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Foundations of winning teams

4 minutes read · 12th January 2022

Author: Jenny Overton, Principal

Foundations of winning teams

Whatever your industry, people are at the heart of any business. Without people, assets don’t run, customer subtleties aren’t understood, and innovation can’t happen. And yet the time, focus and money of many an improvement project is centered on assets. Three powerful steps can develop your business leaders into a winning team.

“You can’t teach an old dog new tricks” is a phrase used far too often and has been proven wrong many times – just look at how many grandparents faced their fears of technology to video their loved ones during this pandemic! Bringing improvement to a team doesn’t necessarily mean organizational redesign but with the right leadership, a powerful vision and team accountability, you can create alignment to empower your team to excel. Creating an environment which challenges and supports the leaders of your organization will encourage personal growth, increase job satisfaction and ultimately, improve business output.

So how do you get the most out of your management team? The key principles for driving performance in a company are the same fundamentals for leading the development of your team:

1. Vision

Core to any improvement is the vision. A business vision may be to deliver a 30% improvement in output or a customer delivery OTIF performance of 99%. Your leadership team also need to have a shared vision of their roles and responsibilities.

Team cohesion does not mean that everyone agrees all the time; a healthy team dynamic is one where people challenge each other  and speak openly to drive the group forward to meet shared goals.

2. Goals

An overall company vision then needs to be articulated into clear goals for each department. Similarly, each individual needs to understand and believe in their personal goals – change is accelerated when people can see what it directly means for them and believe in why it is required.

Openness to self-improvement, an acknowledgment of where their skillset could be improved, and a willingness to accept help from others is key for your business leaders to develop. Do they need to take more responsibility for the outcomes in their department? Do they need to face up to difficult conversations? Or do they need to have more foresight and resolution of potential issues?

3. Feedback

Finally, feedback and regular reviews are essential. In a production setting, this may be steering meetings and KPI reviews, but for personal goals this requires one-to-one meetings, direct feedback and coaching by showing exactly what is expected of them on a regular basis.

However good a one-day training course is for your leaders, it will not immediately revolutionize your business or enact fundamental change for an individual. Creating a culture of accountability where people take responsibility for their departments and their own improvement is key to success.

Business improvement/team imrpovement

 

A successful team will be working towards a shared vision, have tangible personal goals which they can link back to the vision, and be willing to give and receive feedback to continually drive to improve.

 

A core business step change goes hand in hand with personal development on all levels

At Chartwell, we not only help leaders of organizations to deliver step change within their core business, but also support them and their teams to develop on a personal level. We often see people who have been promoted into positions of leadership due to their technical skillset, but who have not been given the support, guidance or clarity of goals to develop themselves in that role. Not everyone will be suited to the job they are in, but with coaching, structure and the right mindset, we have helped many individuals unlock and expand their own capabilities and confidence. And of course, alongside this comes sustainable business improvements. Over the course of many 3-6 month projects, we have seen individuals grow into their leadership positions: driving improvement forward with their team and then continuing to apply their new methodology and confidence into their future careers.

If you can help your team feel like they are achieving their potential and are supported by their peers, you can create a culture where people are motivated, improvement thrives and business objectives are not only met, but exceeded.