Imagine you are leading a team. The last thing you want to hear people saying is: “This place used to be great. But now we are becoming an ordinary team in an ordinary company.” People must be effective - but they must also feel excited. So let’s explore how you can make this happen in a team. The following exercise looks simple but, providing it is done properly, it works.

1) You can invite people to describe what they must do to maintain the 8/10.

Write two flip charts. The first to be headed: ‘The specific things we must to do maintain the 8/10.’ Invite people in the team to write their ideas on this topic on Post-it Notes - one idea per Post-it. They can write as many ideas as they like. One team wrote: “To keep following the key strategies; to provide great service to our customers; to have the right people in the right places; to follow the disciplines for running good meetings; to hit our numbers.” So invite people to compile their ideas under the heading.

The specific things we must do to maintain the 8/10 are:

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*

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2) You can invite people to describe what they must do to maintain – or add - the magic to reach 10/10.

The second flip chart is headed: ‘The things we must do to maintain - or add - the magic.’ Invite people to write their ideas on Post-it Notes. One team wrote: “To have lunchtime sessions where we invite inspiring people to talk about their passions; to create a stimulating office environment by, for example, adding colour; to have a ‘creativity budget’ for implementing great ideas: to try different kinds of teamwork during off-sites - such as painting, helping a charity or playing music.” Invite people to compile their ideas under the heading.

The specific things we must do to maintain
– or add – the magic and reach the 10/10 are:

*

*

*

Give people 10 minutes to complete their two sets of Post-it Notes. Then invite each person in turn to come to the front and put these on the relevant flip charts. They are to explain their ideas and, where appropriate, describe practical ways these can be implemented. Then move onto the next step.

3) You can make a specific plan for maintaining the magic in the team.

Complete the session and take away the Post-it Notes. Identify the key themes that have emerged – because these will give clues to what the team members are feeling - and the concrete ideas that can be implemented. Create a plan for ensuring people continue to be effective yet also find the work exciting. Present this to the team. You are the leader, so some plans will be mandatory and apply to everybody. Others parts of the plan may require volunteers. Your plan will cover the following areas.

The specific things we will do
to maintain the 8/10 will be:

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*

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The specific things we will do to maintain
the magic and reach the 10/10 will be:

*

*

*

The benefits of doing these things will be:

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*

*

Invite people to make their individual action plans for achieving these goals. Then comes the crucial part: explain that there will be ongoing follow-up. You will keep the team on track by holding quarterly sessions to clarify how people can continue to maintain the 8/10 and keep adding the magic. Making this happen will ensure you continue to build a super team.

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