One common approach to developing the senior team or Board would be to seek to ensure that, firstly, the Board are working, not just as a team, but as an ‘effective’ team because after all, that is exactly what the Board should be. They should also possess the right individual skills, knowledge, attitude and behaviours to ensure both personal and business objectives are achieved. It’s not easy, as each Board member has to be a strategist as well as an amateur psychologist and master motivator/interpreter of human behaviour to survive and prosper. If we need the Board to be an effective team then here are some of the key factors that must to be addressed in order for that group to be truly effective; each member must:
- Understand the team’s goals, company vision and strategy and having a shared belief that they are valuable and achievable
- Know each individual’s role and the value of their contribution to the team
- Understand personal differences and recognise the value of other team members
- Have a keen desire to work collaboratively, share thoughts, ideas and concerns etc.
- Enjoy working together with a common purpose – friendship!
- Support each other
- Recognise that if all individual members are successful then the team is successful
- Coach junior managers
- Stimulate successful change and own it together
- Listen to ideas and advice from other team members
- Make time to communicate with other team members
- Celebrate successes
- Reward effective team behaviour in non-financial as well as financial ways
Some of the above resides in the category labelled ‘hard outcomes’ in other words, what are our obligations as a Board? What are we paid to do? What is our raison d’être? Other areas can be labelled ‘soft outcomes’ which represent the human element behind the role i.e. what do we know of each other and how can we best work together? In order to ensure future success many companies insist on team and individual development at the highest level of their business. This is often done by utilising two key engagement strategies:
- Strategic Alignment as a team
- Personal one-to-one coaching
It’s not a bad place to start and this approach has a proven track record for bringing some very tangible results. Combined with personal profiling tools and 360 degree appraisal tools, action learning sets and strategically led business activities it is useful for creating a programme of future development for your senior team that will ensure the future success of your business. After all, doing nothing about personal development in the modern business environment is simply not an option.
Talk to us at Maguire on 0333 5777 144 about how we can help with personal coaching for your senior people or visit the following link to find out more about our coaching skills courses.
http://www.maguiretraining.co.uk/healthcare/coaching-skills/
