This is From The Balance Beam
[TheBalanceBeam] - Preventive Maintenance for Your Team
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THE BALANCE BEAM
Ideas and Inspiration for Creating a Life that Works
Vol. 3 No. 2, January 24, 2001
Published by Success Builders, Inc.
http://www.SuccessBuildersInc.com
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"He who knows others is wise; he who knows himself is enlightened."
Lao-tzu
In this issue: PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE FOR YOUR TEAM
====================================================================== Dear Friends:
These days, most of us either manage a team, work on a team, or play on a team (or, in some cases, all of the above!) So when was the last time you gave your team a diagnostic check up? This issue of The Balance Beam focuses on ways of fine-tuning your team to keep it running in top form.If you want to check out earlier editions of The Balance Beam that you may have missed, you can easily retrieve them by clicking on http://www.successbuildersinc.com/newsletter.html and going to the Archives section. If you are not yet a regular subscriber to The Balance Beam, you can also enter your subscription information at this location.
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Today's Topic: PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE FOR YOUR TEAM
I had a conversation last week with a CEO who contacted me about doing a team-coaching program with his senior management group. While this was a fairly standard request, what made this discussion so interesting, and in fact, downright refreshing, was his description of how his team is currently functioning.Whenever I ask a prospective client to describe a team's current level of functioning, I'm always braced for tales of the good, the bad, and the ugly. Many teams live with an "If it ain't broke, don't fix it," mentality, and they often don't seek the assistance of a coach until they get to the point of resembling a dysfunctional family on a bad day.
But this conversation was entirely different. "They're amazing!" this fellow said, when I asked him to tell me about his direct report group. "They just came through a difficult year, but they pulled it off and they're excited about what's in store for us in 2001. We had some big challenges last year, between the volatility in the market and some new systems, but they put their heads together and rose to the occasion."
Huh? This is a guy who needs team building? As we continued our discussion, he told me that he's a firm believer in the power of fine tuning and preventive maintenance. One thing he's learned in his years of leading organizations is that teams don't stay strong without intentional effort, and in his experience, the payoff for periodically taking a break to focus squarely on the team and how it's doing is well worth the investment. For me, it goes without saying that this executive and his team will be an absolute pleasure to work with.
If you work in an environment that uses any kind of machinery (which is virtually all of us these days, if you count our computers), one thing you know is that it's critical to stick to a disciplined schedule of preventive maintenance. Forget to take your equipment down for diagnostics and routine upkeep procedures, and you can count on it breaking down. In our private lives, we do the same thing with our cars. Every 3,000 miles we go rolling in for an oil and filter change, all points inspection and a fluid level check. Just imagine the kind of sludge you'd be running on if you never got around to this.
We accept as a given that we have to spend the time, money and energy to step away from production and tend to the equipment that our businesses run on if we want them to stay in good shape. Why is it that we don't see how necessary that is for our teams?
Think about the traits that characterize a good team. First and foremost, they understand their mission. They know why they exist, what they are trying to create, and what they are accountable for to the rest of the organization. Strong teams know how to communicate. They understand their differences in personal and leadership style, and they use these differences to their advantage. When conflict arises (which it always does, in a dynamic group), they acknowledge it and deal with it honestly, directly and respectfully. They have norms for how they share information, solve problems, make decisions, and interact with other teams. They speak the truth, even when it's painful. They laugh, play, celebrate and support each other.
Now I ask you, do you suppose a team somehow magically figures out how to become masterful at all these things and then stays that way by accident? Of course not. A strong team periodically steps away from the business at hand to focus squarely on itself, its relationships, and its processes. It examines what's working, what's not working, what's missing and what needs to be changed.
This is the Quadrant II work that Stephen Covey advocates. It's not urgent, but it's critically important to sustaining leadership effectiveness, performance, and ultimately, the business results that so many people are afraid will suffer if they take the time to focus on themselves. Is this the proverbial soft stuff? Maybe. But I guarantee it will make or break your business.
Imagine what the payoff would be if you set your team up on a regular preventive maintenance schedule. You just might wind up with the kind of group that people would describe as a well-oiled machine. And just imagine what kind of results a team like that would produce. It's enough to make even the most bottom-line oriented leader proud.
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Words to live by:
"The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don't play together, the club won't be worth a dime."
- Babe Ruth"Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success."
- Henry Ford