A scout leader was trying to lift a fallen tree from
a path. His pack gathered around to watch him struggle.
"Are you using all your strength?" one of the scouts
asked.
"Yes!" was the exhausted and exasperated response.
"No. You are not using all your strength," the scout
replied. "You haven't asked us to help you."
Where teams have been effectively organized and led,
team outcomes have led to dramatic improvements in
quality, cost, productivity, customer service, and
financial results. Two core types of teams are
production and improvement. Effective operational teams
are both: they produce, while at the same time seek new
ways to improve performance.
High performance teams, significantly outperform all
other like teams, and outperform all reasonable
expectations given its membership. Team performance
increases exponentially with the amount of power and
control that team members feel they have.
Building a high performance team takes special
skills: strong self-confidence, being able to share
power.
A few components of an extensive team checklist
include:
- A clear and compelling picture of the team's
preferred future.
- Solid agreement on whom the team is serving
within the customer-partner chain and organizational
processes.
- A concrete process and discipline for continuous
team improvement linked to the organization's
improvement effort.
- Process management skills, roles, and
responsibilities.
- Powerful feedback loops and measurements.
- A culture of thanks, recognition, and
celebration.