Maximizing Team Potential

1. Maximizing Team Potential When done correctly, corporate team building can boost productivity. Understanding how our personality affects our work behavior is the first step to maximizing team potential. Recent on The Science of Personality cohosts Ryne S. Sherman, PhD, Chief Science Officer, and Blake Loepp PR Manager spoke with Jennifer Lowe MA, Director of Professional Services at The Human Element about building a successful team. Teams that perform well are critical to the overall performance of an organization. Team success is based on personality. We'll explore what makes corporate teams effective, how to create trust within a team, the influence of personality on teams, and much more. Successful Teams have certain characteristics These qualities are common to all successful teams, including those that perform well and have a great sense of camaraderie: A high level of confidence Transparent communication Clear goals Focus on psychological safety Effective teams are characterized by members who trust one another and have good communication. Jennifer stated, "When I walk into a room with a lot of leadership teams, I can pretty much predict the outcome." Interactions between team members reveal the level of trust within a team. Team members must be aligned on the issues that matter and have clarity regarding their objectives to achieve team potential. Successful teams allow team members to offer constructive criticism without fear of putting their career at risk. Successful teams have a combination of open communication and psychological safety.

2. All comes back to trust. Jennifer stated, "We are a group together as well as a group apart." "We can support both the vision and the mission of the team as well as the larger organization." The Challenges of Fulfilling Team Potential Understanding the challenges of a team is essential to maximizing its potential. Jennifer says that teams who struggle are often lacking in clarity regarding their mission. Mismatched objectives are the fastest way to derail a team. It could be due to individuals with different goals or team objectives which have changed or increased. A common team problem is when the group sets unrealistic goals. The team may be so ambitious or innovative that they overlook the details of their ideas and fail to communicate the vision. Teams that are overly ambitious benefit from having pragmatic members to ensure their ideas can be implemented. When teams fail to recognize the natural evolution of a group or its dissolution, they can get into trouble. A team may meet every Tuesday at 3:00 pm because that's what they do. They may not be the best task force for achieving a new goal, and nobody wants to tell them that. Jennifer continued, "It is amazing how powerful auditing communications and planning action can be." How team performance is affected by the personality of the team members The Human Element personality test measures reputation, including how we communicate, make decisions, and our sense of urgency. Jennifer explained that when we use personality assessments within teams, they tell us how the team communicates, what they are known for in their organization, and the way they show up. An exercise to improve team members' perceptions of themselves can be a useful way to help them understand their reputation. The team can also build trust, define operating norms and overall trends and themes. Team development helps identify individual strengths, potential performance challenges and how they impact team performance. The personality of a person can influence the division of work within a group. Team performance is maximized when each member uses their strengths in support of the team. Team members can use personality data to understand how others operate and engage in their daily activities. Jennifer stated that "understanding the impact of personality on team performance can help people better understand each other." Best Practices in Team Development

3. Each team development program requires a tailored approach based upon team dynamics. The Human Element's team starts with discovery when an organization requests help from The Human Element to maximize team potential. What are the team members' goals and who is on the team? Is there a team leader or new members? Does the goal of this project involve a refinement of team strategy or a desire to strengthen team connections? Individual team members must be aware of their own personal challenges, strengths and values before the team meeting. To communicate this information in an objective way, it is useful to use well-validated personality assessments. It can be a great way to set the scene for team building. Jennifer explained that "maximizing team potential begins with individual awareness." We want to know how a team will achieve its goals, but we also want each individual to be aware of their own self. Action planning is the end of an effective team development session. If the team doesn't commit to taking actions that will drive them towards higher performance, understanding how the individual strengths fit into the team culture is not enough. Leaders: Tips on Team Building Start by selecting the best members of the team if you are building one from scratch. A good selection process should be based on data driven talent insights, and the behavioral characteristics of team members that best support their key goals. When building a new team, you should also consider whether the team is needed. It is important to understand why a team is needed and what it's objectives are. You should ask yourself if you are building the team for the correct reasons. Don't undervalue the influence of your predecessor or yourself on the culture of the team if you are a new leader. The values of the leader are what determine the culture of a team. A new leader can change the dynamics of the team more than any new members. If you are concerned that your team may be dysfunctional, try to identify the likely causes of derailment. Jennifer said, "If you think your team is dysfunctional, identify the likely causes for derailment. Jennifer stated that "teams who make the greatest improvements toward their full potential make changes part of the day-to-day interaction within the team," Contact Us