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Preparing for THE LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE
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Team directed tasks for THE LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE
There are three tasks that you are asked to do before getting together for the first of our face-to-face sessions. These are the tasks that were discussed at the introductory webinar:
1. Introduce yourself to the other members of your team. You may be able to do this on a face-to-face basis, or you may have to do this virtually, eg: by phone, email or any other form of video conferencing (skype?) that you have access to. Please note that this will not be arranged for you - you will have to make this happen yourselves.
2. Share with your team members the main reason you have joined THE LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE. You have probably thought about this already when you nominated for the program. If not, then this is a good time to get clear why you have joined the program.
3. In your team, please develop a first-cut “team mantra”. This is a statement or slogan that tells others what your team is all about. So, the mantra might take one of several forms, including:
• what do we believe in or stand for, or
• what outcome we are seeking to deliver, or
• how we plan to work together, etc
We will review this at our first facilitated session (the date of this session will be communicated to you).
I look forward to meeting you all at the first session. Please email me if you need any additional information to complete these three tasks.
Kind regards
Terri HunterCentre for Strategy Development [email protected]
The Leadership ChallengeDR TERRI HUNTER
Centre for Strategy Development
PHONE
(02) 9959 1019
MOB
0414 482 290
WEB
www.centstrat.com
Don’t forget to
complete the TMP
questionnaire
when you receive
the email!
LEVEL 12, 1 PACIFIC HIGHWAY NORTH SYDNEY NSW 2060 AUSTRALIA T + 61 2 9959 1019 F + 61 2 9959 3003
EMAIL: [email protected] www.centstrat.com
HCP TRUST T/A CENTRE FOR STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT
ABN 24 300 307 837
STRATEGY. ORGANISATION. LEADERSHIP.
Good day LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE participants,
Soon you are participating in THE LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE PROGRAM and one of the important aspects of this is getting to know yourselves and each other a little better. To help with this we will be facilitating a session to debrief a team model called the Team Management Profile [TMP]
This letter is to guide you in the completion of your online TMP questionnaire. [see page 2] Before you complete the questionnaire there are some notes here about it and what you might get from it. The TMP index will assist you in identifying your personal work preferences - how they impact your decision making processes and interactions with team members and anyone you work with. I am confident you will find the TMP to be a most valuable tool in assisting you and other members of the team in understanding each other as well as improving decision making and communication skills.
Please bear the following in mind when completing your Team Management Profile…
• It is NOT a test, there are no right or wrong answers
• The results of the TMP belong to you and unless you choose to share them with others they will remain confidential.
• The online questionnaire will take approximately 20 minutes to complete.
• Make a bit of space to do this without interruption, relax and don’t get bogged down, go with your first clear response.
• The profile is designed to identify your WORK PREFERENCES. Therefore you should answer according to the way you prefer to work, irrespective of your present job, the way you think you ought to work, or the way you currently have to work to do your job.
• Remember a preference is something we’d like to do, and can do when we have choice – however we can’t always do it.
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We will set up an online profile for you to complete. Instructions on how to complete the profile follow below…
• You will receive an e-mail from TMS Profiles.com containing your username and password
• Log onto http://www.tmsprofiles.com/questionnaire/
• Enter your username and password in the fields provided
• Follow the prompts to arrive at the questionnaire
• Enter your personal details, click Next
• Please note the limited response options and choose the response most applicable to you for each question
• Answer all 60 questions
• Please wait for confirmation that the profile has been accepted before closing the window
• Please complete the online questionnaire by the date given to you on your introductory webinar.
If you have questions about the facilitation of the profiles please call Terri on 0414 482 290. Kind regards Dr Terri Hunter Organisational Psychologist Centre for Strategy Development 0414 482 290
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Leadership Insights April 2010
World Cup 2010
Will your team qualify?
By Peter Cullen
Dr Terri Hunter
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World Cup 2010 – will your team qualify?
What can we learn from kids’ soccer? As we watched our kids train recently for a soccer match, we closely observed how a team develops itself. We wondered, not for the first time, what is it we can learn from sports teams? Although not a “new” question, it did seem particularly pertinent given the World Cup is just around the corner. So, would our workplace teams qualify for the World Cup? Watching more intently than we probably did most weeks, we noticed how the training was divided into distinct stages, and how each stage had a different outcome. The kids warmed up and trained as individuals, working on specific skills. One boy concentrated on dribbling the ball between cones to improve his ball control and flexibility. Small groups were also formed, the aim being to tackle different components of game play, such as scoring goals and taking corners. Next, the team split into two groups, and played against each other, but without scoring goals. We noted quite quickly that during this mini game the individuals lacked focus and did not seem committed. All this was interesting and we could certainly see the relevance and transference to the workplace teams in terms of individual strengths, weaknesses and membership selection. However one event stood out. When the head coach saw this lacklustre performance, he split them into groups of four and gave them a new task which involved a relay race. The team that finished first was the winner with all the kudos that entailed. The difference in performance was quite astounding. The kids who had previously looked sluggish and disinterested during the mini game were now reenergised, highly competitive and completely focused on the task. We thought about what we had seen then started to discuss some premiership teams that we enjoy watching, greatly bemoaning the fact that even though these teams have great players, coaches and resources, they still manage to deliver a less than desirable performance. So we asked ourselves: what is actually going on within these teams, and how can a better understanding help us focus our teams, and team members in the workplace?
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To meet or not to meet? We really started to question the optimum face‐ to‐ face time teams are given. Organisations spend a lot of time putting teams together, having regular meetings, keeping each other updated etc. In fact a common lament from teams is that they never see each other. Contrary to this, we believe the pertinent question really is – when do we need to see each other? Drawing parallels from the kids’ soccer match, the answer is crystal clear; the only time they need to see each other is when a team has a specific goal or objective in mind. This objective can either be working on the task or working on the team. In the kids’ case the team was sluggish because it was disconnected from the overall objective during general training. In our superstar teams, the players really only come together as a true team in “match time”, where there should be only one goal – winning. Remember, in our kids’ training session, a lot of the time was spent as an individual, working on very specific aspects of the game. In professional soccer teams, our superstars work hard on their strengths and weaknesses, improving the former and negating the latter as much as possible. This allows the manager to see which player is best suited to which position. It would be poor judgement of the manager to deploy a Wayne Rooney in a defensive position, as opposed to letting him show off his true goal scoring ability.
How do we talk team? We wondered how this translated into the workplace. Our teams certainly want to be aware of individual strengths and weaknesses. This knowledge allows individuals to be utilised to maximum effect by placing them in the right position for the benefit of the team. In an organisation our team members must work on goals that deliver to the team outcomes. They should not be concerned by what everyone else is doing rather knowing that everyone is working to the fulfilment of team targets. Our team leaders’ role here is to manage and corral individuals’ efforts to ensure team goals are being delivered. In addition, our kid’s soccer team lacked focus and the individuals were not committed when playing a “pretend match” against themselves. However when the coach changed the desired objectives and outcomes the interdependent mini teams sprung into action in a highly focused and successful way. In the workplace arena this would suggest we need to be very specific about identifying team goals. It also highlighted how important it is to find the right time to bring the team together for joint work. Having regular meetings to update and inform team members would seem a little
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like our kids “pretend” match, leaving players uncommitted, as well as overloaded with information and lacking focus. The relay the kids participated in demonstrated clearly that we only need to come together on team tasks where there are clear and specific goals, and high levels of interdependence in achieving these goals. Considering we usually strive to bring teams together as often as possible, thinking the more face‐to‐face time they have the faster the goal will be achieved, it would seem we are way off base! Conversely, we should reinforce the idea that work teams need to cut down on the quantity of time spent together, and work on the quality of time spent as a team. The time spent together should be lean and uncomplicated, with the desire to produce a “winning” outcome whether that be task or team related.
What does this all mean for teams? Here’s what we learned about making teams more effective:
1. Carefully deploy your team members for optimum performance. An awareness and training for each individual’s strengths and weaknesses is critical. We need to gather the best members possible and then play to their areas of expertise. The bulk of their work will be to the benefit of the team, but carried out individually.
2. Team sessions must be short, sharp and focused. High levels of intensity and commitment
should be the intention of these sessions. Our teams must not be bloated by lots of team face‐ to‐ face time that has no real focus or outputs.
3. Team commitment will come from goal clarity. Our team leaders must work harder to
corral each individual’s efforts and keep these aligned with the overall team ambitions and targets.
4. Ensure that team goals rely on interdependence. Our team members have to be
dependent on each other to complete team tasks. Individuals must not be focused on outshining their colleagues to the detriment of the team’s goals. Equally, their rewards and pay offs can only be achieved through the team’s success, not as individuals.
If our workplace teams can learn from our kids and our superstars, then truly, we are well on our way to the finals in 2010! Peter Cullen [email protected] m: 0439 761 787
