M4 L2 Building High Performing Teams

Summary

This lesson explores the creation of high-performing teams, emphasizing the importance of vision, trust, and adaptability. It introduces the 'High Impact Teaming' model with five key variables: visioning, organizing, safe teaming, individual impact, and context. The Tuckman's stages of team development are discussed, from forming to adjourning, highlighting the leader's role in guiding teams through each phase. The lesson also addresses the impact of team member changes on the team's dynamics and the need for effective onboarding and transition support.

Takeaways

• 🌟 High-performing teams are characterized by outstanding results, collaboration, resilience, adaptability, and alignment with organizational vision.
• 🛠 The leader's clarity on team vision and objectives is crucial for high-performing teams, ensuring they are in line with the organization's goals.
• 💡 Trust, open communication, and valuing diversity are foundational to building a high-performing team.
• 📚 The 'High Impact Teaming' book introduces a model with five key variables for team development: visioning, individual impact, organizing, safe teaming, and context.
• 🔍 Visioning is about creating a shared vision that provides direction, inspiration, and purpose for the team.
• 🛡 Organizing focuses on establishing efficient systems and structures for smooth team operations and coordination.
• 👥 Safe teaming emphasizes psychological safety, allowing team members to share ideas and express opinions without fear.
• 🧩 Individual impact is the base of team dynamics, influenced by personal attributes like habits, mindsets, and roles.
• 🌐 The context surrounds the team pyramid, representing external factors that affect team operations and learning.
• 🔗 Trust is an invisible component that binds all variables together, ensuring team member alignment and positive responses.
• 🌀 Tuckman's stages of team development include forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning, with each stage requiring different leadership approaches.
• 🔄 Team development can be affected by changes in team membership, which may disrupt dynamics and require readjustment by the leader.

Q & A

What are high-performing teams known for?

High-performing teams are known for achieving outstanding results through their collaborative spirit, resilience, adaptability, and being led by a leader with a clear vision and objectives aligned with the organization's vision.

What are the foundational elements of high-performing teams according to the HIT model?

The HIT model identifies five key variables for high-performing teams: visioning, individual impact, organizing, safe teaming, and context. The core of this model includes visioning, organizing, and safe teaming.

What does visioning involve in the context of team development?

Visioning involves developing a clear and shared vision that guides the team's direction and goals, providing inspiration and a sense of purpose.

How does organizing contribute to the efficiency of a team?

Organizing focuses on creating efficient systems, structures, and routines to facilitate smooth operations and coordination among team members.

What is the importance of safe teaming in a team's dynamics?

Safe teaming emphasizes the importance of psychological safety, ensuring team members feel comfortable sharing ideas, expressing opinions, and being vulnerable without fear of negative consequences.

What role does individual impact play in a team's learning process?

Individual impact, which includes personal attributes such as habits, mindsets, and roles, forms the foundation of team dynamics and significantly influences the speed and quality of team learning.

How does the context surrounding a team influence its operation and learning?

The context represents the external environment and factors that affect how teams operate and learn. It shapes the team's purpose and achieving sustainable impact requires learning from and adapting to this context.

What is the significance of trust in the HIT model?

Trust is an invisible component of the HIT model that binds all the other variables together, ensuring team members are aligned in their goals, adhere to agreements, and respond positively to one another.

What are the stages of team development as introduced by Tuckman?

Tuckman's stages of team development include forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning or mourning. These stages outline the path teams traverse from formation to dissolution.

What is the role of a leader during the storming stage of team development?

During the storming stage, a leader's role is to help navigate conflicts constructively and ensure team members learn to accommodate each other's differences.

How can a leader support a team during the performing stage?

In the performing stage, a leader can empower the team by delegating decision-making, recognizing their achievements, and continuously motivating and challenging the team to enhance performance and innovation.

What happens during the adjourning or mourning stage of a team's life cycle?

During the adjourning or mourning stage, the team wraps up its objectives or is disbanded, which can be marked by feelings of loss or uncertainty about the future. Leaders should help team members process these emotions, celebrate accomplishments, and provide guidance on transition plans.

How does the departure of a team member affect team dynamics?

The departure of a team member disrupts existing dynamics and may push the team back to earlier stages like storming or norming. Leaders must address the emotional and workload impacts of this change and help the team adjust to new dynamics and onboard new members effectively.