How to Build an Effective Leadership Team
Most teams underperform. According to a study of management teams, only 22% perform really well. Given how often we work in groups at our jobs, it’s worth asking: How effective is my team?
Use these three factors to assess your team’s effectiveness:
1. How are your deliveries perceived?
Identify the group’s stakeholders and determine how well their needs are being met. Is the team meeting expectations regarding, for example, quality, quantity, or speed? Here are some questions to ask:
- Who are our key stakeholders (customers, managers, colleagues)?
- How do these stakeholders measure our performance (e.g., through feedback, KPIs)?
- Are we meeting their expectations in terms of quality, quantity, and speed?
- How often and in what ways do we collect feedback from our stakeholders?
2. How has the team evolved over time?
Does the workgroup improve over time, working smarter, faster, and more innovatively? High-performing teams tend to become increasingly self-directed and adopt a way of working that creates positive feedback loops. Use the following questions to assess this progress:
- Has our team become more efficient and productive over time?
- Have we seen an increase in innovation and creativity within the team?
- Is the team working more independently and with fewer obstacles?
- Are there clear signs that our work methods have improved?
3. How does the team affect its members?
Do individuals develop, grow, and learn in ways that make them more competent over time? ROL (Return on Learning) describes the importance of an individual’s learning needs and how well those needs are met. Assess this by asking the following questions:
- Are members offered regular opportunities for learning and development?
- Have the members acquired new skills or competencies since joining the team?
- Do members feel more confident and competent in their roles?
- How do we measure and track our employees' development and learning?
Summary
A team can only be considered effective if it performs well over time in all three of these areas. For example, development may take a back seat temporarily, but this is not sustainable in the long run. In Organizational Behavior Management (OBM), the phrase “behavior is costly” is used. This means that the organization should focus on behaviors that create value, since the wrong behaviors often entail a significant—and often hidden—cost.
Research Funding
The research is based on the published works of Dr. Richard Hackman (1940–2013) and Dr. Ruth Wageman. Over the course of decades, they have compiled findings from their research, combined with more than 20 years of practical application in organizations operating internationally. A selection of articles and books:
- Wageman, R.*Senior Leadership Teams: What It Takes to Make Them Great*(Leadership for the Common Good), 2008.
- Hackman, J. R., & Wageman, R. (2005).A theory of team coaching. Academy of Management Review, 30(2), 269–287.
- Hackman, J. R. (1998).Why teams don’t work.In Theory and research on small groups(pp. 245–267). Boston, MA: Springer US.
- Hackman, J. R. (1983).A normative model of work team effectiveness.