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More than half of your workday is likely spent communicating with colleagues and customers. With such a high percentage of time dedicated to collaborations, big and small, it’s imperative that you make sure each interaction is productive and, ideally, enjoyable. Further, it’s important to set the example you want your team to emulate.
A focus on collaborative teams or cross-functional success is essential for every leader, said Daniel Stewart, President of Stewart Leadership. The best-planned strategy can crumble in execution because people — with all of their strengths and flaws — carry out the work.
To support his perspective, Mr. Stewart quoted John Kotter, a Harvard Business School professor and highly regarded voice on leadership and change: “Because of the furious pace of change in business today, difficult-to-manage relationships sabotage more business than anything else — it is not a question of strategy that gets us into trouble; it’s a question of emotion.”
You’ve probably experienced high-performing and dysfunctional teams during your career in the orthopedic industry. Effective teamwork feels different. How do you hone best practices from those great teams and not repeat mistakes from those chaotic teams? Mr. Stewart said it starts with self-reflection.
The Four Relationships
Everyone has critical relationships with four types of people: their boss, direct reports, peers and customers. Each of these relationships brings a different dynamic, perspective and need.
For example, Stewart said that your boss will have expectations around business results, while your direct reports will have expectations around direction. Your peers may ask what they can count on you for, while your customers may ask what value you can bring to them.
“Here’s the trick,” Mr. Stewart said, “too often, we treat these four critical relationships the same.”
Mr. Stewart recommended writing down the names of the individuals who serve in these critical relationships and answer a series of questions for each type. What do you know about them? What do they value? How frequently do you interact with them? What is their perspective of you? How do you clarify their expectations and tailor your communication for each relationship?
“We want to reflect and think about who these wonderful people are, because they’re the ones who will help determine our success,” he said. “How do you treat them? How do you work with them? Who is the ideal team member? What does that look like? How can you be like that and inspire others to be like that?”
This exercise should happen routinely, Mr. Stewart said. The self-reflection can help you to identify what’s going right, what’s going wrong, and where you may need to adjust your own behavior in collaborative settings.
What to Do and What Not to Do
The strength of a team is often derived from its diverse perspectives and experiences. While your team is working toward a common goal, individual interests are at play. Mr. Stewart said there are five not-to-do and to-do actions that everyone who is part of a team should keep at the forefront of their minds.
Poor team players often compete against colleagues to see who is better; try to be in charge and tell everyone what to do; hoard resources and information; get frustrated and allow emotions to go unfiltered; and avoid team members to the detriment of the group.
In contrast, Mr. Stewart said, ideal team members follow through on actions, promises and assignments; accept responsibility for their actions and the activities of the team; communicate a compelling vision for partnering together; demonstrate high ethical standards; and openly share knowledge and insights.
These actions can be grouped into clear roles and communication. As a team leader, Mr. Stewart said, you should explicitly identify responsibilities and decision-making rights or risk a lack of direction and a power struggle. You must also promote courage and assertiveness regarding idea sharing and problem solving.
Expectations around vision and behavior must be clear, Mr. Stewart said. They help guide a team to success and can diffuse difficult situations.
A Model for Creating Teams
When Mr. Stewart works with a company on team development, he begins by asking staff members to rate on a 1 to 10 scale how much of a team they want to be and how much confidence they currently have in their team.
Companies in mature and low-growth industries often have a low teamness, which is neither bad nor good, Mr. Stewart said. However, every team wants to be at the top of the scale for confidence.
“As opposed to the first question, the second question has a right answer,” Mr. Stewart said. “Low team confidence means that leaders or staff members have their own vision and questionable skills and performance. Perhaps the team structure or authority shifts, or it’s unclear.
“In high-confidence [situations], teams are fully committed to a single vision. Skills and performance are clear. Structure and authority are clear. The right answer is higher levels of confidence.”
How do you set up a team for high levels of confidence and, ultimately, success? Mr. Stewart said every team has five phases: launching, aligning, trusting, achieving and renewing.
The launching phase focuses on why the team exists, what success looks like and identifying the team’s stakeholders. It’s all about defining purpose and context. Next, the aligning stage provides an understanding of the team’s structure, plans, people and resources. Are the roles and responsibilities clear? Does the team have clear goals and objectives? What skills and expertise does the team possess?
“We’re not talking about people yet,” Mr. Stewart said. “We’re talking about the nature of the work. We’ve consistently seen that when great teams answer these questions first, the next phase goes much smoother.”
Phase three, trust, should focus on morale, operations and communication. How committed is each team member to the team? What behaviors are expected from each person? How do you maintain high levels of performance? How is information shared? How do you communicate with respect?
Phase four, achieving, is all about results. How does the team strive for excellence? How do you track and measure results?
Building a team is not a linear process, Mr. Stewart said. The final phase is focused on renewal. “When you think you’ve set up a great team, you want to make sure you’re spending time renewing it, especially when somebody new comes on or somebody exits,” he added. “But even when that doesn’t happen, how do we think about renewal? How do we readjust in a new direction or set new expectations?
Mr. Stewart noted that building and leading strong teams requires significant forethought and constant consideration. Your answers to these questions do not have to be perfect, but they need to be good enough.
“The point is to assess where you’re at,” he said, “and understand what you want to act on.”
More than half of your workday is likely spent communicating with colleagues and customers. With such a high percentage of time dedicated to collaborations, big and small, it’s imperative that you make sure each interaction is productive and, ideally, enjoyable. Further, it’s important to set the example you want your team to emulate.
A focus...
More than half of your workday is likely spent communicating with colleagues and customers. With such a high percentage of time dedicated to collaborations, big and small, it’s imperative that you make sure each interaction is productive and, ideally, enjoyable. Further, it’s important to set the example you want your team to emulate.
A focus on collaborative teams or cross-functional success is essential for every leader, said Daniel Stewart, President of Stewart Leadership. The best-planned strategy can crumble in execution because people — with all of their strengths and flaws — carry out the work.
To support his perspective, Mr. Stewart quoted John Kotter, a Harvard Business School professor and highly regarded voice on leadership and change: “Because of the furious pace of change in business today, difficult-to-manage relationships sabotage more business than anything else — it is not a question of strategy that gets us into trouble; it’s a question of emotion.”
You’ve probably experienced high-performing and dysfunctional teams during your career in the orthopedic industry. Effective teamwork feels different. How do you hone best practices from those great teams and not repeat mistakes from those chaotic teams? Mr. Stewart said it starts with self-reflection.
The Four Relationships
Everyone has critical relationships with four types of people: their boss, direct reports, peers and customers. Each of these relationships brings a different dynamic, perspective and need.
For example, Stewart said that your boss will have expectations around business results, while your direct reports will have expectations around direction. Your peers may ask what they can count on you for, while your customers may ask what value you can bring to them.
“Here’s the trick,” Mr. Stewart said, “too often, we treat these four critical relationships the same.”
Mr. Stewart recommended writing down the names of the individuals who serve in these critical relationships and answer a series of questions for each type. What do you know about them? What do they value? How frequently do you interact with them? What is their perspective of you? How do you clarify their expectations and tailor your communication for each relationship?
“We want to reflect and think about who these wonderful people are, because they’re the ones who will help determine our success,” he said. “How do you treat them? How do you work with them? Who is the ideal team member? What does that look like? How can you be like that and inspire others to be like that?”
This exercise should happen routinely, Mr. Stewart said. The self-reflection can help you to identify what’s going right, what’s going wrong, and where you may need to adjust your own behavior in collaborative settings.
What to Do and What Not to Do
The strength of a team is often derived from its diverse perspectives and experiences. While your team is working toward a common goal, individual interests are at play. Mr. Stewart said there are five not-to-do and to-do actions that everyone who is part of a team should keep at the forefront of their minds.
Poor team players often compete against colleagues to see who is better; try to be in charge and tell everyone what to do; hoard resources and information; get frustrated and allow emotions to go unfiltered; and avoid team members to the detriment of the group.
In contrast, Mr. Stewart said, ideal team members follow through on actions, promises and assignments; accept responsibility for their actions and the activities of the team; communicate a compelling vision for partnering together; demonstrate high ethical standards; and openly share knowledge and insights.
These actions can be grouped into clear roles and communication. As a team leader, Mr. Stewart said, you should explicitly identify responsibilities and decision-making rights or risk a lack of direction and a power struggle. You must also promote courage and assertiveness regarding idea sharing and problem solving.
Expectations around vision and behavior must be clear, Mr. Stewart said. They help guide a team to success and can diffuse difficult situations.
A Model for Creating Teams
When Mr. Stewart works with a company on team development, he begins by asking staff members to rate on a 1 to 10 scale how much of a team they want to be and how much confidence they currently have in their team.
Companies in mature and low-growth industries often have a low teamness, which is neither bad nor good, Mr. Stewart said. However, every team wants to be at the top of the scale for confidence.
“As opposed to the first question, the second question has a right answer,” Mr. Stewart said. “Low team confidence means that leaders or staff members have their own vision and questionable skills and performance. Perhaps the team structure or authority shifts, or it’s unclear.
“In high-confidence [situations], teams are fully committed to a single vision. Skills and performance are clear. Structure and authority are clear. The right answer is higher levels of confidence.”
How do you set up a team for high levels of confidence and, ultimately, success? Mr. Stewart said every team has five phases: launching, aligning, trusting, achieving and renewing.
The launching phase focuses on why the team exists, what success looks like and identifying the team’s stakeholders. It’s all about defining purpose and context. Next, the aligning stage provides an understanding of the team’s structure, plans, people and resources. Are the roles and responsibilities clear? Does the team have clear goals and objectives? What skills and expertise does the team possess?
“We’re not talking about people yet,” Mr. Stewart said. “We’re talking about the nature of the work. We’ve consistently seen that when great teams answer these questions first, the next phase goes much smoother.”
Phase three, trust, should focus on morale, operations and communication. How committed is each team member to the team? What behaviors are expected from each person? How do you maintain high levels of performance? How is information shared? How do you communicate with respect?
Phase four, achieving, is all about results. How does the team strive for excellence? How do you track and measure results?
Building a team is not a linear process, Mr. Stewart said. The final phase is focused on renewal. “When you think you’ve set up a great team, you want to make sure you’re spending time renewing it, especially when somebody new comes on or somebody exits,” he added. “But even when that doesn’t happen, how do we think about renewal? How do we readjust in a new direction or set new expectations?
Mr. Stewart noted that building and leading strong teams requires significant forethought and constant consideration. Your answers to these questions do not have to be perfect, but they need to be good enough.
“The point is to assess where you’re at,” he said, “and understand what you want to act on.”
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Carolyn LaWell is ORTHOWORLD's Chief Content Officer. She joined ORTHOWORLD in 2012 to oversee its editorial and industry education. She previously served in editor roles at B2B magazines and newspapers.
