Team Building with R.E.S.P.E.C.T

I have worked with hundreds of teams in various stages of development. Most of the time my phone rings when a team is in the storming phase, not making progress and constantly at odds with one another. It isn't much different than a Rugby scrum; lots of effort expended without any movement. To get teams moving forward, I have developed the model below:

RESPECT Model of Team Building

R Roles & Responsibilities

E Expectations

S Synergy

P Priorities

E Engagement

C Communication & Conflict Management

T Trust

Roles & Responsibilities

A common issue in teams stem from a lack of clarity with roles and responsibilities. This lack of clarity results in jockeying for position, duplication of work, misunderstandings and in many cases, someone ends up dropping the ball. Make sure each team member understands their roles and responsibilities and those of their team members. A RACI chart can help: http://racichart.org/

Expectations

Many times, teams jump right into the work without discussing the rules of engagement. What are our roles and responsibilities? How should we handle disagreements? What is the environment in which we all work our best and what behaviors support that environment? If you have these discussions in the beginning and come to an agreement about how the team will operate, you are more apt to move through the stages of team development in a healthy and productive manner.

Synergy

Merriam Webster defines synergy as “the increased effectiveness that results when two or more people or businesses work together” (2017). To get to a state of effectiveness, however, an environment of trust and respect is necessary. This includes knowing the strengths of your team members, demonstrating appreciation for one another and developing a partnership on projects rather than seeking individual attention.

Priorities

Priorities constantly shift in organizations. A common mistake for team members is to give each task or project the same priority level. Instead, get your team members to think in terms of high/medium/low priorities. Team members should also know who is the ultimate decision maker when it comes to shifting priorities; essentially an escalation point.

Engagement

Whenever possible, focus each individual team member on assignments they are most passionate about. Just because you are good at something does not mean you are passionate about it, so do some soul searching as a team to identify specific tasks that energize each team member and do your best as a leader to funnel work accordingly.

Communication & Conflict Management

Many teams struggle with how to communicate appropriately and effectively. If it were easy, everyone would do it perfectly. Yet, how much education do most people receive about communication? Learning how to manage conflict is a necessary step for any high-performance team. Investing in a training program which teaches your team to communicate respectfully and with courage is a great way to build a solid foundation.

Trust

Trust is the foundation to any relationship and it is no different with a team. Effective teams learn how to trust one another when they communicate their expectations of one another, gain agreement on how to operate as a team, and follow through on commitments.

If you would like guidance in helping your team reach it's potential, contact Dolce Consulting!

References

RACI Chart. (n.d.). Retrieved March 8, 2017, from http://racichart.org/

Synergy. (n.d.). Retrieved March 8, 2017, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/synergy