Team Pulse Check with Action Triggers

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We know that teams are always at various stages of performance, and are always changing - what author Heidi Helfand refers to as “Dynamic Reteaming.” When the group has a membership change, it needs special attention. Assuming that this recalibration is done well, how do we then keep track of a stable team’s effectiveness in a timely way (let’s say, weekly)?

A team is a construct that is usually an organic trifecta, made up of the individual, the members collectively, and the formal leader. Ideally, all are in sync and working optimally. However, team context requires continuous adaptation and real time pivots. How often have you ended a year with the same objectives outlined 12 months earlier?

How might we think about team performance with much more agility and real time data? Here’s what I’m thinking, and I’d really appreciate your thoughts or reaction.

Metaphorically envision your team as a bullet train, where you have a vital seat on board. You are much more than a passenger. What you do daily helps keep the train on track, with the right acceleration and efficiency. It can’t get to where it is going without your contribution, in sync with your teammates. And if you’re the formal leader, the overall conducting responsibility rests with you.

As the conductor, you need real time data on how your team is doing. Yes, you have one on ones with folks, but that is not sufficient. You need and want more insight on the well-being of the entire group. So every Friday, the following questions get sent out anonymously to each team member, with the results transparently fed back in aggregate to all participants, the leader, and the leader’s manager. Answering the survey is compulsory:

I feel like I made a real contribution this week 1-5. 1 = Very little. 5 = I hit it out of the park.
I feel that I was able to fully apply my unique skills and self this week 1-5. 1 = Not very much. 5 = Heck, ya.
I feel I was appreciated and recognized for contributions this week 1-5. 1 = Not at all. 5 = Very much so.
I feel that my leader created conditions for me to fully contribute this week 1-5. 1 = Not really. 5 = Definitely.
I feel like my leader helped me improve and develop this week 1-5. 1 = Nope. 5 = Helped me a lot.

If the team aggregate score is less than 4, the leader must call a meeting on the Monday of the following week, with all members to address the obstacles and find out what needs to be done. He/she must give a summary of the meeting to their boss by the end of the day. If a single area scores less than 4, the team leader must address the matter, and discuss proposed recommendations with their boss during the month.

What do you think? What recommendations do you have to improve this?

Think Big, Start Small, Act Now,

- Lorne

One Millennial View: What’s great: A transparent and honest commitment from leaders to design their operations so team members can fully contribute, apply their unique skills, receive recognition/appreciation, be assigned tasks that play to strengths, and obtain incremental improvement and development.

As employees, it’s then our onus to 1. TRUST this is true. 2. Recognize when we see each of these and communicate it back on a regular basis.

What’s not so great: Surveys. My first thought as a member of this hypothetical group was “how long does it take me to figure out that if I don’t just quickly rate 4-5 on every question on Friday, then our entire team has to have a sit down the following Monday? And at what point does that start to frustrate everyone, encourage dishonesty, and become a major distraction?”

Ultimately, we’re all just trying to get the bullet train to its destination without delays, and a “helicopter leader survey” might inadvertently keep landing on the track. Instead, let’s just have regular conversations during the ride, while the train is humming along.

- Garrett

Edited and published by Garrett Rubis

Team Pulse Check with Action Triggers

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