1. Developing High-Functioning Leadership Teams
Presented by Tina Nazier, MBA
May 27, 2016

2. Agenda What does a high-functioning team look like?
How does our team rate?
What are our potential weaknesses?
What is our conflict profile?
Achieving commitment
How can we create an accountability culture?
What results should we focus on?
Next steps

4. Elements of High-Functioning Teams
Accountability
Commitment
Creative Conflict
Trust
Focus on Results
Source: Overcoming the Five Dysfunctions of a Team; Lencioni, 2005

5. Quick Team Assessment of Five Areas

6. Trust

7. Building Trust in a High-Functioning Team
Trust is the foundation of every relationship.
Trust is the MOST important element of high-functioning teams.
Trust is important at the:
Fundamental level
Emotional level
Willingness to be “vulnerable” in front of others
Complete openness and honesty, without filters, is necessary to build trust**
(**Caveat – Must be done in a respectful manner)
Trust takes time!!!

8. How do we build trust? So what is trust?
Trust is NOT the ability to predict behaviors of others.
Trust is about willingness to be comfortable exposing your personal failures, weaknesses, and even fears around others on the team.
Trust is believing in someone else.
This type of trust is hard to achieve – Why?

9. Trust Exercise
Let’s start with each person addressing the following three questions:
Where did you grow up?
How many siblings in your family?
What was your greatest challenge when you were a kid?

10. What do we each bring to the team?
Profiles of the Team
What do we each bring to the team?

11. How do we fit in the Project Continuum?

12. Motivating Needs

13. Our Sailboat Components

14. Trust – Closing Thoughts
None of us is successful if only one of us is successful.
Our collective success is predicated on building trust among our leadership team.
Trust needs to be developed and nurtured continually.
When relationships fail, lack of trust is usually one of the causes.
takes time.

16. Creative Conflict Trust is leveraged through conflict
Conflict is both necessary and healthy
Not everyone views conflict the same (fearful, avoidance, etc.)
Look at our PIs
Conflict is uncomfortable

17. To become a high-functioning team, we need to master passionate debate of differing views and opinions around our critical issues.

18. Conflict Continuum
Source: Overcoming the Five Dysfunctions of a Team; Lencioni, 2005

19. Conflict Resolution Conflict comes in layers: Informational – Content
Facts, Opinions, Perspectives
Environmental – Atmosphere in which discussion is taking place
Culture, Physical, Politics, Mood
Relationship – Problems/issues between people
Style, Reputation, Position, Organization
Individual – One person has deficiency that limits healthy dialogue
Self-Esteem, Knowledge, EQ, IQ, Experience, Skills, Values, Style

20. Mastering Conflict
Let’s complete the written exercise in the handout to determine our team’s conflict tendencies and areas we can improve . . .

21. Conflict Resolution Exercise
Small Group Activity
Where has my team had a conflict that hasn’t been resolved?
What prior discussions have we had?
What can we do differently next time?

22. Conflict Resolution – Closing Thoughts
Why is conflict so important for high-functioning teams?
Lack of conflict hinders getting all information in the pool of shared meaning.
Incomplete information in the pool leads to limited success in making the best decisions.
TENSION

23. We have an obligation to engage in healthy, creative conflict in order to get the best results for our patients!

25. Commitment
Two separate but related concepts:
Buy-in
Clarity

26. Buy-In Buy-In is necessary for commitment.
Commitment is not CONSENSUS!
Consensus leads to:
Mediocrity
Delay
Frustration

27. Defy Consensus
High-functioning leadership teams have the strength and character to buy-in to decisions when members don’t all agree.

28. Everyone Needs to be Heard
Everyone’s ideas will not be adopted But everyone’s ideas must be heard, appreciated, and understood.
Once this happens . . .
Mission accomplished!
Buy-in achieved!

29. Clarity Clarity allows for alignment around a decision
Clarity eliminates confusion and frustration
Commitment cannot be achieved unless everyone knows exactly what they are committing to. Ambiguity has no place in high-functioning teams!

30. Don’t Settle for Ambiguity
Commit to the key principles
Purpose
Values
Mission
Strategy
Goals
Commit to thematic goals
Rally around the common cause – single common unifying goal for the team
Cascade commitment to the entire team (within 24 hours)

31. What have we decided today?
To Achieve Clarity . . .
Ask everyone to articulate:
What have we decided today?

32. Clarity – Closing Thoughts
Clarity allows for alignment around a decision
Clarity eliminates confusion and frustration
Commitment cannot be achieved unless everyone knows exactly what they are committing to.

34. Accountability
The best form of accountability is that which does not require the participation of the leader.
Direct, peer-to-peer; concern for letting each other down
Must be accountable for results AND behaviors
Behavioral issues usually precede lack of results
Natural tendency is to “overlook” behaviors
Respect is lacking
We let the team down

35. Team Behavior Exercise
What is the single most important behavioral characteristic or quality that this individual contributes to the strength of our team? What is the single most important behavioral characteristic or quality that this individual demonstrates that derails our team?

36. Accountability – Closing Thoughts
Accountability at meetings:
Start with a “lightning round”
Everyone tells their top three priorities for the week/month.
Everyone, including the leader, must be willing to confront accountability issues.
No one is successful if only one of us is successful!

38. Focusing on Results
Even with our best intentions, we may lose focus on results. Why do we lose focus? How can we regain focus?

39. Keeping Track
Results-oriented teams establish their own measurements with little or no wiggle room! What’s on our scorecard?

40. Results - MUSTs
Must prioritize results of the team over results of the individual
Must maintain a simple, meaningful scorecard for everyone to see our progress
Must study results to ensure we are achieving our desired goals
Must make course corrections as necessary to stay on track

41. How can we use this information?
Two actions you will take on Monday

42. Leader Role

45. Tina Nazier, MBA, Director
Health Care Strategic Alignment