Learn
What is your model for team effectiveness? Perhaps you’re a disciple of Bruce Tuckman’s 1965 Forming-Storming-Norming-Performing approach. Maybe you prefer Pat Lencioni’s 2002 Five Dysfunctions system. Many leaders have embraced the 2009 trademarked Team Clock methodology. Either way, take the time to absorb a best practice and embrace its language and guidance to shepherd your team in a deliberate direction.
Assess
Measure your asset and liabilities. To what degree is your team aligned with your mission? How effectively do teammates negotiate differences? What percentage of your employees is engaged and accountable? Does your workforce have the ability to take smart risks and innovate? Who on your team leads change with resilience and poise? Decide which of these variables will have the greatest impact on your strategic goals and make them targets for tactical attention.
Evolve
Stability and wellness do not arise from staying the same. They are the natural consequences of the courage to transform. Teams reinvent themselves constantly in the lifespan of a thriving organization. Marriages reboot when children are added to the family. Workers reposition when teammates are promoted or let go. Businesses merge and acquire to respond to changing market conditions. The common thread is the willingness to keep moving.
It’s a three-step recipe. First learn, next assess, and then evolve. Once you’ve embraced the recipe, add a fourth step: “Repeat.”
