If you’ve been part of any team, and certainly if you’ve been a project manager tasked with generating a project closure report, you have faced the challenge of assessing “How was the teamwork?”
Reflections on this question can be valuable. They can spark stronger teams and more influential leaders. But how do you go about assessing something so intangible?
How can you begin to assess something as intangible as Teamwork?
I recently assisted a team with this very challenge.
My approach included having a handful of individual interviews. They gave me a feel for the culture, and let me test how I phrased my questions. Then I facilitated a two-hour, online group discussion. I incorporated some psychological safety exercises and created the stage for the group to talk through four questions.
Here are four discussion questions
1. Think of a time when a group of 3 or more people talked about a mistake that was made, and share what happened.
- Professionalism
- The discussion showed how comfortable people feel about sharing and learning from mistakes, and if mistakes are seen as normal and expected.
2. How did you rely on two other people with different strengths, and how did others rely on one of your strengths?
- Collaboration
- The discussion showed how much they looked beyond what they were each assigned to do, to find what else people were contributing to create a unique team.
3. A misunderstanding can grow into tension which can grow to a crisis. Think of a time when two people had a misunderstanding or tension or a crisis, and share what happened.
- Conflict
- The discussion showed how they identified potential conflict and what they did to address it, and how commonly it was acknowledged.
4. Think of a time when you were nervous that someone else would be a bottleneck putting pressure on meeting a deadline, and share what happened.
- Responsiveness
- The discussion showed how openly they handled the competing pressures of quality/process and schedule/progress.
BONUS What is one aspect of what’s been discussed (i.e. team dynamics) that you want to remember and build on with future teams?
- This helps everyone reinforce for themselves and others, what feels most resonant to celebrate and carry forward.
The success of the conversation came from the team members’ willingness to be open and honest with each other. The psychological safety and engagement tools were important.
A topic like Teamwork doesn’t lend itself to Likert scales or rankings. Having specific prompts of past experiences allows for story telling which is engaging and accessible. And allows the team to discover their own answers.
TL:DR
- Be thoughtful in creating a space for open discussion.
- Make it about sharing stories.
- Help others see the value they brought.
