Tips on Co-Creating High Productive Teams

Teams are a group of people that work to achieve objectives and goals. What makes a successful team different from a mediocre team is the ability to co-create their sense of existence. People must believe and understand the rules of their team and share a sense of purpose toward some greater objective. A few helpful times on co-creating team can get you on your way.

Tip 1: Know Your Teammates: Know your teammates and what they want. Understand their motivations and what they hope to get out of any situation. Managers are more accustomed to telling people what they should want and do then asking them about themselves.

Tip 2: Co-Create Your Rules: If you expect people to follow the rules they must have some stake in them. Make sure that you co-create your rules by having them engage in the rule sharing process. Setting shared rules creates social enforcement which is more powerful than hierarchical enforcement.

Tip 3: Co-create Your Goals and Work Tasks: While the organization and its needs will dictate the purpose of the team it is beneficial to have a discussion on the wording of goals and how they will be achieved. People have knowledge and skills that can help in understanding what can and can't be done.

Tip 4: Be Open to Voting: There are times to tell people what to do and there are times to ask them the best way to approach issues. You should be open to voting on new ideas and concepts that come along when they will require significant team effort.

Tip 5: Learn to Guide and not Dictate: Learning to guide others is an important skill of leadership. Help people find meaning in the team and help them "own" the outcomes by continually guiding them to engagement and empowerment.