There are many ways to create teams that perform at the highest levels. Today and tomorrow, we’ll hear from Cara Parker, MBA, PMP, who demonstrates how the Drexler Sibbet model can be a key to building excellent teams at your organization.
Parker is the CEO and founder of C Parker Consulting, Inc. (CPC), which is focused on propelling organizations toward higher performance. In her years working for corporate, government, and nonprofit organizations, Parker has developed a broad range of skills resulting in a systems-based approach to project management and organizational development.
Most of us have been part of a successful team. A few of us have been, at some point, part of high-performing team. This is actually when members feel synergy and a sense of excitement in working together toward a common goal with great results.
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Members of a high-performing team care about the success of their teammates, are clear about their goals, and know their specific purpose while serving on the team. But here’s the crux—high-performing teams don’t automatically exist but, rather, are formed and developed through a process over time. In other words, developing a high-performing team is an intentional act, and it takes time.
That’s what I like about the Drexler Sibbet’s High Performing Teams Model—it identifies seven stages that each team must go through in order to be high-performing. Yes, let me say it again—it is seven stages, and every team has to honor each and every stage.
You may be saying, “We have scarce resources—time being one of them—and we don’t have the time to spend on seven stages!” I say, “you don’t have the time not to spend.” The hard truth is that without initiating the necessary time and space focused on your team, your project will not succeed. Period.
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So, here they are—the first four of Drexler/Sibbet’s seven stages:
- Orient your team members to determine who’s who and the roles they serve on the team. Establish your team’s identity.
- Build trust based in forthrightness and reliability resulting in mutual regard for each other.
- Clarify the team’s goal by articulating a shared vision and clearly stating assumptions about the tasks.
- Gain commitment by assigning the right roles to the right people, allocating support where needed, and clearly stating boundaries articulating how the team makes decisions.
We’ll present the final three stages of the Drexler Sibbet model in tomorrow’s Advisor, along with a handy infographic for our readers.