Nancy Proffitt, MBA, CBC
561-582-6060
[email protected] www.proffittmanagement.com
Proffitt Management Solutions is a nationally certified Business Coaching firm dedicated to enhancing the
management capabilities of organizational leaders, teams, and individuals. Proffitt Management Solutions has
positively impacted thousands of individuals and organizations. We’re ready to help you and your organization
become more focused, motivated, innovative, and successful than you ever dreamed possible.
Lead with integrity, empathy, and an eye on cash flow...
Highly Productive Teams are Key to Business Recovery
Based on the conversations I’ve been having with leaders, executives, and employees, most managers know more about collaboration, communication,
decision making and strategic planning than ever before. But managing through a business recovery creates additional pressure: how to increase productivity in
the wake of a crisis. A speedy business recovery requires maximum performance and highly productive teams that can deliver. In the organizations where I
consult, I have noticed that highly productive teams and business units develop and commit to:
A common purpose: Team members shape their common purpose. They understand how their individual and collective actions create value for their
clients, the organization, their team, and individually. SMART goals: team goals link to their common purpose, and benchmark achievements are
recognized throughout the process to energize performance. Trust in processes: appreciation of diverse skills, mutual accountability, and access to the
resources required to reach goals and build continued commitment.
Trust is created and nurtured with ongoing dialog, honest feedback, and follow-up. This can be a challenge if processes are changing, new teams are
forming, and/or team members have shifted to virtual or remote work.
You see, most of our communication is non-verbal and relies on visual cues. When new team members are from different business units, or even different
cultures, strong communication is even more important. Building cohesiveness, commitment to a shared purpose, and trust is critical.
Here are a few tips you might find helpful. Best Practices of Highly Productive Teams.
During a virtual team meeting, explain that you will be sending a confidential email survey of three questions to each member of your team.
Create your survey. I recommend using a spreadsheet where you can compile the results, or use a program like SurveyMonkey, where responses can
remain anonymous. Your questions should include:
On a scale of 1 to 10, how well are we working together as a team?
On a scale of 1 to 10, how well do we need to be working together as a team?
If you could change two key behaviors to help us close the gap between where we are and where we want to be, which two behaviors should we all try
to change?”
Compile the data and calculate the averages for numbers one and two. Note that the “average” team member believes that his/her team is currently at a
“5.8″ level of effectiveness, but needs to be at an “8.7.”
For question three, notice if there are any themes, and how they align with productivity, goals, purpose, and mission. Prioritize the suggested behavior
changes. Which are the two most important? Turn the Key
At your next team meeting, share the scores, suggested behaviors, and the two behaviors you would like the team members to adopt (and why, linking to
mission, purpose, and goals.) In addition, ask each team member to choose two behaviors for personal change, to track their progress, and prepare to
share their results in follow-up meetings. When team members commit to this type of accountability, they focus on their own behaviors. When people are
working together toward a common goal, trust and commitment follow. Productivity improves.
“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of
attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more
important than facts. It is more important than
the past, than education, than money, than
circumstances, than failures, than successes,
than what other people think or say or do.
It is more important than appearance,
giftedness, or skill.
It will make or break a company…a church…
a home. The remarkable thing is we have a
choice every day regarding the attitude we
embrace for that day. We cannot change our
past…we cannot change the fact that people
will act in a certain way.
We cannot change the inevitable.
The only thing we can do is play on the one thing
we have, and that is our attitude…I am convinced
that life is 10% what happens to me and
90% how I react to it. And so it is with you…we
are in charge of our attitudes.”
Indeed, your attitude is your choice.
Make the right one.
Attitude by Charles Swindol
As Ben Franklin once said:
A pessimist sees a challenge in every opportunity.
An optimist sees an opportunity in every challenge.