Team Excellence Fifth Ingredient - A Charter

Guest post by: Robert Whipple
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Don't be a Loosed Lipped Leader - By Robert Whipple

High performing teams do not just happen. They are planned and built in a way that optimizes performance. Numerous ingredients go in to making up a high performing team. I will outline several of these factors in separate articles in order to emphasize the particular item and highlight how to get it.

I have coached hundreds of teams and discovered that the ones with an agreed-upon team charter always outperform ones that have wishy-washy ground rules. A good charter will consider what each member brings to the team so the diversity of talents can be used. Second, it will contain the specific goals that are tangible and measurable. Third, it will have a set of agreed upon behaviors so people know what to expect of each other and can hold each other accountable. Fourth, the team needs a set of ground rules for how to operate. Ground rules can be detailed or general, it really does not matter, but some ground rules are required. Finally, and this is the real key, there need to be specific agreed-upon consequences for members of the team who do not abide by the charter.

The most common problem encountered within any team is a phenomenon called "social loafing." This is where one or more members step back from the work and let the others do it. This inequity always leads to trouble, but it is nearly always avoidable if the consequences for social loafing are stated clearly and agreed upon by all team members at the outset. People will not knowing slack off if they have already agreed to the negative impact on themselves, or if they do it once and feel the pain they will not do it again. This last element of successful teams is the most important ingredient. When it is missing, you are headed for trouble eventually.

The power of having consequences documented is that each person on the team has already agreed to the penalty for goofing off. This makes all the difference in the world. If teams wait to discuss the consequences until the problem has occurred, then you can expect two things to happen. First, one or more members will test the group because there is no explicit penalty stated. Second, when the team does try to apply some kind of punitive action the guilty party will become offended because "nobody told me that there was going to be a penalty if I did not do my job...besides I had a good reason, and the deliverable was not really that clear, and bla bla bla."

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Don't be a Loosed Lipped Leader - By Robert Whipple

About the Author: Robert Whipple

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Robert Whipple is CEO of Leadergrow Incorporated, an organization dedicated to development of leaders. He has spoken on leadership topics and the development of trust in numerous venues across the country. He is author of three leadership books: The Trust Factor: Advanced Leadership for Professionals, Understanding E-Body Language: Building Trust Online, and Leading with Trust is Like Sailing Downwind. His ability to communicate pragmatic approaches to building Trust in an entertaining and motivational format has won him top ranking wherever he speaks. Audiences relate to his material enthusiastically because it is simple, yet profound. His work has earned him the popular title of The TRUST Ambassador. Mr. Whipple has been published in several Leadership and Training journals including Leadership Excellence Magazine and T+D Training + Development Journal. He is a frequent contributor to The Rochester Business Journal. He has been named one of the top 50 thought leaders on the topic of leadership development by Leadership Excellence Magazine and one of the top 100 Thought Leaders on Trustworthy Business Practices by Trust Across America. Mr. Whipple has a BSME, MSChE, MBA and is a Certified Professional in Learning and Performance (CPLP). Contact at www.leadergrow.com or 585-392-7763
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