“My model for business is The Beatles. They were four guys who kept each other’s kind of negative tendencies in check. They balanced each other and the total was greater than the sum of the parts. That’s how I see business: great things in business are never done by one person. They’re done by a team of people.” — Steve Jobs
Much has been written about the importance of teamwork and the potential benefits that are derived from creating a high performing team. Steve Jobs’ quote captures the essence of what all leaders want from their team members. Basically, we strive to create teams that have members who keep each other in line, hear each other out, and cheer each other on to collective greatness.
I have created a tool —The 2-Minute Teamwork Test — to demystify the complexities of teamwork and help clients who are challenged to accurately assess the needs of their team. The 2-Minute Teamwork Test works to identify what might be holding your team back and blocking its path to making better decisions, increasing productivity, and improving creativity and innovation.
The high performing team has members who understand themselves, appreciate each other, have faith in their leader, and fundamentally believe in what they do. Take this test yourself, or, better yet, give it to your team to take. Collect the answers anonymously by placing unsigned hard copies in a large envelope. Have a neutral third party summarize the results and dispose of the hard copies. Sure, this method seems a bit dated but it works!
Creating a collective score (by adding up all 10 test responses for each team member and dividing by the number of the team) and using the included assessment tool will help direct your team’s training and development focus for 2017.
Best of luck, and wishing you a terrific 2017.