The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teams

The 7 habits of highly effective teams, and how you can achieve it too! by Vorkspace Team 1 TAKE THE INITIATIVE The key to being proactive, is realizing that you hold the responsibility for your own actions and decisions. Blaming others or leaving the work (and thus your fate) to others may make you feel better temporarily, but it is not effective at all. 2 FOCUS ON THE FINAL GOAL Effective teams have a very clear vision of what their future should be, and are focused on a final goal that they must work towards. Develop a team missions statement right at the start. Focus on that mission, and work towards that goal collectively as a team. 3 SET PRIORITIES Teams have limited time and resources. They cannot do everything and do them all great, within a limited timeframe. Thus, to be effective, they have to be extremely results oriented. As a team, decide on your priorities based on the missions statement, and focus only on the important tasks. 4 CREATE WIN-WINS A good and effective team works together Win - Win in a cooperative manner. Collaborative team members COMPLETE one another, and not COMPETE with one another. Make your team understand that "there is no such thing as a self-made man. You will reach your goals only with the help of others." 5 SEEK TO UNDERSTAND Many people listen with the intent to reply, not to understand. This habit is especially evident when there are disagreements within a team. Strive to understand first, before seeking to be understood. Everyone in the team must understand the other person's point before starting to defend their own perspective. Don't hear with your ears, but listen with your heart and mind. 6 SYNERGIZE One plus one equals 3, 4, 5, 6.... Two heads are better than one. When a team is truly synergizing, they can come up with solutions that are way better than the sum of all the single solutions each person could have come up with individually. To generate synergy within your team, stay open-minded, communicate well, and actively brainstorm new solutions to old problems together. 7 MAINTAIN WORK-LIFE BALANCE Great teams, no matter how amazing, are still made up of humans. They should thus have the time to rest and re-energize. As a team manager, ensure that you preserve and enhance this greatest asset you have – your team. WORK LIFE Go on a team outing; allow team members to work from home to take care of a child; have coffee breaks together; encourage them to work out at the gym; etc. Only when your greatest asset is well taken care of, can your team be effective when they work. http://www.vorkspace.com Vorkspace