Or in other words, I have faithfully and passionately followed the Carlton Football Club (AFL) for over four decades of my life.
In recent years I have blogged or posted (aka ranted) a time or two about the club and its on field performance, particularly as it relates to things I am always banging on about when it comes to workplace culture. Sport can be a great way to illustrate the difference that having the right culture can make, leading to high performance (and successful) outcomes.
For example, as I have previously blogged about here, the Richmond footy club went from perennial ninth place (just missing out on finals action) to winning flags after it made some fundamental cultural changes.
Why it’s all about the team, the team.
You’ve heard the saying, there’s no I in team.
Even being the champion player that Michael Jordan undoubtedly was, in saying this, it seems he was pretty clear on the fact that his team the Chicago Bulls could not have won 6 championships solely on his efforts alone.
At Carlton, ‘we’ are blessed to be the home of the current reigning Brownlow Medalist*, Patrick Cripps.
Paddy (our Captain) was recruited to the club as the number #1 draft pick. Which basically means he was identified as being the best junior player in the country.
His performances since he came to the club 10 years ago have always been incredible, and for several years, he was 2nd or 3rd in the Brownlow medal count and often won other awards such as the AFL players association trophy.
Image courtesy of ABC
In other words, Paddy is undisputedly a star.
But despite Carlton counting one of the undisputed champions of the league in its ranks, (as well as the fourth best player in the league in 2021, Sam Walsh) the team languished at the bottom end of the ladder for many, many years. #darkdays
Why?
Well.
There are lots of reasons for that – best not to get me started. (Or to mention a coach’s name that rhymes with Halthouse).
But one of the main reasons has to be the absence of a true ‘team’. Even though ostensibly it was a ‘team’ of players who took to the field each week.
What does a successful team look like?
One of my favourite activities when I am facilitating team workshops, is to ask participants to break into small groups, and then in those groups, identify what they believe were the essential elements of the most successful team they have ever been a part of (personally or professionally).
Examples from a recent workshop include:
Best team
DiversityFlexibility – helping each other out Open to possibilities Willingness to share Clarity – clear expectationsBoundaries – know our role but being able to say, “that’s not my role” Open communicationUnderstanding capabilities & strength of the teamRespectCooperation
I also ask participants to identify the elements of the worst team they have ever been a member of (and silently pray it isn’t the current team I am facilitating the workshop with. Awkward).
An example from another recent workshop looked like this:
Worst team
HierarchicalLack of communication Distinct division Lack of support Not getting alongBlameLack of trustFearDirectionlessDemotivated by uninspiring leader
Organisational behaviour guru Patrick Leconic’s most famous book, The Five Dysfunctions of a team outlines what are the five necessary ingredients of a successful team.
They are:
Image courtesy of Richard Whitmarsh, Linkedin
Noting that as with all pyramids, it is built from the bottom level up. IE Trust comes first and without it, the rest won’t happen.
Tips for building a successful team.
So, we’ve looked at what a former colleague of mine used to call the ‘secret sauce for successful teams’. (Shout out to you, Leigh Cameron).
And whilst it’s all well and good to know what the ingredients are for a successful team sauce, I’m guessing you feel like you could do with some tips as to how you actually make the sauce.
Well call me Nigella, because here are the steps for making said sauce.
1. Choose the right leader for the team
We all know the saying ‘people leave their manager, not the organisation’.
In an earlier blog in the A – Z series, ‘M is for Manager’, we noted:
“Managers have a disproportionate impact on organisational outcomes — they influence at least 70% of your employees’ engagement. And teams that have talented managers realise a 48% increase in profitability, a 22% increase in productivity and a 30% increase in employee engagement scores”.
In summary, without a great team leader, the team will never be great / successful / high performing.
Want to know how to help team leaders become great? Your wish is my command: Click here.
2. Spend time together
The numero uno ingredient in Leconic’s model is trust.
How do you build trust? Well, you certainly can’t build it if you don’t spend time together.
This includes team members having time and space to get to know each other, not just as their work persona, and should also include time spent having fun together.
An easy way to do all this is to set aside 15 minutes at the start of your regular team meeting to facilitate an icebreaker activity.
Team members can take turns facilitating the activity – the goal is to have fun and learn more about each other.
Here from the good people of Asana is a list of 110 different team icebreakers, broken down into categories, to help you get started.
Oh and fun fact: In September 2021, newly appointed Carlton Senior Coach, Michael Voss, listed ‘Connection and Care’ as the #1 of his six fundamental football philosophies and went on to say…
“When we talk about connection and care, it’s about being able to take a deeper dive and get to know people — what makes them tick, how it motivates them, the things that are holding them back.
3. Build psychological safety
Trust and psychological safety go hand in hand. Think of them as the salt and pepper of your successful team sauce.
What is psychological safety? In a previous blog, P is for Psychological Safety, we share that is is:
“A shared belief held by members of a team that the team is safe for interpersonal risk taking.
And includes:
- Feeling safe enough to speak up
- Ask ‘dumb’ questions
- Generally being prepared to make mistakes
- Give candid feedback
- Bring up tough issues
- Ask others for help
- Learn from other team members
- Take risks
Read more here to learn how to build it in your team, including being prepared to focus on solutions rather than blame.
4. Develop a team charter
Having a team charter is both aspirational and directional. The charter should define (or redefine) what the team purpose is, as well as setting out the expectations of the team, both in terms of team goals, and also acceptable team behaviours.
To guarantee buy-in to the charter, ask the whole team for their input defining the team purpose; and don’t forget to ensure the team purpose is aligned to the overall strategic goals of the business.
For bonus points, include in the charter details such as agreed core hours (especially helpful for remote teams), scheduled focus times where team members can only interrupt each other for absolute emergencies, preferred methods of communication (ie text / phone call / slack etc), and information about what every team member needs from others in order to do and be their best.
5. Learn how to have those necessary, but often difficult, conversations.
Difficult conversations are a necessary part of life (both personally and professionally), but 9 times out of 10, when we are faced with a situation where we need to have one, most of us feel a churning in our gut.
Why?
Partly because these conversations tend to be uncomfortable, difficult and when it is team leaders having to have those conversations, they often (justifiably) fear the possibility of conflict arising; or in a worst case scenario, having to deal with some form of litigation when / if the conversation goes pear-shaped.
Learning how to have those conversations is an important step in ensuring they actually happen.
Read ‘D is for Difficult Conversations’ to learn more about the how.
In 2022, whilst my beloved Blues did not ultimately make the final 8 (yes, I’m still traumatised by round 23, thanks for asking), they did however finish the highest on the ladder they had been for more than a decade.
Why?
Again, there are many reasons for their improvement and success.
But ultimately, it boils down to our theme of the week- TEAM.
Another of Michael Voss’ six fundamental footy philosophies is ‘the collective over the individual’ because…
“Individual brilliance will help win us games, but it’s going to be the collective that gets us over the line more consistently. The way forward has to be a collective movement…being able to go out there and play as a united team is absolutely paramount.”
And that, my friends, is something we can all cheer about.
*Brownlow Medalist refers to the annual award given to the player ranked the Best and Fairest in the league. Umpires nominate players for ‘best on ground’ votes worth 3, 2 or 1 point(s) after each game and at the end of the season, the player with the most votes wins the trophy.