MENTHER STRATEGY
BUILDING HIGH PERFORMING TEAMS Happy and engaged employees lead to optimum productivity
H
ave you ever hired the best individuals in your business and then struggled to get them to deliver? Or have you had team members who don’t seem to understand their Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) – who are good at delivering coffee, but fail to deliver their reports on time? Or do you sometimes feel that your team is pulling in every direction except forward? After some time, it may seem like a visit to HR might be the best (and only) solution.
Candice Pillay | Director Norton Rose Fulbright SA But before you consider resorting to drastic solutions like replacing individuals who are not working well in your team, consider implementing a good management tool that will enable you to understand your team and work to their strengths. The leadership development model developed by psychologist Bruce Tuckman in 1965 theorised that there are four necessary and inevitable phases that a team will need to grow through to face challenges, find solutions, plan work and deliver results.
The first phase is the FORMING phase. Every team must come together as a collective unit. However, every time a new member joins the team, the group identity will change and a so-called ‘new’ group or team is formed each time. In this phase, it becomes evident that the team members are independent individuals, who bring new thoughts and ideas on how to deliver on team goals and on their own responsibilities, to the collective unit. At every meeting, the entrepreneur will be able to
Inspire | Connect | Empower
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