How to be an Effective Team Member

“Do I really have to get along with these idiots?”

10 – 15 %

What Inhibits Execution?National Survey of 4,000 Senior Executives

4. Inability to work together (21%)

3. Company culture (23%)

2. Economic climate (29%)

1. Holding onto the past / unwillingness to CHANGE (35%)

In other words…

• In order to succeed you need a high-performance team that embraces a strong culture of disciplined execution and accountability while being nimble, agile and adaptable to changes in the marketplace.

Continuum of Teamwork

A Department in a University

An Accounting Department

A SEAL team or an ER team

What does it take to be a valued member of a team?

Develop and display competence.

Follow through on commitments.

Deliver required results.

Ensure your actions are consistent with your word.

Stand behind the team and its people.

Be enjoyable to work with.

Be passionate about your work and those you serve.

Communicate and keep everyone informed.

Help the other members of the team.

Help members of other teams.

Share ideas, information and credit.

Hold yourself 100% accountable.

John Spence High-Performance Team Model

DMCCMD

Direction

Measurable Goals

Competent Team Members

Communication

MUTUAL ACCOUNTABILITY

Discipline

Common Problems Found in Teams

• Unclear direction, not sure of actual desired outcomes.• Confusion about assignments, roles and responsibilities.• Misunderstood decisions or decisions not carried out properly.• Apathy and general lack of interest and involvement.• Lack of innovation and creativity.• Ineffective meetings, low participation.• Interpersonal strife, egos, politics.• Poor team leadership. • Lack of accountability.• Over / under analysis of issues. • Unclear on decision making process, decision owners.• Reward system that undermines teamwork and collaboration.• Lack of trust within the team.• Inability to deal effectively with team conflict or disagreements.

• Lack of TRUST• Lack of candor• Lack of commitment• Lack of accountability• Lack of results

11 Key Team Competencies:

1. Setting clear, specific and measurable goals.

2. Making assignments extremely clear and ensuring required competence.

3. Using effective decision making processes within the team.

4. Establishing accountability for high performance across the entire team.

5. Running effective team meetings.

6. Building strong levels of trust.

7. Establishing open, honest and frank communications.

8. Managing conflict effectively.

9. Creating mutual respect and collaboration.

10. Encouraging risk-taking and innovation.

11. Engaging in ongoing team building activities.

1 - 10

WORKSHOP

Virtual Teams

• A virtual team is one whose members share a common purpose, but are separated by distance, time, and organizational boundaries. In such a team, members are linked only by communication technologies and rarely, if ever, have the opportunity to work face-to-face with their teammates.

Just like a regular team, every virtual team needs to clearly understand…

• What is the purpose or mission of the team? • What outcome is needed and/or expected from the

team's performance? • When should the team's work be completed?

Milestones? • To whom does the team report and how often? • What resources are provided to support the team in its

work? • What is each person’s role and specific responsibilities

on the team?

What special things are required to be an effective member of a virtual team?

Number One Challenge…

93% of communications is non-verbal

Over-communicate

Email

Phone calls

Voicemails

Video calls

Notes on shared work docs

Share your emotions

Frustrated

Worried

Concerned

Excited

Confused

Impressed

Angry

Happy

Peeved

Perplexed

Overjoyed

Satisfied…

Define terms, never assume, clarify any ambiguity…

I am not sure if I fully understood …

What I am hearing is…

It seems to me what we have agreed on is…

Am I the only one concerned about…

I need a little more clarification on…

Could you cover _____ one more time for me…

How would that be prioritized?

Who, specifically, will be responsible for that?

When, exactly, do you need that completed by?

Who else should I look to for support on this?

It feels to me like a few people might be upset about…

I get the sense that we are not in 100% agreement on…

Time for a bit more reading…

Time for a little more reading????

THANK YOU

If you have any questions at all please do not hesitate to send a note or call. My email address is: john@johnspence.com

My twitter address is: @awesomelysimple

Also, you might find value in the ideas I share in my blog. You can sign up for it at:www.blog.johnspence.com

Lastly, these slides have already been uploaded to:

•www.slideshare.net/johnspence