{"id":316,"date":"2018-09-19T17:14:58","date_gmt":"2018-09-19T21:14:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pennpointconsultinggroup.com\/?p=316"},"modified":"2020-02-10T19:29:15","modified_gmt":"2020-02-11T00:29:15","slug":"intentionality-of-teams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pennpointconsultinggroup.com\/intentionality-of-teams\/","title":{"rendered":"Intentionality of Teams"},"content":{"rendered":"

Our business is in trouble. <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cAs we wrestle with how to respond to an increasingly competitive business climate, striving to apply a greater sense of urgency to achieve short term results and sustainable top-tier performance, and struggling to integrate new teams, leverage shifting business models and delivery streams, we are taking a pause to focus on how we as a senior leadership team can be more effective.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Whether in turbulent or relatively calm times, teams can accelerate and elevate their effectiveness by deliberately addressing these five questions:<\/p>\n

1.Who are we<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ideally team members have been on what they consider to be a high-performing team. Whether implicit or explicit each leader\u2019s expectation of a high-performing team is influenced by their experience on previous teams. The details of those experiences are a richer source of data than simply listing key attributes<\/p>\n

Think of a high-performing team you were on: What made it such a team for you? How much of that experience still represents the model of a high performing team for each team member? What themes connect the stories of the team members and influence their current expectations?<\/p>\n

2. What business are we in<\/strong><\/p>\n

Beyond what products and processes the business sells, what differentiates it from others? One senior team in a global manufacturing enterprise thought they were in obvious agreement about what business they were in. When asked to decide which of McKinsey\u2019s core business archetypes they were \u2013 knowledge, operations, leadership, technology \u2013 the answers were not so obvious. With regard to driving a team to sustainable top-tier performance, not all initiatives have the same impact on every type of organization.<\/p>\n

What is already in place to drive our performance? What difference does our particular type of business, current business climate, and culture make on which initiatives to launch or sustain? How do we measure the impact of those initiatives? Which ones will give us the greatest return on our investments?<\/p>\n

3.What makes us a team<\/strong><\/p>\n

The question of who represents the senior leadership team is not always accurately answered by the formal organizational chart. A striking theme from one senior leadership team session was the notion of \u201cClear mission. Common mission.\u201d \u00a0Time devoted to defining a clear and common mission was helpful in answering who should be considered a member of the senior team.<\/p>\n

How does a team get to a \u201cClear mission. Common mission\u201d?\u00a0 Wrestle to identify the following:<\/p>\n