Four steps to an aligned team

"Success comes through and as a result of other people" Brian Tracey

The opening to an engaging and practical workshop with Tamsen Garrie about her team alignment method. A method that can help businesses, projects and teams achieve more with a lot less pain.

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Hosted at Jacobs Engineering Group overlooking the stunning Tower Bridge, Tamsen shared her method for transforming a team from a work group to a team. The fundamental difference between the two being their focus and interaction; work groups are individually focused, with interaction for the purposes of sharing information, but teams form deeper, interdependent relationships and work collaboratively towards a shared vision.

"The whole is greater than the sum of its part" Aristole

  • Together
  • Everyone 
  • Achieves
  • More

The team alignment method can, with commitment and time, transform a group who coordinate their individual effort to a collaborative force on a mission who actively drive towards a shared vision through choice. This latter factor - choice - should not be treated lightly; it's a crucial ingredient in the success of the team.

Tamsen explained the team journey in Tuckman's four stages; starting, kicking, working and driving. And not forgetting, reversing! 

There were lots of nods as people recognised the challenging journey as a team makes its way through chaos to uncertainty to performance and, hopefully, success to setbacks whilst dealing with change and rebalancing.

So what is the team alignment method? Tamsen set out four, deceptively, simple steps:

Step one: Design the vision, set the purpose and destination for the team.

Step two: Create the culture; the values, behaviours, attitudes - the code of how you work together.

Step three: Establish the goals; set out the road map to reach the vision with incremental milestones - remembering to celebrate the successes.

Step four: Define the roles; provide clarity of the role each member plays in the vision and allocate tasks based on strengths not skills.

Tamsen emphasised the importance of engaging the team in the process to ensure a strong team spirit and genuine commitment.

So how do you ensure successful team alignment and create a 'driving' team?

  • Put team alignment on the agenda
  • Dedicate time for team alignment sessions
  • Have regular checks in
  • Full engagement and participation 

The benefits are manifold; lower unplanned absence, lower undesired turnover, more effective recruitment and, ultimately, an engaged and accountable team who drive the business toward through choice.

If you would like to know more, please visit theteamalignmentmethod.com.

Feedback from our members was very positive with many commenting on Tamsen's "approachable", "down to earth" style and practical advice.

Our thanks to Tamsen for another great workshop, we look forward to hearing from her again in 2018. 

Thanks to Jacobs Engineering Group for generously hosting this event.