If you could fix anything within your team, what would it be?
Results from over 40 Team Speed Checks in the last 12 months show tech organisations on average baseline ten points below best practice in terms of speed to market.
But what exactly does that mean?
To be able to execute at speed and stay competitive, you need to have a group of people that are all pulling in the same direction.
Teams that work well together are stronger and more successful, create loyal employees, help new team members onboard faster, and ultimately enable the business to execute faster.
Based on a simple formula of purpose, trust, clarity, and simplicity, the Team Speed Check identified the biggest inhibitors to speed to market are trust and clarity.
Why should we care?
The results show that we must not get complacent with building and maintaining our workplace culture. We are all custodians of culture and it requires constant attention.
If an organisation can get this right (down to every person in the organisation), speed to market is greatly improved and creates a competitive advantage.
Why is trust so important?
Trust is the foundation block of every team and requires greater focus. Google identifies psychological safety as the top dynamic of an effective team. It doesn’t matter so much who is on the team, but about how the team works together.
Without a foundation of trust to allow psychological safety, people are not able to say what they think, ask for help, or able to take risks.
Umm, I think I’m clear on what I need to do
Clarity is an interesting area to delve in to. Working with sales teams, it is apparent people are clear on what needs to be done but commitment is low.
This could be due to a ‘command and control’ approach verses ‘empower and enable.’
Team engagements have shown that very often an execution plan is missing. There is often complacency in planning with the revenue goal considered ‘The Plan’.
Managers need to ensure the team are clear on what is required, that everyone has a voice, and that there is commitment to decisions.
What’s the good news?
The good news is that each of the four elements can be addressed through a conscious effort on team dynamics.
We have fine tuned our Operating System for Teams over the last 5 years and we’re seeing some great results.
“With the Amplified Group framework, we are living and breathing it in what we do. What we learn is always top of mind. We conduct monthly surveys, undertake the DiSC assessment for every new starter, and we’re now working on ‘train the trainer’ so that this all becomes muscle memory. We will need the Amplified Group to help guide us as we continue to grow as it’s the external point of view that’s really valuable.”
– Andy Bryars – Director of EMEA Customer Success, Okta
We’re constantly learning to ensure what we do makes a real difference to individuals, teams, and organisations.
