A few months ago, I was working with a client as he was putting together a new team. His name was Clay, and he had a goal of building a self-directed team that could be counted on to get the job done even when he was on vacation. He mentioned that he wanted to be able to go on vacation with his family and come back to order and harmony rather than chaos. Brilliantly, he shared this vision with his team. The next step was to build a team strong enough to meet this challenge. With this vision in mind, he began to build the team.
The first thing he did was get his team together and ask them the magic question: “Why does your job exist?” Their assignment was to write down the answer to this question. When everyone had finished writing, he asked each of them to read off their answers. He listened without interruption Afterward, he affirmed all that he had heard, just to make sure he clearly understood. Then, point by point, he went through what they had shared, and gave his perception of why they get a paycheck. After a positive and hearty discussion, they were able to come to an agreement about defined roles. The responsibilities were clear, and the team had established ownership. They were off and running.
In the months that followed, the team agreed to hold each other accountable for their roles, and the outcome was a top-performing team. Then came the test: Clay left for his vacation, and when he returned, he had very little to catch up on, and he was glad he went on vacation.
There you have it: If you want to know how strong your team is, just leave on vacation for two weeks and see what things are like when you return. If it is great, congratulations, you have built a strong team.
