Do you know what obstacles your subordinates face as a team to working efficiently? If so, do you know what you can do? Marshall Goldsmith - world-renowned coach of senior executives, speaker and author of popular books on personal development such as What Got You Here Won't Get You There or Mojo - can help. Mr. Goldsmith recently described a practical process to "take your team to the next level" in an article on the LinkedIn network.
1. Ask your team members to use a scale from 1 to 10 and write down their answers to two questions: How well does our team operate? How well should it operate?
2. Ask one team member to calculate the results and then open a discussion on the results. If it turns out that your people see further team development as a way to bridge the gap between the current and expected state of your teamwork, proceed to the next steps.
3. Ask all team members to write eg., on a flip chart, two examples of behavior that everyone should try to change in order to improve the way the team works.
4. Some employees will probably write the same behaviors. Thus, continue by defining priorities together and agree on what behavior you should all change first.
5. Ask all your team members to have one-on-one discussions with all their colleagues on what behaviors each individual could change. They should record all the recommendations they receive.
6. Continue by asking all team members to go through the recommendations of personal behavior changes obtained in the interviews with their colleagues and chose one as the most important. Then each of them should announce the chosen individual behavior change in front of the whole team.
7. Once a month, always arrange brief sessions for individual team members ask their colleagues for recommendations on how they could further improve in three ways: 1) one behavioral change common to all team members, 2) one individual behavior change for each member and 3) one individual behavior change for each member in order to become a better team player.
8. After six months, evaluate the current course of changes. Organize the collection of feedback so that each individual receives confidential feedback from all of his colleagues. Evaluate all the three areas described in step number 7 and look for other opportunities for improvement based on the information obtained.
"Try it!" says Marshall Goldsmith. Although the process may initially seem more time-consuming, you may see big changes and many further options right after the first evaluation. It works because it is focused, based on feedback and because it teaches employees to act on feedback. If you teach your people to be interested in how they can improve themselves, it will never be a waste of time.
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