Building a trusted, aligned and cohesive team is hard. It doesn't require great intellect, it requires a strategic decision to "do" teamwork and perseverance and a lot of courage. Your leadership focus must be pointed towards building a healthy team, so results flow easily. It is hard in the beginning as old habits are broken, but soon feels like the only way to "be" together. As much effort as it takes to build a cohesive team, the process does not have to be complicated. In fact, keeping it simple is critical.
Based on the best-selling book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni, this course is designed to provide clear, concise, and practical steps to improve your team.
"Teamwork remains the one sustainable competitive advantage that has been largely untapped." ~ Patrick Lencioni
Why? Because it is hard to measure. Most leaders like to have measurable outcomes. Doing teamwork ripples through everything from employee engagement, decision making, accountability, all the way to results. It is also not a quick fix. You can't buy teamwork, or just decide to do it. It takes time, effort and repetition, but the rewards are transformational.
Quite simply, a cohesive team needs to master five behaviours: building trust, mastering conflict, achieving commitment, embracing accountability, and focusing on results.
Before you begin, bear in mind that:
- Each behaviour builds on the previous one, so the behaviours should not be addressed in isolation of one another.
- Team members need to have a meaningful understanding of themselves and their peers, which is reinforced by DiSC®, a powerful behavioural tool available in the MySelf module, that has helped people connect better for years. You and your team are about to embark on what could be a very challenging—and very enlightening—journey.
Checklist
Before you begin, take a look at the overview of the five behaviours below:
Trust One Another:
When team members are genuinely transparent and honest with one another, they are able to build vulnerability - based trust.
Engage in Conflict Around Ideas:
When there is trust, team members are able to engage in unfiltered, constructive debate of ideas.
Commit to Decisions:
When team members are able to offer opinions and debate ideas, they will be more likely to commit to decisions.
Hold One Another Accountable:
When everyone is committed to a clear plan of action, they will be more willing to hold one another accountable.
Focus on Achieving Collective Results:
The ultimate goal of building greater trust, healthy conflict, commitment, and accountability is one thing: the achievement of results.
Remember
The five behaviours can be mistakenly interpreted as five distinct issues that can be addressed in isolation of one another. In reality, they form an interrelated model, and neglecting even one of the behaviours can be potentially harmful to the success of a team.