15 Crucial Questions to Ask When Evaluating Your Team’s Alignment and Performance Level

People have been on teams forever and they're cynical.

Teams are hard.  

You’ve likely invested precious planning time to build your team only to find that despite your best efforts, performance lags.

Perhaps conflicts between team members simmer unresolved, poisoning relationships and negatively impacting outcomes. Or your people may have limiting beliefs about the productivity of other team members or the way teams are handled in your organization.

Do You Have a Workgroup or a Team?

A group of people working together in an organization may be called a team but more often functions like a workgroup, a collective of loosely associated folks trying to get things done and go home. A high-performing team is comprised of people who care about the project and each other – and as a result, they commit and get the work done. They make improvements to team efficiency and effectiveness. And they balance results with relationships. They have open, honest communication that strengthens relationships, improves productivity and results, and moves the team forward.

Building a High-Performing Team Is Not an Accident

Developing a high-preforming team does not happen by accident. (You that know from your own experience.) If you have any doubt about the intricacies and challenges of involved, just look at the plethora of books offering guidance about building effective teams, and leading and participating on teams. Maybe you have a few dog-eared publications on your bookshelf?

Team development and productivity remains significant challenges in most workplaces. Why is this the case with all the books, consultants, time and energy given to this issue? Because some key factors have been glossed over or entirely overlooked.

15 Crucial Questions to Ask When Evaluating Your Team’s
Alignment and Performance Level

1.     What is the specific, measurable goal that defines team success?

2.     How aligned are the values of each team member with each other and the organization?

3.     How does the team recruit top-notch people?

4.     How clear are expectations about what each team member is supposed to
be doing and achieving?

5.     How well do team members know and trust each other?

6.     How clear is the path to results?

7.     What are opportunities for early and ongoing small wins?

8.     How well does the team anticipate, avoid and mitigate risks?

9.     Is communication open, honest and transparent among team members?

10.  How well does the team acknowledge each other’s contribution as well as
celebrate successes?

11.  How effectively does the team clear up and move forward after setbacks?

12.  Does the team know the conversations they need to have in order to move from vision
to result?

13.  Do leaders of the team effectively motivate each team member?

14.  How well does the team handle the transition when members leave the team, including helping new members ramp up?

15.  How effectively does the team learn about how it can work together better?

 These are crucial questions, and the answers are not always obvious.

Get A Simple Way to Start Making Your Team More Effective

I’d like give you my simple Conversation Assessment Tool to help you evaluate the conversations your team members are having. You’ll know immediately whether comments are moving the team forward, backward or bringing it to a standstill. While this tool is only one part of the work I do to foster healthy, productive teams, I promise it will open up some new ideas about making your team more effective and efficient.