If you get three things right, you won’t go far wrong.
Trust
Clarity and
Focus
Let’s look at these one by one.
Firstly, Trust:
Whether we are talking about a new team or an existing team you are trying to get working better together, trust is the single most important thing.
Why it’s trust important?
Trust is required for us to be open and direct. We need to get to know one another, we need to know something about one another’s lives, one another’s personalities and what matters to us.
As members of a team, we need to believe everyone has the best intentions at heart. This means any personal ambitions and yourself after the team objectives. Trust helps for delegation
Trust helps team members take risks and thereby encourages innovation. It also creates a positive work environment where people more likely to have fun together.
What is trust?
Trust is about knowing you can count on other people and believing in their aims. It is about general decency, belief in others and sense of safety.
Trust has got a few ingredients.
in the well know trust equation from Charles Green he introduces Credibility, Reliability and Intimacy as the core ingredients.
I like to add vulnerability to this list. If we don’t let our guard down and admit to our fallibility, we are not being real.
The other big word here is selflessness. Or if you prefer generosity.
Lastly I like the word honesty here.
Being generous and honest with our actions and responsibilities shows others our best intentions.
On this basis an augmented TRUST EQUATION could be:
Credibility + Reliability + Intimacy + Vulnerability + Generosity + Honesty /
(divided by) Self-interest
For each of these I will offer you a question you can ask yourself about the team.
If the answer in each case is YES then behaviours are in a great place:
Credibility: Do my team members consistently demonstrate their expertise and are generally seen as knowledgeable while consistently upholding the organization's standards?
Reliability: Can I consistently depend on my team members to meet their commitments and deliver on their responsibilities?
Intimacy: Do team members feel comfortable sharing emotional and interpersonal connections openly?
Vulnerability: Are team members comfortable admitting their mistakes and sharing their challenges with each other?
Generosity: Do team members willingly offer their time, assistance, and knowledge to support one another and the team's overall success, are they consistently willing to share, information and opportunities to help each other grow.
Honesty: Do team members openly communicate the truth, even when it's difficult or uncomfortable?
Self-interest: Do team members remain mindful of their actions and decisions? Do they put the collective goals and needs of the team ahead of their individual goals and needs.
You could carry out a simple exercise and ask your team which of these words do and do not resonate.
Don’t be scared of the answers, we have to face into these discussions in order to move forward, they will all thank you for it as their thoughts and feelings emerge!
Let’s move on to Clarity.
Being able to clearly answer the questions around the value of and reason behind the team goals ( the team purpose).
Being able to state:
“What exactly is the role I am expected to play in the delivery of these goals?” (our responsibility).
Lastly what is the sequence of priorities of these goals relative to one another.
(Clue for leaders the answer is not “everything is a priority”;)
Recently in a training when we discussed this in the round and heard everyone’s opinions before aligning it made a huge difference to the clarity they developed.
Now let’s talk Focus.
It’s a great word and it sits alongside of Attention and being Deliberate. When things are clear this becomes possible.
When we have understanding of the value and purpose, we can buy in!
When a team is equipped to give their attention to clear defined results, they trust one another and they are coming at it together they stand a great chance of success!
I love a quick acronym so here is one to help you remember these fundamentals:
Remember TCF or Team Comes First for:
1. Trust
2. Clarity and
3. Focus
Transform Coaching has a proven team training programme we love to deliver. Drop miles a quickline now to receive details of our approach: miles@transformcoaching.co
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