A521.6.3.RB - High Performance Teams

        An old saying many of us are familiar with states, “The smartest one of us is never as wise as all of us.” Or another common phrase most of us are familiar with, “There is strength in numbers.” These nuggets of wisdom make sense for a reason; people in a group who introduce and discuss ideas tend to make better and more comprehensive decisions. In his book The leader’s guide to storytelling, Stephen Denning (2011) introduced four categories of groups.

·         Work group: People working on same job or goal. Each person has a defined responsibility and all work group members work for the same supervisor.

·         Team: Members must remain interdependent to achieve the group objective(s). They share common goals, coordinate activities, share responsibility for performance in a defined period.

·         Community: People who share a common interest or values, but aren’t necessarily working in a tactical effort towards a specific goal. Communities are more widespread over time and distance and even national borders. Common core values and genuine personal interests hold a community together.

·         Network: A collection of people (formal or informal organization) who maintain contact with one other due to a mutually perceived benefit of remaining in touch for certain purposes. (LinkedIn, alumnae associations)

Teams and communities share a few features; they are energized to work collaboratively towards a specific product or service. Teams are building blocks for organizations to adapt to change and overcome challenges. Denning (2011) stated “high-performance teams resemble communities.” (pg. 155).

I’ve enjoyed more successes in working on teams in my 25 year Air Force career than I can “shake a stick at.” I led many teams and became adept at leveraging talent and mitigating roadblocks. My favorite teams (success stories) were the large, complex squadrons I commanded while serving at Offutt AFB, NE, Hill AFB, UT, and Baghdad.

My tenure at these three commands match the characteristics as Denning defined them (pg. 155).

 

·         Clear goals/appropriate leadership & membership. Qualified and well-trained Airmen in each of these three squadrons professionally achieved their missions: shipped cargo, transported passengers, managed supplies, planned deployments, repaired aircraft parts.

·         Adequate resources/support to achieve the objective. Managed unit budgets valued at more than $800,000 as well as requisitioned equipment, parts, and supplies to operate and maintain the unit’s vehicle fleet.

·         Actively shape the expectations of those using output…then exceed expectations. The squadron began one year with goals it sought to achieve: we built a passenger deployment center, renovated the mobility warehouse, and excelled during a headquarters inspection. At the end of the year, our command recognized the squadron as best unit in the command (as well as multiple individual awards) from our accomplishments throughout that year.

·        Innovate in a moment; seize and leverage opportunities. First, I launched the first movement departure airport in the U.S. to deploy 850 Airmen from 15 bases bound for Iraq. Next, in concert with the Marines, my squadron in Baghdad airlifted 1,300 Iraqi poll workers to polling sites. Those efforts assured the ratification of Iraq’s Constitution in 2005-2006.

·         Know your team. Become familiar with individual member goals. I visited each of the sections in my unit weekly to be better acquainted with squadron members. Better understood their personal, disciplinary, and financial challenges in order to collaborate with their supervisors to develop solutions to issues.

·         Share organization history and identity. Members relate to each other then use that emotional connection to achieve the objective. I sponsored squadron social functions (picnics, beach parties) to bring Airmen together. I hosted monthly commander’s calls to share mission priorities, expectations, awards presentations, and shared upcoming events.

Shared values are essential for building teams because they make possible a common prioritization of effort so a team can plan and operate in concert. When I commanded my units, we all shared dedication to mission as well as the Air Force core values: integrity first, service before self, excellence in all we do. Executing these core values unfolded in each of the three bases at which I served. Airmen in these squadrons deployed without complaint to Iraq and Afghanistan, many on multiple tours… they were simply focused on mission.

In addition to embracing shared values, teams excel via trust, enduring relationships and collaboration. Trust enables team members to release creative, innovative actions because a team member is confident his/her teammates will assist in overcoming challenges. One of the areas I focused on as a squadron commander was to support my Airmen in their personal priorities as well as their professional responsibilities. I ensured eligible members attended technical and professional military courses and recommended qualified ones for greater responsibilities. These Airmen were confident leadership advocated for their personal and professional goals.

Trust facilitates enduring relationships to enable seamless planning and execution of corporate goals and actions. Throughout my five plus years of command, I built enduring relationships through daily interaction with Airmen. They performed outstandingly and exceeded expectations of senior leaders. While deployed to Baghdad, and at the direction of my boss, I directed one of my subordinate flights to lay down hard plastic “puzzle tiles” in high traffic outdoor areas to counter the messiness of the mud for the upcoming rainy season. My boss’ original plan was to cover a couple of small areas in the compound. However, a leader from one of my subordinate flights suggested covering the entire compound area to eliminate the mud problem throughout the terminal…improvement to mission resulted from enduring relationships.

Collaboration is closely and actively coordinating to complete a complex project and is applied whether in a leadership or followership role. I’ve collaborated at multiple levels during every single one of my 11 assignments. So, groups I led achieved desired end-states: deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, or Panama; created process to re-integrate Airmen returning from a deployment; managed war supporting equipment in Europe; developed a capability infrastructure to respond to terrorist attacks in the U.S. and many more.

Fortunately, I’ve had only a few negative experiences throughout my AF career. However, I’ve experienced some challenges with respect to corporate values in recent employment. The unit was blessed with a lot of high energy, smart military, government civilians, and contract employees who simply wanted to accomplish a complex mission. However, the organization suffered from dissonance. It battled numerous conflicting priorities and frustrating personnel policies. It espoused values included: value employees, train personnel to do the job, be prepared to deploy rapidly at any time to anywhere in the U.S. to conduct our mission. However, some of the operational values didn’t follow those ideals. Many of the employees have been frustrated by what they view as senior leadership unconcerned with impacts of unrealistic expectations and deadlines, the workload and challenges the employees face. The unit has undergone a couple of climate surveys to better understand and correct the sources of the frustrations. The “jury is still out” on how the command will temper employee frustrations. Also, although the unit states it wants to sponsor its employees for training, it constrained a few employees from attending due to the ops tempo of the unit (“can’t afford” to let certain people go to attend). Last, unit leaders continue to “battle” internally about how the unit should deploy when tasked. We continue to refine, re-engineer, overhaul processes that should have been set years ago. So, the “cloudiness” lends itself to lack of understanding by the very folks who have to carry out those actions.

Team mechanics and interaction, shared values, and collaboration are essential elements to maximize team performance. Synergy really is the “name of the game” because it creates enduring energy, commitment, and ideas to work through complex, challenging opportunities… like command.

References

         Denning, S. (2011).  The leader’s guide to storytelling: Mastering the art and discipline of business narrative. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.