One of the teams I facilitate is completing their six-months together and we were asked to name ten factors that contributed to our success. Here they are:
- Vision casting from the heart: In the beginning of our time together, we each asked
- What is my highest vision for our time together?
- What must we become to realize that?
- What must we release?
We then shared early in our time together in order to design from the vision. It was uncanny how alike our visions were in every case!
- Design how we want to be together: we let out logistics that worked for all. We considered this from multiple angles: energy, structure/space, consistency so we would know our schedule and commitment.
- Assume positive intent always. We knew we wanted to contribute our best, and to help each other do that as well, so we agreed that positive intent was at the base of all communications.
- Shared leadership. We gave people the opportunity to facilitate team meetings by rotating that each month. This was a growth opportunity for those who had not done it before, and we all learned from different styles. We acknowledged growth and contribution, using every opportunity to recognize each others’ strengths showing up: in a tool someone designed, or a workshop someone led. We learned a lot from each other.
- Communication as desired between meetings. We all had 1:1 conversations with our individual team members. Calls were made to team members who were going through things: a car accident, an illness, a work crisis—just to lend support and let them know we care about them.
- Spirit of generosity. There was a lot of sharing between us. I established a shared folder in Google drive and we all dropped resources there to share. Ideas, tools, articles, research, etc. We enjoyed frequent email questions/conversations but there was no pressure about that.
- Inclusivity. On just about any team, some will be more extroverted and the introverts may require a bit of encouragement to share more, doubting their experience or ideas are as “big”. We were careful to let everyone know they provided value in simply their being.
- Fun built in. We laughed a lot, were authentic, brought our quirks and embraced them fully. We used Improv games to deepen trust in bite-size pieces. This was a stretch for some and they surprised themselves with how much they enjoyed it.
- Use time well. We decided to check in via a private LinkedIn group on Sunday night (written) so that Monday meetings were productive (their idea!) and we hit the ground running in our Monday meetings. We ranked proposed agenda items and went with those that had the highest ranking overall to make sure we worked on meaningful, relevant things.
- High Trust. We were accepting of each other and gave permission to bring whatever was up for any of us, knowing we would be well received, safe from judgement, embraced. It was AWESOME to be on a team so intentional. They shared that they felt the same way.
One member of our team added two things:
- We wanted to accomplish something as a team vs. only supporting each other’s individual objectives. This was especially meaningful to all of us.
- We knew from the get-go that our strength profiles were quite diverse. Even with all of our training, one could have expected there to be some challenges or bumps in the road—especially with working together on some common goals. We truly embraced each others contributions, points of view and differences. It also created a whole new level of learning.
The bottom line in having a successful team experience, I believe, comes down to a single factor for each member of that team: intention. How do you intend to show up? How committed is your intention to enjoy , contribute, and do your best? When we come with positive intentions and we are all in, we can navigate anything together.
