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Writer's pictureTrevor Norman

The impacT of direction and relationships on team performance

Following a structured approach to explore the 6 key characteristics of high-performing teams


team of people sitting around a table having a discussion




Finding the secret ingredients to put together effective teams can be difficult at the best of times. There are many different factors and things to consider, to understand what works well and what doesn’t.


Not being clear of what these ingredients are or how to balance them can result in a team which is underperforming and leave team members unfulfilled.


From experience, we see this under-performance or poor team dynamics often links back to one or both of two core things… Direction and Relationships.

 

Direction


A lack of direction whether from the team leader or above, or goals not aligned to the organisation’s vision or objectives can lead teams and individuals to feel rudderless and unsure if they are actually doing a good job or not.


Particularly if there are no, or unhelpful KPI’s in place, which are not necessarily measuring the right things.


This also means teams are unable to celebrate success when they do achieve it, which can prevent the opportunity to give positive recognition grow confidence and build momentum.

 

Relationships


The dynamic relationships within any team no matter what size, can be complex. Everyone is different with their own personality, and with different mindsets and motivations.


Some people get on, some people don’t. Everyone has different personal values with different perspectives. Everyone has different styles of communication. Some people have more dominant opinions and personalities than others. Some people can be influenced more easily than others.


When this complex dynamic comes together, it forms the identity of the team because this is what people will see and feel, both inside and external to the team.


There is always room for change and improvement of the team dynamic even if you feel the team is performing effectively, and particularly if you feel the team is underperforming and not fulfilling its potential.

 

Change Without Structure


The easier option, or the temptation can sometimes be to tweak certain aspects of the team and make isolated changes without a holistic approach.


Initiatives such as focusing on the working environment, having more social events, shuffling tasks or workload between team members, putting more meetings in, may all play a part but won’t really make any significant difference to the fundamental team dynamic or performance.

 

Use a Structured Approach


Using a more holistic and structured approach to highlight current strengths, identify gaps and explore potential areas to develop will support a sustainable focus to build trust, and create high performing teams.



impacT Team Model



green radar on black background

The Tribero impacT team model explores the 6 key characteristics that have been proven to make outstanding high performing teams.


Many of the world’s leading research and studies, including well known organisations such as Harvard Business and Google, have shown the key elements, competencies and behaviours that have been included to form the impacT model for high performing teams and success.


The model, including a guided audit, will enable you and your team to explore each one of the six key characteristics to see how teams can be developed and grow together collectively to build the most important factor of all . . . TRUST!


  • IDENTITY... developed and formed through enhanced self-awareness of team members.

  • MINDSET... Developing a 'Healthy Outlook' and a positive mindset towards the future.

  • PURPOSE... Understanding the 'WHY' of the team and the line of sight to the organisational vision.

  • ALIGNMENT... developing aligned goals with a collaborative approach and shared responsibility measured by key performance indicators.

  • COMMUNICATION... understanding and appreciating other's styles and perspectives to develop empathy and build positive relationships.

  • TRUST... or, psychological safety - the number one factor for effective high-performing teams.



We have two options for you to complete this audit for your own team:

DOWNLOAD


REQUEST

DOWNLOAD the 44 page step-by-step guided audit PDF, which includes 18 FREE recommended resources


 REQUEST a free automated online audit activity for your team, with collated results and visual reports


montage of impacT audit pages


screenshot of online audit


 


If you are already a member of the Tribero online community you can access the manual guided audit PDF in the Templates & Activities folder in the Resources section of the MEMBERS AREA along with lots of other free resources. Log in at www.tribero.co.uk



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Article by Trevor Norman trevor@tribero.co.uk 


Trevor is a leadership coach and cognitive behavioural therapist and specialises in organisational behavioural analytics and team dynamics.

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