Sunday, April 11, 2010

High performance teams – Does it apply to bridge partnership and teams?

The essence of focus.
Teams that feel directed toward achieving a clear and commun goal are happier and more energized, filled with a sense of purpose.
The basis of trust.
Teams tap into a natural instinct to form clans. People come together , vow to protect each other, engage in altruistic behavior with one another.
the "cheater meter."
If team members feel that the others do not appreciate the team's efforts, or that team members aren't pulling equal weight, their "cheater meters" will go off , they no longer trust one another and start losing focus on the goal
Low Focus and Low Trust (Lose/Lose)
• Fear
• Confusion
• Self-interest
• High turnover
• Failure
High Focus and Low Trust (Win/Lose)
• Focused on self, tasks
• Lots of early
accomplishments
• Longer-term disloyalty
• Turnover
High Trust and Low Focus (Lose/Win)
• Few conflicts
• "We are family"
• Lack of coordination
• Resigned to failure
High Trust and High Focus (Win/Win)
• Collaborating
• Self-directing
• Mission driven
• Loyal
• High success

So looking for the ingredient to achieve succesful teams :
• Don't gloss over performance, but talk about it.
• Hold each other accountable for each other performance.
• When someone under-performs, tells them immediately in direct, honest terms.
• Adopt a common goal or set of goals and commit to achieving them.
• Define goals simple enough to be easily grasped, specific enough to be actionable.
• Ask tough questions of one another and challenge each others assumptions. Probe an argument until all are satisfied.
• Admit your mistakes, weaknesses, concerns without fear of reprisal.

1 comment:

  1. I agree - this applies 100.0% to bridge teams and pairs.

    Also - never undermine a fellow team member while the bridge event is in progress. Thus, if you know that a team member is totally unwilling to accept criticism, then any criticism by you can only reduce the team's effectiveness.

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