A powerful shared vision is essential for effective
teamwork. It's critically important to recognize that your
teams do not hit the starting line being of one mind or
sharing a common sense of purpose. Anything you try to do
in business (or in life) that involves working together
with others will sooner or later require you to deal with
five issues. Start your team off right by working them out
up front before tackling anything else.
1. DESIRED RESULTS—What is it we're trying to do? What
outcomes do we want—both quantitative and qualitative—and
by when?
2. GUIDELINES—What are the parameters within which we're
trying to do it? What are the essential values, policies,
legalities, ethics, limits, and levels of initiative to be
aware of in going after the desired results?
3. RESOURCES—What do we have to work with? What budgetary,
system and human help is available and how do we get access
to it? What constraints are we facing and what obstacles
will we need to overcome?
4. ACCOUNTABILITY—What does success look like? How do we
measure what we're doing so we'll know when we've achieved
it? What standard criteria will we use to show progress in
obtaining the desired results? Will they be measurable,
observable, or discernible, or some combination of the
three? To whom are we accountable? When will the
accountability process take place?
5. CONSEQUENCES—Why are we trying to do it? What are the
natural and logical consequences of accomplishing or not
accomplishing the desired results?
The two most important reasons for addressing these five
issues from the start are:
1. Team members cannot interact efficiently with one
another if they are not clear about where each person
stands on these issues.
2. Team effectiveness is severely limited when you have to
spend most of your time trying to repair, redefine, or
resolve problems related to expectations and support of one
another (a typical result of not dealing openly with the
point mentioned above).
Achievement is measured only in terms of what we actually
do; not what we talk about doing. At the start of the day
it's about possibilities, but at the end of the day it's
only about results! Most people spend more time talking
than doing; successful people "talk" less, and "do" more.
Whether you're working solo or as part of a team, a
lifetime of personal and professional success can be had
using this simple approach:
THINK. LEARN. DO. EVALUATE. SHARE.
We all want things from our lives and work. To be
successful in achieving them, it isn't necessary that we
want the same things. It is only necessary that we:
1. know what we each need,
2. share that information freely and honestly,
3. habitually discipline ourselves toward accomplishment,
and
4. commit to helping one another learn, accept, and achieve
whatever each person needs to take away from the experience
in exchange for the effort contributed.
"Shared vision" is your master key to team success. You'll
often see management attempt to implement this within the
organization by developing a vision statement, publishing
and communicating it to employees, then seeking to help
employees collectively "see" the path to be followed.
Eventually, they will start to wonder why nothing has
changed. And, they will have completely missed the point
about what it means to "share" a vision. Don't let that
happen to you.
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Download more free career tips and advice at
http://www.smartstartcoach.com
Career advancement expert and mentor Linda M. Lopeke is a
leading authority on how to succeed in the 21st century
workplace and the creator of SMARTSTART Mentoring Programs:
Success-to-go for people working @ the speed of life!
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