Rework.withGoogle.com has produced the following Team Effectiveness Discussion Guide to help you improve your team dynamic.
Below is a sampling of improvement indicators and guiding questions:
Psychological Safety
Signs that your team needs to improve psychological safety:
● Fear of asking for or giving constructive feedback.
● Hesitance around expressing divergent ideas and asking “silly” questions.
Questions to ask yourself:
● Do all team members feel comfortable brainstorming in front of each other?
● Do all team members feel they can fail openly, or will they feel shunned?
Dependability
Signs that your team needs to improve dependability:
● Team has poor visibility into project priorities or progress.
● Diffusion of responsibility and no clear owners for tasks or problems.
Questions to ask yourself:
● When team members say they’ll get something done, do they?
● Do team members proactively communicate with each other about delays and assume responsibility?
Structure and Clarity
Signs that your team needs to improve structure and clarity:
● Lack of clarity about who is responsible for what.
● Unclear decision-making process, owners, or rationale.
Questions to ask yourself:
● Do team members know what the team and project goals are and how to get there?
● Do team members feel like they have autonomy, ownership, and discrete projects?
Meaning
Signs that your team needs to improve meaning:
● Work assignments based solely on ability, expertise, workload; little consideration for individual development needs and interests.
● Lack of regular recognition for achievements or milestones.
Questions to ask yourself:
● Does the work give team members a sense of personal and professional fulfillment?
● Is work matched to team members based on both skills/ability and interest?
Impact
Signs that your team needs to improve impact:
● Framing work as “treading water”.
● Too many goals, limiting ability to make meaningful progress.
Questions to ask yourself:
● Do team members see their work as creating change for the better?
● Do team members feel their work matters for a higher-order goal?