Team Traits System - How to Build a High Performing Team
Introduction
This article is the second in a series. It presents a practical example of implementing the “problem-tested” approach presented in “High Performance Culture : Value-Add Focused Strategy”.
The example is expressed through a Concept document:
- You can use this template to introduce and explain the concept
- You can also use it as a living and briefing terms of reference for ongoing planning and execution
Template Document: "ABC Team - Team Traits System"
Terms of Reference
Our Team Traits System
The objective of the Traits System is to actively promote and coach following mindsets:
- Being able to take a critical look at our behaviors or resulting outcomes, and do this through a systems thinking lens without the need for self-lambasting (Growth Mindset)
- Being accountable for self-improvement at all levels (Individually and collectively - Being a highly professional hive)
The how
- Will adopt a “dilemmas-tested” model as an alternative strategy to traditional generic statements. It focuses on very specific and iterative improvements that build on each other.
- Will take things seriously, but not literally - we will maintain motivation by teaming, being willing to cut team members some slack, and being able to celebrate real changes
- Will not “police” individuals, but focus on positive actions and team-level conversations
- Will implement traits measurement system that does not break psychological safety foundations
Our Team's Persona and Motivations
Who we are:
- <... express your team's size, cultural and neurodiversity background, multi-disciplinary and other professional aspects >
Our initial environment:
- <... express the current circumstances of the team>
Our motivations:
- <... express what drives your ideal behaviors>
Dilemmas - Cumulative Backlog
Culture is a product. This backlog is a process of discovery and iterative development:
- Each backlog items is a big story / mini epic
- Each story is linked to few Trait Links
The two way definition helps with ensuring that all stories are small enough. Also, this approach enables easy detection of areas where focused individual or team training may be needed on top of the effort of solving a particular dilemma.
By solving specific dilemmas, we inadvertently fuse / forge / iron-make team traits.
| Priority | Action Period | Dilemma | Linked Team Traits |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20XX QY | How can we ensure to be justifiably confident? <Specific team experience or other reflection to be included> | Attention to detail; Being Teachable |
| 2 | 20XX QY | How can we defend quality of outcomes? <Specific team experience or other reflection to be included> | Taking Ownership; Challenge Status Quo |
| 3 | 20XX QY | How can we feel as a truly whole team, as opposed to glued together tribes? | Teaming; Collaboration |
| 4 | 20XX QY | ... | ... |
Team Wide Traits
Team wide traits are an expression of attitudes. It is important not to use them as an aptitude score because behaviors are often influenced by factors other than pure personal ability. High performance culture is one where:
- The team works together to manage behavior
- Everyone feels safe to point out observations where behavior is not triangulating
- Being consistent over a period of time is better than being perfect all the time - this means being willing to cut team members some slack
- Not controlling, but reflecting on behavior with humour; monitoring motives.
| Trait | Definition of Excellence |
|---|---|
| Teachable | ... |
| Teaming | ... |
| Attention to Excellence | ... |
| ... | ... |
Measurement System
Team-wide traits are different to professional traits:
- Absolute individual assessment is an unsafe mechanism in the context of developing a team culture, as it cannot be objective and most likely does not take into account the complexity of an individual’s neurodiversity; A manager and an individual can still have the conversation about traits as needed
- Scoring individuals relative to other team members is also unhelpful - not everyone in the team needs to, or in the position to, live through the same depth of experiences
A better approach to implement a self-driven peer review system that measures a state of affairs at team-wide level.
Consider “Get to Know Each Other Tool” that provides:
- Low touch peer-to-peer feedback without oversharing
- Out of the box infographics for team-level conversations
- Out of the box tracking of change across periods
Making It Visible
Avoid the urge to hang traditional posters on the wall. Reserve that space for team humor or conscious, inspiring thoughts.
Neelix offers a variety of possibilities if you adopt a Live Pulse model for your feedback loop:
- Rich library of infographics and moods tracking
- Reflective dashboard
- Depiction of periodic confidence voting
- Executive summaries created with Ai assistant
- Gamified dashboard
You can also build own dashboards and reporting by leveraging our REST API.
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