I joined a webinar the other day about someone’s experiences building a high performing team. A 45-minute presentation plus 15 minutes for questions, so an hour.
I reflected on the ‘value’ of that hour spent and my immediate reaction was one of feeling, to put it kindly, a little ‘underwhelmed’.
The challenge the presenter had faced was a team with a lack of accountability, little governance, poor decision-making, low professional standards, inconsistency across similar roles and low commercial skills.
The plan to address those issues had been to reduce the number of direct reports, engender individual and joint responsibility across the team, encourage collaboration (as opposed to ‘not my problem’), and delegate.
The results were tangible and measurable. Behaviours and attitudes changed, team performance improved and budget savings were achieved (10% in the first year). There had been some key lessons learned. They included: learn from the mistakes, draw on your leadership skills, recruitment takes more time than you expect, and keep people engaged on the journey (which, again, takes more time than you expect).
So why had I felt ‘underwhelmed’? Why did I feel, frankly, cheated? The challenges were those seen in pretty much any poor performing team. The plan had addressed the challenges. The results had been positive and the lessons learned had been articulated. Somehow though it felt that there was something missing.
On reflection, I think it had fallen short in two important areas, and they were rooted not in the lessons but in the presenter:
The delivery of the message had been bland and did not engage me. There had been no enthusiasm. The delivery was in a monotone. That could have just been a lack of experience with webinars (not knowing how you come across) or, indeed, nerves. But, as the leader, you have to lead and, importantly, the team has to want to follow.
Check out Kenneth Branagh’s Henry V speech ‘Eve of Saint Crispin’s Day’ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-yZNMWFqvM)There had been no ‘how to’ examples, which meant that there had been nothing that a participant could take away and implement tomorrow. You can’t just tell people there is a path and expect them to find it. Show them.
I use Skype to increase team connectivity and cohesion. Recently I’ve worked with Zoom, which has emerged into the mainstream during the COVID - 19 pandemic. I also hold daily ’stand ups’ using a combination of ‘in person’ and Skype or Zoom on a 55”+ monitor. All reports attend to provide updates on their activities.
I’ll close with this. It’s borne out of my watching the webinar, and my reflecting on it.