As a technology group with a primary focus on sharing ideas, knowledge, skills and technology so we can digitally transform businesses and their teams, our starting point is always at home.
Internally we have nailed remote working. Our team produces higher quality and more efficient work than before. However, one very critical element of a successful team keeps eluding us; team connectivity.
Generally our entire team report happiness with all aspects of working remotely, but have been complaining about being disconnected from each other, especially among the executive team. Working in isolation can become detrimental to growing productivity and overall moral, compared to the office where strong connectivity is easily attained.
To improve connection amongst the team we started an experiment called HEALTHCHECK – a 5 min video call at 10am for the executive team. 10am is a good time, giving executives time to wrap up their own 9am team calls to be on top of important admin matters.
“ If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. “
The ability to work together, as a true team, is far better than the isolated expertise of each individual. Great success and achievements do not come overnight, and are rarely the result of a person alone, but rather by a group of individuals we call a “team”. The success of a team lies in the process and procedures and the use of technology that keeps them connected.
What makes a team great?
- Psychological safety: Can we take risks on this team without feeling insecure or embarrassed?
- Dependability: Can we count on each other to do high-quality work on time?
- Structure & clarity: Are goals, roles, and execution plans on our team clear?
- Meaning of work: Are we working on something that is personally important for each of us?
- Impact of work: Do we fundamentally believe that the work we’re doing matters?
Benefits of HEALTHCHECK
The HEALTHCHECK calls are great for taking the temperature of a team on any of the above points, a great step in the direction of growth. Daily HEALTHCHECKS will enable teams to:
- Increase trust and psychological safety within the team
- Have better relationships between teammates
- Create a culture of constructive criticism and feedback
- Raise issues and fix them quickly
- Share their feelings more easily and frequently
How can we turn HEALTHCHECKS into tangible data?
Share the results openly with the entire team.
It can be at a weekly, monthly or quarterly meeting, during a REFLECT SESSION. By sharing the aggregated results HEALTHCHECKS with the team, we show that they matter.
Discuss the issues
If team moral is constantly down, we need to raise the issue and find a solution. Talking about the “bad” stuff of HEALTHCHECKS at a team meeting is the perfect opportunity to identify issues and discuss potential solutions.
Celebrate successes
HEALTHCHECKS aren’t only alerts on issues: they also demonstrate the current great mood of the team. Like for bad moods, taking the time to discuss it with the team will help us understand the causes and to get to know the team better. It is also a great opportunity to celebrate successes or good news.
We are currently building the technology that will allow us to take the temperature of the team by means of a colour coded questionnaire to accumulate data. The data is then structured in a way that will help us make better assessments about the state of our team followed by better decisions that lead to change and transformation – transformation that yields sustainability and growth in a new world wherein performance demands significance.
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