Optimising Team PerformanceLeadership Learning at Lunch Series

Dr Tim Baker

Your primary role as a leader is to get the very best from each member of your team

Barriers to a conversation

culture

Five Conversations

Framework

Five more developmental conversations

Sobering statistics … 79% of organizations worldwide struggle to engage and

retain their employees (Deloitte’s, 2014) 86% of organizations believe they don’t have an

adequate leadership pipeline to address these problems (Deloitte’s, 2014)

90% of leaders rely on their own ideas, rather than seeking involvement from their team. Worse still, 89% of leaders failed to listen or respond to interpersonal cues from those they interact with (DDI, 2012)

Disturbingly, only 5% of leaders are effective in building trust in their interactions with team members (DDI, 2012)

60% of employees felt their self-esteem dented by their leader at work. These people would rather do almost anything else than sit through a performance conversation with their boss. Although they did acknowledge that a good boss with excellent interaction skills would enhance their productivity by as much as 60%! (DDI, 2012)

79% of employees who quit their jobs cite a lack of appreciation as a key reason for leaving (Lipman, 2012)

65% of North Americans report that they didn't receive any recognition in the previous year (Lipman, 2012)

It’s all about the conversation …

Organisations are conversations

Organisations are a series of conversations

Good quality conversation is sadly neglected

The ‘art’ of conversation

Have we lost the need for conversations?

I don’t have time for

conversations

Leadership is a relationship

THE 9 COMMON BARRIERS TO COMMUNICATION

THE 9 COMMON BARRIERSTO COMMUNICATION

1: Inattention during conversations

2: Restricted information channels

THE 9 COMMON BARRIERSTO COMMUNICATION

THE 9 COMMON BARRIERSTO COMMUNICATION

3: Lack of feedback

4: A culture of not asking questions

THE 9 COMMON BARRIERSTO COMMUNICATION

5: Too much formality

THE 9 COMMON BARRIERSTO COMMUNICATION

6: Over-reliance on email

7: Lack of role models

8: Fear of emotion

THE 9 COMMON BARRIERSTO COMMUNICATION

9: Physical office layout

THE 9 COMMON BARRIERSTO COMMUNICATION

The five conversations frameworkDate Topic Content Key Questions

Month 1 Climate review Job satisfaction, morale and communication

• How would you rate your current job satisfaction?• How would you rate morale?• How would you rate communication?

Month 2 Strengths and talents

Efficiently deploying strengths and talents

• What are your strengths and talents?• How can these strengths and talents be used in your current and

future roles in the organisation?

Month 3 Opportunities for growth

Improving performance and standards

• Where are opportunities for improved performance?• How can I assist you to improve your performance?

Month 4 Learning and development

Support and growth • What skills would you like to learn?• What learning opportunities would you like to undertake?

Month 5 Innovation and continuous improvement

Ways and means to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the business

• What is the one way that you could improve your own working efficiency?

• What is the one way that we can improve our team’s operations?

Baker, T. (2013). The End of the Performance Review: A New Approach to Appraising Employee Performance

Five More Developmental Conversations …

Coaching conversationMentoring conversation Delegating conversationVisioning conversationEncouraging conversation

Baker, T. & Warren, A. (2015). Conversations at Work: Promoting a Culture of Conversation in the Changing Workplace

Perceptual positions

1st PositionSelf

3rd PositionObserver

2nd PositionOther

Good conversation is about questions

?

Barriers to a conversation

culture

Five Conversations

Framework

Five more developmental conversations

Your homework

Organise a regular get together with your direct reports on a fortnightly or

monthly basis … and stick to it no matter what

Mod 1 – The Ingredients of Effective Feedback (Fri, Aug 19, 2016 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM AEST)

Mod 2 – Enhancing Your Personal Influence (Wed, Aug 31, 2016 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM AEST)

Mod 3 – Optimising Team Performance (Fri, Sep 23, 2016 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM AEST)

Mod 4 – Getting the Very Best from People (Fri, Oct 14, 2016 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM AEST)

Mod 5 – Understanding People and their Personalities (Fri, Oct 28, 2016 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM AEST)

Mod 6 – Facilitating Effective Meetings (Fri, Nov 11, 2016 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM AEST)