Master Your Game
This Issue: High Performance Teams Self-Assessment
Dear Reader,
Summary
Last month, I talked about the difference between
groups and teams. (See September newsletter.)
I also discussed the many benefits of teams.
For another important reason for improving your
teams, look no further than the bottom line. When a
team does not perform its task, the opportunity
costs are great. Poor team results, missed deadlines,
members not committed to the outcome, stress and
frustration, unproductive hours - these are some
consequences of poor-performing teams. How much
are these worth to you?
The good news is, with professional coaching, it is
possible to convert your groups into teams.
Furthermore, you can boost your team's level of
performance from good to great. High performance
teams mean mutual commitment that leads to
innovative outcomes and measurable positive results.
Self-Assessment Tool
Leadership coaches and authors G. Gibson and C.
Smith have created a tool to help you determine your
team's level of performance. In Dynamic Coaching
to Build Dynamic Teams available from www.
bytesizelearning.biz, they identify seven areas
for assessing
your team's performance:
Team Charter: clarity about roles and
responsibilities, vision, mission, values and ground rules
Dialogue: listening and communication strengths
Working Procedures: organizational and process-
related skills
Creativity: ability to work together, adapt and
accept other ideas or solutions
Diversity: ability to optimize diverse styles, points of
view and ways of working
Continuous Learning: commitment to
development
Results: ability to get things done.
The Gibson and Smith self-assessment tool lists
several questions under each area, which you then
rate on a scale of one to six (with six being the
best). Does your team understand individual
roles and responsibilities? Does your team run effective
meetings - the kind you never want to miss? Does
your team seek out different points of views from
non-members? Does your team celebrate
successes?
Does it feel like your team gets things done?
These are sample questions from the self-
assessment. The full questionnaire is provided here
for you. This quick exercise should take you no more than
five minutes and the results will provide you with
baseline data for identifying areas of strengths and
weaknesses.
Some advice to make the most of this
self-assessment: As you go through each question, think
carefully about each item, perhaps think of actual
examples to substantiate your rating and be brutally
honest. You might also consider printing a copy for
each member of your team and having each one
submit a completed form.
Once you have conducted your team assessment,
view this document to
interpret the results.
Enjoy your self-assessment. In the next issue, I will
provide you with some ideas on enhancing the performance of your team.
Wishing you successful coaching,
Jacque Small
Transforming a group into a team requires a solid
foundation for communication. Uniting Your
TeamTM is a half-day high impact learning
experience providing key elements to establish the
foundation for your team. This seminar will provide
your team with
- Shared understanding, creating a strong sense of
community
- Collective energy that is harnessed resulting in
exceptional outcomes.
A complete outline of this seminar is available here.
Catalyst
Business Coaching is a corporate development organization. It
works with people who want to achieve a greater
sense of success for both themselves and others in
the organization. It supports people to develop
strong interpersonal communication skills and build
foundations to develop dynamic teams. Jacque
Small, principal and owner of Catalyst, founded the
company in 2000.
