Characteristics of a Well-Functioning Leadership Team
Here is a good point-form overview of the characteristics of a well-functioning team (taken from the National School Board website).
Characteristics of a Team
- There must be an awareness of unity on the part of all its members.
- There must be interpersonal relationship. Members must have a chance to contribute, learn from and work with others.
- The member must have the ability to act together toward a common goal.
Ten characteristics of well-functioning teams:
- Purpose: Members proudly share a sense of why the team exists and are invested in accomplishing its mission and goals.
- Priorities: Members know what needs to be done next, by whom, and by when to achieve team goals.
- Roles: Members know their roles in getting tasks done and when to allow a more skillful member to do a certain task.
- Decisions: Authority and decision-making lines are clearly understood.
- Conflict: Conflict is dealt with openly and is considered important to decision-making and personal growth.
- Personal traits: members feel their unique personalities are appreciated and well utilized.
- Norms: Group norms for working together are set and seen as standards for everyone in the groups.
- Effectiveness: Members find team meetings efficient and productive and look forward to this time together.
- Success: Members know clearly when the team has met with success and share in this equally and proudly.
- Training: Opportunities for feedback and updating skills are provided and taken advantage of by team members.
Guidelines for effective team membership:
- Contribute ideas and solutions
- Recognize and respect differences in others
- Value the ideas and contributions of others
- Listen and share information
- Ask questions and get clarification
- Participate fully and keep your commitments
- Be flexible and respect the partnership created by a team -- strive for the "win-win"
- Have fun and care about the team and the outcomes.
Characteristics of a high-performance team:
- Participative leadership - creating an interdependence by empowering, freeing up and serving others.
- Shared responsibility - establishing an environment in which all team members feel responsibility as the manager for the performance team.
- Aligned on purpose - having a sense of common purpose about why the team exists and the function it serves.
- High communication - creating a climate of trust and open, honest communication.
- Future focused - seeing change as an opportunity for growth.
- Focused on task - keeping meetings and interactions focused on results.
- Creative talents - applying individual talents and creativity.
- Rapid response - identifying and acting on opportunities.
Filed under:
leadership,
workplace,
teams
Claire Carver-Dias - January 16, 2009
