It’s no secret that team performance is enhanced when everyone has a great mindset. And while there are many ways to coach your team to a great mindset for performance, it often comes down to one thing……..
Set team ground rules!
Ground rules can cover all sorts of different aspects, but think of this as setting the scene for how you go about doing things. Setting great ground rules will help you to create a great team culture which will increase your chances of achieving team goals.
When I was the head of a financial services sales team we used to call it the “this is how we roll” and everyone who joined how team had 45 mins of “Welcome to our team. This is how we roll” with yours truly. They had probably gotten a sense of this during the interview process but it was always good to set the scene as soon as they started.
How to set great ground rules…..
It’s best that everyone in the team work together to come up with ideas about the kinds of attitudes, actions and behaviours that they would like to see from their co-workers. For example, in our team we gave people a chance to vent when things didn’t go their way but then were expected to move forward with a constructive solution. Another team ground rule was not to blame others.
Why set team ground rules?
Existing team members
When you set ground rules, everyone is able to hold each other accountable to the standards that everyone wants to work with. It’s like everyone has agreed on the behaviour and therefore you feel like you are letting people down if you don’t adhere to that standard. Naturally this leads to greater outcomes for the team as a whole.
Future joiners
It also makes it much easier to hire people into your team. When everyone in the team can clearly articulate the culture of the team via the ground rules, it helps potential joiners assess whether they really want to work in that environment.
So when you have a great set of ground rules, you are enhancing the team’s ability to demonstrate the actions, attitudes and behaviours that the team has agreed will help them to achieve their immediate and longer term goals.