The capacity for your team to deliver on time, on budget, and without the requisite gnashing of teeth is one of the keys to next level performance in your organization. Unfortunately, this is a hard and often painful thing to accomplish; some might say it’s virtually impossible. You’re up against silos in communication and operations, inconsistent dependability, a “punch the clock mentality,” and a sporadic contribution of the energy, creativity and passion that’s required to deliver consistently with a sense of joy about the process. So why bother? Well, what’s on the other side is everything.
When your team is delivering on time, on budget and enjoying the process, here’s what it looks like:
Team members play full out
Every team member exhibits the type of spirit and attitude that would have them walk through a wall for their colleagues. They back one another up, support each other’s decisions and willingly say to one another things like, “I’m sorry,” “I messed up” or, “your idea is better than mine,” without any type of fear of it coming back to bite them. They also willingly bring all their gifts to their shared work, holding nothing in reserve.
Speedy execution
Speedy execution doesn’t mean being in an all out sprint to get things done. It means to deliver on a task, project and/or strategy in a rapid cadence with minimal friction. Leaders will be creating an inspiring and safe space for their teams to make decisions, take calculated risks and adjust quickly in the face of challenges. Employees will be responding by quickly and efficiently executing their work.
Commitments are kept
Integrity around commitments is the standard operating procedure. Commitments are clear, agreed upon and each team member takes seriously their personal accountability for fulfilling their commitments. When a commitment can’t be kept, integrity remains the SOP and team members reset the agreement around their commitments.
Here’s how to create this in your organization:
Move from Fear to Empowerment through by Psychological safety
One of the levers for the outcomes of speedy execution and team members playing full out is psychological safety.
Psychological safety is the belief that a person or team is safe for risk taking, decision making and disagreement in the face of being seen as wrong or inferior. They feel confident that no one on the team will embarrass or punish anyone else for admitting a mistake, asking a question, or offering a new idea. When this is in place, team members no longer operate from a place of fear, uncertainty or doubt but instead feel empowered and supported by their leaders and colleagues.
The accelerators for psychological safety are:
- Character-based leadership where the well-being and success of the person and then the business is prioritized.
- A willingness for the leadership team to model this type of safety among themselves before asking the rest of the team to feel safe.
- Intentional efforts to create trust among team members by allowing space for connection beyond the transactional elements of the work. This removes the attribution bias and creates a sense of positive intent between team members.
Move From Inconsistent to Reliable Performance by Creating Dependability
One of the levers for the outcomes of team members playing full out and keeping commitments is dependability. Dependability begins with the simple practice of being on time and moves from there, to doing what you say you’ll do, taking initiative and supporting peers. When dependability is created, performance goes from inconsistent to reliable.
The accelerators of dependability are:
- An emphasis on character hiring, training and performance feedback.
- Leaders articulate for their team, individual team members and to the wider organization the contribution they make to the mission and vision of the business.
- A leadership approach from the CEO to first level line managers that prioritizes serving the legitimate needs of the employee.
Move from Ambiguity to Certainty Through Creating Clarity
One of the levers for keeping commitments and speedy execution is clarity. As the saying goes, clarity is king! Create clarity on the standard for behavior, on who will do what, on what is most important, and agreement on those things rather than unclear or unspoken expectations around them. This clarity begins with the alignment at the highest levels of leadership to entry level team members. All this moves an organization from ambiguity to certainty and certainty is fuel for keeping commitments and speed.
If your intention is to operate and execute at a higher level, to meet and achieve significant goals, with all things being equal, your team’s ability to deliver is the most crucial. If you want help establishing any of these principles in your organization, get in touch with me here.