Imagine you are leading a team. There are many models for continuing to achieve peak performance. One approach is to invite the team to refocus on the picture of success. It is then to clarify the specific things it should aim: a) To keep doing; b) To start doing; c) To stop doing. People can then translate the ideas into action and achieve their goals. Let’s explore how this can work in practice.

* Start by refocusing on the picture of success.

Great teams continually remind people of the story, strategy and road to success. So gather people together and remind them of the team’s goals. If you wish, highlight when the team has performed brilliantly and the principles people followed to do great work. Then move onto the habits you want them to pursue in the future.

1) You can focus on what the team needs to keep doing.

Start by making three flip charts headed: 1) Keep doing: The things we need to keep doing. 2) Start doing: The things we need to start doing. 3) Stop doing: The things we need to stop doing. Gather people together and provide each person with a pack of Post-It Notes. Position the first part of the exercise by giving the following instructions.

“Great teams develop good habits. So I would like you to start by listing all the things you believe we should keep doing to achieve success. These can be the big key principles or the small concrete actions. If you write a principle, however, try to bring it to life by giving a concrete example. For instance: If you say: “Keep giving great customer service,” give a specific example of how this can be translated into action. Also describe the benefits of continuing to do the things you mention. Write one idea per Post-It but as many ideas as you wish. So take 15 minutes to describe the things that you believe we should keep doing. ”

Give people the allotted preparation time and then invite each person place their Post-It Notes on the flip chart. If appropriate, you can then discuss the various points and agree on the fundamental things the team must continue doing. (The other option is to delay this discussion until after also completing the next two sections regarding what the team should start and stop doing.) So here is the first exercise regarding the good habits. Doing these things means the team will be more likely to consistently deliver at least 7/10.

2) You can focus on what the team needs to start and stop doing.

Great teams continue to do the right things in the right way. But sometimes they need to start moving into another dimension or stop doing things that are debilitating. You can position these factors by giving the following instructions.

“Peak performers maintain good habits, but sometimes they take steps to up their game. So I would like you to write your ideas regarding what we can do in two areas.

“First, start doing. Describe the things you believe we may want to start doing to, for example, broaden our thinking, improve our work, provide better customer service or develop as a team. Dare to be creative in your ideas. If possible, describe the potential benefits of doing these things.”

“Second, stop doing. Describe the things you believe we may want to stop doing. For example, there may be meetings we can cut, reporting lines we can shorten, paper work we can ditch or other activities that distract from achieving our prime purpose. Again, be creative with your ideas. Describe the benefits of stopping doing these things. There may, of course, also be some minuses. If so, describe how we can manage these consequences.”

Give people 15 minutes to list their ideas. They are to then to put their views on the relevant flip charts. Spend some time discussing the ideas, then move onto the next stage.

3) You can co-ordinate what the team needs to keep doing, start doing and stop doing to achieve success.

Co-ordination bridges the gap between the concepts and the concrete results. So make sure you have a superb co-ordinator – or a co-ordination process – to make things happen. It can be useful to take the following steps.

You can clarify the key principles and practical actions

the team can keep implementing to achieve success.

Gather people together and look at the ideas they have compiled. Clarify and agree on the key things the team should keep, start and stop doing. You may wish: a) To agree on the priorities; b) To agree on how these can be translated into action; c) To agree on how to maximise the pluses and minimise any minuses. Everybody in the team must know what people are doing under the following headings.

You can have a superb co-ordination process

that ensures these actions are implemented.

Great teams go beyond producing actions lists. They have a superb co-ordinator – or an agreed process – that ensures the actions actually happen. The co-ordinator’s role is to ensure people channel their talents towards achieving the team’s goal. They are like sheepdogs, especially with knowledge workers who may fall into following their own agendas. Approaching such a person, they say things like:

“Looking at the picture of success, how are things going regarding the agreed actions? As you know, we have an update meeting next week. Everybody is giving a progress report about what they aim to keep, start and stop doing. Are things okay on this front or would you like any help? Let me know if there is anything I can do to ensure we continue to follow the agreed principles and the practical actions.”

Clarity is the starting point for any venture: but co-ordination provides the bridge to producing concrete results. Bearing this in mind, try tackling the following exercise. First, describe the specific things your team can do to co-ordinate its efforts. Second, describe the benefits of doing these things. Try completing the following sentences.

You can ensure people keep focusing on

what they should keep, start and stop doing.

Great teams are made up of people who are proactive. They also keep their colleagues up-to-date regarding progress towards achieving the team’s goals. How to encourage people to develop this habit? One approach is to remind people of the team’s picture of success. It is to then invite them to give monthly updates on the following themes. They are then more likely to ensure the whole team is on track.

There are many models for ensuring a team does great work. One approach is to focus on what they can keep, start and stop doing. People can then maintain these good habits and achieve peak performance.

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