Team Profiles and maps 

‘Team Maps’ are a game changer.
I’ve never seen anything as powerful as this before.
John Gellett – Vistage Chair

But what makes the perfect team?

For many organizations this is the million- dollar question.
When you do the research it’s like opening this massive tome on ‘Management Theory’. You need a balance of skills, diversity, and social sensitivity; Appreciation, support, trust, and inclusivity; Openness, cooperation, and sound relationships; Clear understanding of roles, objectives and each other; Good processes, commitment and communication; Hire the right people – an MBA, a PhD, a great Engineer; Humour, emotional intelligence, and hard work; A mixture of introverts & extroverts, regular reviews, proactivity; And last but not least – strong leadership. And this is only one tenth of the attributes traditionally regarded as necessary for building a great team…

It’s a puzzle of many pieces and one, which, you as the leader must solve all on your own. Wouldn’t it be marvellous to have a simple framework and some quick tools to help you pull it all together?

In 2012 Google were pondering this very problem. Now Google are massive data masters. They have dug, mined, gleaned, and collected data on every aspect of their existence and then they decided to identify what makes a team great. They spent two years studying, dissecting, and interviewing over 180 of their best teams. From 200 interviews and the analysis of 250 team attributes, they were able to identify five key traits, which allowed their top team to excel over all others.

1. Dependability- Ability to be able to depend on each other.
2. Structure & Clarity- A clear vision and goals. Ability to visualize the tasks necessary.
3. Meaning- A shared purpose and motivation. Everyone in it together.
4. Impact- Working for the greater good. To make the world a better place.
5. Psychological Safety- This was the surprise ingredient. It meant that everyone was able to say, exactly, what they wanted without fear of ridicule or rejection. There was no pressure to say the right thing.

Project Aristotle’s legacy (for that’s what it was called) was to tear down what was perceived to be a cruel structure and actively encourage people to speak their minds. The resulting atmosphere was invigorating and a place where attrition and desertion became a thing of the past. People were able to have the hard conversations with the people that drove them crazy. It was no longer about having a work face. It’s about the full expression of one’s natural personality and inner life: even when it’s messy and sad.

SO WHAT TOOLS ARE AVAILABLE TO HELP THE LEADER WITH SOLVING THIS PUZZLE?

‘Perfect-Teams’ is designed to help you discover the many characters that you have in your current team and the talent pool that you can draw from. Our driving purpose is: “To Create Unity”. By profiling everyone and seeing where they each sit you can open the conversation around the framework given above.

Once you are aware of all the characters you’ll quickly see where each character fits in. You’ll see that they naturally have different perspectives, strengths, gifts, and idiosyncrasies; you’ll learn to respect the diversity and that respect will spread to all the team. Being totally open you, as the leader, can create the best team with the people you have and recruit or draft in the missing pieces of the puzzle.
The formula then is discovery, create the open conversation around the framework, choose your team then craft the team’s on-going culture, which will be one of inclusivity, and full team-engagement.

The first step is to simply create your very own ‘Team-Map’: which as you will see, from the following examples, takes different guises.

Look at the two teams below …

You can immediately see that these two teams have major differences.

These differences will show up in:

• Their Culture
• Their Mindset
• Their Energy

The propensity for risk in the team on the right vs. The need for regulation and policy on the left. This stark dynamic is one that continually plays out in the perennial clash between sales and process, between the front office and back office, between HQ and the front line …

• The strength of process and the importance of detail to the left will be hindered by a lack of urgency and imagination.
• The strength of impetus and the outward focus to the right will be brought down by the lack of process and attention to detail.

But what a perfect team you would have if you could successfully integrate the two?

The two maps above could be indicative of divisions within your own organisation.

What are the costs of that?

The best managed companies pride themselves on their leadership, commitment to people and culture. A lack of trust in leadership during a time of uncertainty can undermine everything. Consider how employees may behave if the leadership is not actively engaged:

• The court intrigues
• The whiff of fear
• The politics
• The hidden agendas
• The backstabbing
• The protectionism
• The us vs them scenario
• The hoarding of information
• Job insecurity
• The passive aggression
• Zero employee engagement

When there’s a lack of effective communication and a vacuum of leadership the rumour-mill runs rife. Nature abhors a vacuum and so discontent rushes in leading to decreased productivity, increased staff turnover, and a collective loss of morale and motivation.

Solution:

Trust increases when the leadership starts to focus on culture, job security, integration, morale, and honest communication. This needs an openness to change and a willingness to do something different. We always say that “If you always think the way you have always thought, you will always be what you have always been”.
Perfect Teams profiles and workshops enable you as the leader to create an environment that starts the bigger conversation. It creates a focal point that opens a wider conversation between management and staff. It begins the process of creating full team engagement.

Advice:

This requires effective facilitation to make everything visible, transparent, and tangible. So, put all the cards on the table. It allows you to find a genuine way to have a rational, constructive, cool, calm, collected, and civilized conversation.
Your facilitator will be your lightening rod. All the angst, anger, and frustration will simply pass through them. They are there to help not hinder.

Conclusion:

With all your team’s results we will create, for you, your own ‘Team Map’.

• This will give you an instant picture of the unique nature of your team
• You will immediately see where the team’s focal point is
• You will also see what the team is unconsciously avoiding
• You will instantly see the gaps that need to be plugged
• You will be able to begin the conversation about full team engagement