06
Oct

What does it take to build a healthy team?

No matter the demographics or objective of a team, conflicts arise. Difficulties communicating, poor leadership, and an unhealthy team culture can all contribute to trouble in the workplace. In order to assess and improve the health of a team, there are 5 key components that must be met: leadership, communication, trust, culture, and performance.

1. Leadership – Although leadership is often identified as one of the most important aspects of a team, many leaders lack the ability to manage and foster a healthy environment. Grant Thompson cites in his new book, Diagnosing Your Team, “In more than 25 years of working with hundreds of teams, I am yet to find a truly exceptional team being managed by a poor leader.” Thompson’s remarks demonstrate the importance of leadership, because without it, a team is likely to fail.
2. Communication – In order to be effective, communication in teams must be proactive and assertive. Respectful debate, active listening, positive body language, and input from all members of the team play into maximizing the communication and health of a team.
3. Trust – Being able to take risks without fearing repercussions, reveal mistakes, and ask questions is all vital to the health of a team. As trust is established, the likelihood of team members taking initiative and doing these things increases. In return, the effectiveness of the team increases as well.
4. Culture – Healthy teams have a positive, high-energy culture. Traits of a team with a positive culture are low turnover, opportunities for development, and a common understanding of team goals. Often the quality of the culture increases with the quality of the team.
5. Performance – High functioning teams set high standards for performance that are clearly defined, measurable, and are consistently met by individual members and the team as a whole. By utilizing metrics to measure and help improve performance, the overall effectiveness of the team increases.

Want to learn more about how to improve the health of your team? The above article is summarized from Grant’s book, Diagnosing Your Team. To find out more, check out Grant’s book here.