support they need to achieve success.

The presentations should be made in headline terms – rather than a detailed ‘to do’ list. People can then turn to how:

a) They can continue to pursue the key strategies.

b) They find creative solutions to challenges.

c) They can keep satisfying their sponsors – their bosses – and deliver success.

Each meeting should conclude by agreeing on the ‘press release’. Adopting this discipline forces people to clarify what they have achieved in the meeting and the strategies for the way ahead. The team members can brainstorm and then agree on:

“The 3 key messages we want to give other people regarding the outcomes of the meeting are:

1) ____________ 2) _______________ 3) _______________”

You are still accountable for the team’s results: so do whatever is necessary to ensure that people deliver. At the same time, continue to coach your deputy and, when appropriate, the whole team. Gather people and ask them to present:

a) The things we are doing well – and how we can continue to follow these principles.

b) The things we can do better – and how.

You can then pass-on tools and knowledge to help them succeed. Good leaders are often like good educators – they enable their people to become more self-managing.

This releases the leader to be more strategic. They can focus on shaping tomorrow’s business, whilst their people manage today’s business. It also enables everybody – both as people and professionals. Try completing the following sentences.

Several years ago I worked with an organisation that wanted to improve its interviewing techniques. The problem lay at every level, whether recruiting graduates or senior managers.

One step we took was to create a pre-work pack that candidates completed and sent before the actual interview. The pack immediately improved the interviewing process. It provided clues to:

* The candidate’s strengths and their potential contribution to the organisation.

* The amount of work they were prepared to put into preparing for the interview and the quality of their thinking.

* The kinds of questions that would prove most valuable to ask at the interview.

Imagine you want to take a similar step in your organisation. Let’s explore how you can make this happen.

1) You can design the pre-work pack for the candidates.

You will obviously design the pack to highlight what you want to learn about the candidate. As mentioned earlier, we used it to clarify the person’s strengths. At the same time, it introduced them to the culture they could expect in the organisation.

Starting with a short introduction, the pack invited people to tackle seven exercises. The exercises were stretching. They asked people to be honest and use their imagination. The candidates were also offered the opportunity to call us for more information. Whilst aiming to test their resolve, we wanted to give them every chance to succeed.

The exercises were on the following themes:

* My professional picture of success.

The things that I want to achieve in my working life.

* My strengths.

The specific activities in which I deliver ‘As’ – rather than Bs or Cs – and my best contribution to an employer.

* My successful style.

The specific principles I follow to do my most satisfying work and how I can follow these in the future.

* Superb customer service.

A time when I have given superb service and how I can follow those principles in the future.

* The Managing Director Question.

If I were a leader, what would I hire somebody like myself to deliver?

* My future work.

The possible routes I can follow in my future work – together with the pluses and minuses of each route.

* My specific goals in the first 3 months.

If I got the role, these are the specific things I would aim to deliver in the first 3 months.

The pack also provided space for the candidate to add any further thoughts they would like to add to their application. The following pages provide a complete version of the pack. You would, of course, design such a pack to fit your own purpose.

2) You can invite the candidates to complete and return the pack before the interview.

This process can be enlightening. We found that the candidates responded in different ways. How they behaved provided lots of information regarding whether or not they might be positive contributors to the organisation. For example:

* Some people completed the pack superbly.

The time and effort they invested was encouraging, as were some of their answers. Some people completed the pack without asking for more information. Others asked for details regarding the exercises, the role and the organisation.

Both approaches were okay. The ways that people answered the questions – and any interactions we had with them – helped to build a picture of their personalities.

* Some people found the exercises challenging, but they still did a good job with the pack.

For some it was the first time they had met these kinds of exercises. Such people needed a bit more guidance, but they were open and willing to do their best. This helped us to find out more about them as people.

* Some people made a poor job of tackling the pack.

There were various reasons for this happening. Some people found it difficult to understand the exercises. Some gave poor answers or did not put in the effort. One candidate for a senior management role, for example, packed the exercises with management clichés, failed to run a spell check and returned the pack two days after the agreed deadline. He did not get the job.

3) You can use the pack during the candidate’s interview.

The pre-work helps to clarify what it would be good to explore at the interview. We often found that it might be useful, for example, to ask the person more about:

* Their strengths.

This helped to clarify where they could deliver As, rather than Bs or Cs.

* Their successful style.

This was often the most revealing exercise to find their preferred way of working and potential contribution to the business.

* Their specific goals for the first 3 months.

This showed if they were savvy and had considered how to make a positive contribution.

Previously the interviewers had spent around twenty minutes asking questions around a person’s CV. The pack provided material that they could use straight away. As mentioned earlier, it gave clues to the person’s attitude and quality of thinking. It also provided a bridge to explaining the organisation’s culture. We wanted people who would take responsibility, make clear contracts and deliver results.

“The Successful Style exercise helped to put people in the right places,” said one person. “It highlighted a person’s ‘default’ – the things they did naturally. It showed where they had a strong drive, natural discipline and attention to detail. If somebody had a track record of building prototypes, for example, it would be crazy to put them into a ‘maintenance’ role.

“We also used the exercise with our current employees during career development sessions. Frequently it helped to create a ‘win-win’. We explored how they could find or create roles that would be a win for them and a win for the company.”

There are many ways to use a Candidate Pre-work Pack. You will, of course, design one that fits your own purpose. Recruitment will always be challenging, but the pack can provide much more information. It improves the chances of selecting people who will help the organisation to achieve success.

“How do you explain to people that they need to change their working styles?” asked one leader. “Next week I need to give people some tough messages. We must change things radically to build a thriving business."

"Maybe it is my own fault. Sometimes I empathise with people so much that I delay making decisions, especially when these may cause pain.”

Leaders often choose between the following approaches when trying to implement ‘change’.

* Some urge their people to alter their ways and put everybody through a ‘change programme’. This approach produces mixed results.

* Some restructure the company – but it is essentially the same group of people sitting in different chairs. They also follow the accountant’s rule of ‘cutting costs by 10%’, hoping it will save the company. Strangely, they cut this percentage from both the growing and failing parts of the business.

* Some chose to 'build the new' rather than try to 'change the old'. They continue to perform good work with the present ‘cash cows’, but also build successful prototypes that embody the desired culture. The principles that emerge become the basis for the future company.

Imagine you are leading an organisation. Looking to the future, your leadership team is agreed on the preferred strategy.

You have a loyal work force, but some people are reluctant to embrace the future. Some will choose to move forward, but other won’t.

Being a moral person, however, you want to explain ‘the new rules of work’. You will then invite people to decide whether they want to contribute to the future culture.

How can you do this in an effective way? Here are three steps you may wish to consider.

1) You can invite people to explore the future world of work.

You will already have explored this theme in depth when clarifying the future strategy. Looking ahead to the next 2 – 3 years, for example, you will have asked the following kinds of questions.

“What will be happening in our sector? What changes will take place? What will be the social, market, technological and other changes? Who will be our potential customers? What will be the challenges they face? What will be their picture of success?

"What will these people want from the potential providers like us? What can we provide to help them to achieve success? What levels of service will they want? How will the service be delivered? What will they be prepared to pay for these services?

"How can we provide these services? What qualities must our organisation demonstrate? What qualities must the employees demonstrate?

“Bearing these answers in mind, what decisions must we therefore take to build a positive future? What must we then do to implement these decisions successfully?”

You will have answered such questions when formulating the strategy. The leadership team will carry the can for delivering the goals, so the strategy is not up for debate. But it is still vital to encourage your people to explore the future challenges.

Some people may already think this way; some may wait for direction; some may be ‘observer critics’ who will never be pleased. You want people to think ahead, however, and use their imagination. If you wish, gather them together and say something like:

“Looking ahead, everybody in this room is aware that we face many challenges. We have obviously already done considerable work on this theme and formulated our provisional strategy.

"Today, however, we would like to invite you to explore that possible future. We are not pretending this is a ‘democracy’. It isn’t. Certainly we in the leadership team have to take responsibility for delivering the goals. Nevertheless, we want to involve you in considering the qualities required to build a successful future.”

You can then position the first exercise. Invite people to go into groups and look three years ahead. They are to brainstorm the possible changes that may have taken place by then in their chosen field.

After completing the brainstorm, they are to clarify the events most likely to happen and paint a picture of that possible future. Invite people to present back the following exercise.

2) You can invite people to explore the qualities required to succeed.

Let’s assume that groups present back their ideas. Some people will provide excellent insights; some will reiterate ‘management speak’; some may make speeches pushing their own point of view.

When doing this exercise with a technology company, for example, I found the younger people were much closer to painting the future reality than the older employees (those aged 40!).

The latter had read the right business books, but they spent their time in internal meetings. The ‘youngsters’ spent 80% of their time on the road meeting pacesetting customers.

Listen to people’s ideas, then introduce the next exercise. You may want to say something like:

“Looking ahead, it seems that we are agreed the following things are likely to happen: a) __________; b) ___________; c) ____________.

"Let’s assume that many of these changes come about, though obviously nothing is certain in this day and age. We would like you to move onto the next stage. Bearing in mind what may happen, try tackling the second exercise.

This invites you to describe the qualities people and organisations must demonstrate to be successful in the future. So focus on two areas. 

* The qualities that people must demonstrate. For example, they may need to have a certain attitude, develop particular skills, apply themselves in special ways or whatever.

* The qualities that organisations must demonstrate. For example, they may need to make good strategic decisions, provide quality service, manage their people by outcomes – rather than tasks – or whatever.

"Wherever possible, give specific examples. Over to you.”

3) You can invite people to explore how to stay ahead of the game.

Let’s assume that the groups present back their ideas. Many people will identify the spirit and skills that employees must show in the future. They will also have strong views on how organisation must relate to its own people.

The more challenging area will be how organisations should behave towards customers. Some groups return with answers such as: “The organisation must provide great service and deliver it brilliantly.”

But they are light on how to achieve these goals. That is okay, because later you can look at how to translate the principles into practice.

Listen again to people’s ideas, then introduce the next exercise. You may say something like:

“Looking at you what have written, it seems that people and organisations will need to demonstrate the following qualities to be successful.

"First, the people will need to: a) __________; b) ___________; c) ____________.

"Second, the organisations will need to: a) __________; b) ___________; c) ____________.

"Thankfully, these ideas are in line with our provisional future strategy! Otherwise we might be in real trouble. There are, of course, several other strands we need to cover in the strategy, but we can explore these at some later point.

“We would now like you to move onto the final exercise. Many organisations go through the stage of envisaging future scenarios.

"But then comes the hard part. There seems so much to do that people either procrastinate or produce long lists of tasks that have no coherent strategy. We need to stay ahead of the game. The themes we would like to cover are as follows:

* The specific things that we as individuals can do to be successful in the future.

* The specific things that we as an organisation can do to be successful in the future.

"Today is about exploring these ideas: it is not a ‘signing-up’ process. As we said earlier, there is a provisional strategy and today has shown there is lots of alignment in the organisation. There will be plenty of time for clarifying and committing to the actions plans.

"So, over to you. Present back what we can do to stay ahead of the game.”

How do people react to this exercise? Looking at when I have used it in the past, they tend to be extremely honest.

When put on the spot, they are prepared to clarify what they and the organisation must do to achieve future success. Some people will refuse to face reality, of course, but that is their choice.

Certainly you can communicate the strategy without involving people. This is an option and, at times, it may be appropriate. Sometimes you will simply communicate the strategy – the ‘what, why, how, who and when’ – and invite people to make clear contracts about their best contribution.

Other times it is useful to encourage them to explore the future world of work. People are then more likely to put their hearts and minds into delivering ongoing success.

Imagine you are a leader. You have a good team, but they need to become even more customer-focused.

People need to recognise that, in the new world of work, there are no jobs anymore, there are only projects. Professionals are only as good as their present project and the success they deliver.

Here is an exercise that you can use to encourage the individuals – and the whole team – to be even more professional.

1) You can invite people to answer the rolling contract question.

Gather the team together and ask them to tackle the Rolling Contract exercise. You may want to say something like:

“Imagine we have each put £100k into the kitty and this team is our own business. We have got a 6 month contract with our present organisation.

"But there is a challenge. This is a 6 month rolling contract that must be signed-off – extended – every month by our key sponsors.

"How would we behave? Knowing the contract could come to an end in 6 months, would we behave any differently? Remember, it is our money and our mortgages.

"Would we get closer to our sponsors, make clearer contracts, report successes, anticipate future challenges – and business opportunities – or whatever? Take 15 minutes to brainstorm what we would do if we wanted to keep extending our 6 month rolling contract.”

Try tackling the exercise on this theme. Gather your team together and explain the concept of the rolling contract.

Then invite people to describe the specific things they would do if they wanted such a contract extended. Invite them to do the following exercise.

2) You can implement the ideas that emerge from the rolling contract question.

Peak performers aim to stay ahead of the game. They continually focus on the issues that are in the Green, Amber and Red Zones.

The Rolling Contract exercise can be used as a similar vehicle for developing a sense of urgency. For information, here are the themes covered by the Zones exercise.

* The Green Zone.

These are the things that are going well. It is important to keep building on these things. For example, giving even more attention to customers who like you may result in creating even more business.

When doing the Zone Exercise, people list what is presently in the green zone. They also describe how to maintain or improve these things.

* The Amber Zone.

These are the things where there are warning signs or need improvement. People can list what is presently in the amber zone. They can also describe how to improve these things.

* The Red Zone.

These are the things that are going badly. They need radical improvements or key decisions to be taken. People can list what is presently in the red zone. They can also describe how to improve these things.

The Rolling Contract As A Call To Action

Let's imagine your team has done the Rolling Contract exercise. Gather all the suggestions, sort these into themes and discuss what has emerged.

Looking at the ideas, settle on those the team want to implement. Consider the pluses and minuses of pursuing these strategies. Build on the pluses and minimise the minuses.

Get ‘owners’ for the actions which, in some cases, will be everybody. Provide the necessary support and encourage people to get some quick successes.

Repeat the rolling contract question during team meetings and one-to-one sessions. So invite people to complete the following exercise.

3) You can encourage individuals to consider what they personally would do if they were on a rolling contract.

Great teams are made up of people who take responsibility and are committed to constant improvement. If appropriate, ask each person:

“If you were on a 6 month rolling contract – that had to be signed off every month – how would you behave?”

Even the most professional person will find some ways to improve their performance. Encourage them to translate these ideas into action.

Institutions frequently give double messages. On the one hand they say: “Be quick, agile and think for yourself.” On the other hand they say: “Let us do the thinking for you.” People can become inward facing and lose the ability to live off their wits.

The rolling contract question aims to re-ignite their sense of urgency and increase their customer focus. Invite each person to do the following exercise. They can then continue to deliver success for both themselves and other people.