The first stage in building a high performing team is to get everyone on the same page.
Every team member must master the basics of organisational performance:
- What are we here to achieve and how do we recognise success?
- What are our markets and how do we segment them?
- Who are our customers and what are their buying patterns?
- Who would we like our customers to be – and why aren’t they buying from us now?
- Who is our competition and what are they doing?
- What drives or inhibits our ability to deliver on the mission?
In high performing teams each team member is able to answer these questions – not just from their own perspective but from a collective team perspective. There is a shared analysis that provides a platform for coherent action.
In mediocre teams the members can usually answer these questions from their own siloed perspective. However there is little or no shared analysis and the actions that flow from each silo at best lack coherence and at worst compete with each other for resources and prestige.
Getting everyone on the same page is best done through a group session that has sufficient openness, candour and respect to ensure that the all of the ‘elephants in the room’ are recognised and addressed.