We’re all used to our cars having a GPS or SatNav these days.

Our argument is that teams work best when they have a Team SatNav too.

You’ll know that a SatNav needs to connect to at least 4 satellites before it knows its location, and before you can programme it on where you need to go.

Similarly, teams work most effectively when they launch and keep alive a set of ‘conditions’ that help them travel forward effectively as a team.

What are the priority ‘conditions’?

There are nine ‘satellites’ for team to launch for them to establish their Team SatNav – we call these satellites the 9-Dimensions.

For teams, our experience – backed by research by academics like Professor Hackman – is that five of these are the priority to get momentum in developing a team’s effectiveness:

  1. Identity – knowing who is actually on the team, getting to know and trust them and knowing what they do in their roles.
  2. Reality – having the same information, understanding and accepting where we are now.
  3. Vision – a north star that guides us on where we want to go.
  4. Strategy – a handful of co-created priorities that we know will move the team towards their vision, where we know who will be leading what.
  5. Execution – ways of working that help with all the above.

Keeping connected to the satellites

The key then is to keep the satellites broadcasting strongly, so that wherever your team are – and whether they are together or apart – you know that they will be using the SatNav to guide them.

This means active communication when:

  • There are people changes
  • There are changes in the environment
  • The vision needs fine-tuning
  • Progress is made on the priorities, or if obstacles are encountered

Once you have the priority five satellites in place, then it may be time to invest in the full-set of the 9-Dimensions, or even to benchmark the team.

How we do it…

red10 provide team coaches who will work with you to develop your team through tested approaches and tools to put the Dimensions in place.

If you would like to learn more about any of red10 ‘s Team Tools then please contact us to find out more.