Have we got a winning team

With the Euros in full flow, the national discussion turns to what businesses struggle with every single day.

How do we create a winning team?

Involvement’s goal to be the best team-led business was recognised when we were named the country’s Employer of the Year in the Lloyds Bank Business Awards. That took a few years of hurt, I can tell you!

It was a truly massive win for us because it was a defining moment in our transformation from a modest family business no-one had heard of outside our industry, to becoming altogether more ambitious, confident and successful.

The thing is though, it also set a standard we now feel compelled to live up to. Having won something big, how can we retain the title?

Our answer: Go with what you know.

This summer we are going right back to the core elements of high performance with the whole company coming together to thrash out how we can work better individually and together to scale the next peak of success we want to reach in three years.

To anyone who wants to turn a group of individuals working in the same organisation into a genuine team, I always point them in the direction of what helped us so much over the years. Take a look at an idea we adapted from Dr Peter Hawkins, which we called the 5 Disciplines of High Performing Teams.

1. Agree on why the Team has been formed – “What have we been brought together to do?” is a good question to answer.
2. Always relate what you’re doing to your short and long-term goals – clarify, clarify, clarify.
3. Agree behaviours that are non-negotiable – the Team’s Working Agreement.
4. Synchronise effectively with other teams in the organisation – the strength of connections with other Teams have a huge impact on performance.
5. Regularly reflect and learn from the Team’s performance.

Let’s be honest – most of the stuff written about High Performing Teams is pretty average. For example, ‘Trust’ is often highlighted as a fundamental of a high performing team. Of course! What else? We’ve found following these 5 Disciplines to be by far the most effective. Things don’t always go to plan either. Our experience is that when they don’t, you can normally trace it back to one or more of these 5 Disciplines.

You can read loads more about our views on high performance and team working in the Book of Involvement, the inside story of our business transformation, which you can order for free here.