Is Your Team on Track to Finish the Year Strong?

Are your teams and leaders effectively collaborating to reach year-end goals? 

The end of the third quarter is always a great time to review, reset, and refresh so that your team and organization can achieve or exceed its annual goals. After all, Q4 is right around the corner. The challenge in many organizations is that people are often returning from summer vacation, are tired from what’s been an extremely busy year, or have lost focus on what the true priorities are for the business. We also know that your most important factor in achieving your business goals is ensuring that people are aligned and cohesive. The time to re-focus and build momentum is right now.

Use this quick 13-question quiz to assess where your teams and leaders are today by assigning a score on a scale of 1-5.

1 = never, 2 = rarely, 3 = sometimes, 4 = usually, and 5 = always.

______ The team leader communicates a compelling vision for the remainder of the year and beyond.
______ The team has clear quarterly and annual goals and is on track to achieve or exceed them.
______ Team members are focused first and foremost on team goals and not their own egos and agendas.
______  The team understands its purpose – its reason for being a team.
______ The team has a clear communication strategy to help achieve its purpose.
______ The team has shared norms to guide how team members interact with each other.
______ Team members are comfortable engaging in dialogue and debate.
______ People are never penalized for bringing forth the brutal facts (Collins, Good to Great).
______ Team members are comfortable going directly to one other and holding each other accountable.
______ Team members receive regular and timely feedback from their team leader.
______ The team intentionally orients new team members (sharing personality styles, clarifying roles, solidifying norms) to accelerate integration.
______ Team member contributions are valued.
______  Team accomplishments are recognized.
______  TOTAL YOUR SCORES FROM ABOVE

How did your team do? 

Scores below 46 might indicate the team is struggling with unnecessary conflict and lack of clarity of its purpose and goals. Scores between 46 – 55 show that the team has a medium foundation of alignment but is not operating at its fullest potential. Scores above 55 signal that the team is likely aligned and healthy, and its challenge might be to maintain that high level of performance.

Regardless of how you scored, don’t risk costly shortfalls or missed opportunities that affect organizational health and success. Take steps now to get your teams and leaders on track to perform to their fullest potential and finish the year strong.

If you’d like to accelerate that process, contact us to see how our strategic consulting programs, corporate training, and team building workshops can help elevate your team and leader effectiveness. We are located in the greater Boulder – Denver, Colorado area and have team members across the nation. Book a program by September 6th and we’ll offer an additional 90-minute group coaching session to reinforce learning.