3 tips for focusing on your team’s purpose, principles & practice

Great teams focus on their purpose, principles and practice. People know the team’s purpose – the ‘What’ and ‘Why’. They know the key principles to follow for reaching the goal – the ‘How’. They also know how to translate these principles into daily practice – the ‘Who’ and ‘When’. Let’s explore how you can follow this model in your own way.

1) You can focus on the team’s purpose.

Looking at your professional life, you may be part of a work team. If so, imagine you are the leader. What do you believe is – or should be - the team’s purpose? People like to know there is a ‘plan’. It is also good if the goal appeals to both the heart and the head. One high-tech team, for example, defined their aim as: “To create software that enables people to take charge of their own learning.” The key is to be honest, even if the goal is simply: “To make money.” This is much better than clouding the aim in woolly language. People can then decide whether or not they want to contribute towards achieving that particular goal.

Purpose provides the team’s compass. I saw this in action during the 1980s, when I was the youth development officer for a football club. Our goal was: “To build a positive team that plays positive football and gets positive results.” We succeeded with the ‘team’ and ‘results’ parts. But we actually played effective football, rather than attractive football. This was mainly due to my shortcomings as a coach. We did win trophies – but we could have done better on the playing style. People at the club always did their best, however, because they believed in the overall mission.

Let’s return to your work team. Try tackling the exercise below. First, describe what you believe is – or should be - the team’s purpose. This is the ‘What’. Try to summarise it in a one-line goal. Second, describe the specific things that will be happening that will show it has achieved this goal. Third, describe the ‘Why’ – the benefits of reaching the goal. Try completing the following sentences.

The team’s purpose

The specific goal we want to achieve is:

*

The specific things that will be happening that
will show we have reached the goal will be:

*

*

*

The benefits of achieving the goal will be:

*

*

*

2) You can focus on the team’s principles.

So far you have clarified the ‘What’ and ‘Why’. Now it’s onto the ‘How’. What are the key principles you want to follow to achieve the goal? People like to know the strategy. For example, when I ran a therapeutic community for troubled teenagers in the early 1970s, we defined our aim as: “To help the young people to do what they want in their lives – providing they don’t hurt themselves or other people.” The principles that the staff followed were: “a) To expect the young people to take responsibility; b) To build on their strengths; c) To encourage and equip them to achieve their life-goals.” Everybody then worked towards achieving the overall aim. Let’s return to your own team. You will, of course, have your own guidelines for working towards the goal. Try completing the following sentence.

The team’s principles

The principles we want to follow
to achieve the team’s goals are:

*

*

*

3) You can focus on the team’s practice.

Inspiration is relatively ‘easy’; implementation is much harder. Great teams pursue the right strategy with the right people in the right way. They know ‘Who’ will be doing what and ‘When’. They ensure everybody knows their part in implementing the strategy and aim:

* To ensure everybody plays to their strengths and makes their best contribution to the team.

* To ensure everybody makes clear contracts about their specific contribution towards achieving the goals and are given the support they need to do the job;

* To educate and equip people to make good decisions, rehearse potential scenarios and perform superb work;

* To ensure that everybody reports each month on: ‘a) The specific things I have delivered in the past month towards achieving the goals; b) The specific things I plan to deliver in the next month towards achieving the goals; c) The potential challenges ahead, my strategies for tackling these challenges and the support I would like to do the job’;

* To enable people to do whatever is necessary to deliver success.

Let’s return to your team. How would you ensure that people translate the strategic plans into actions? Try completing the following sentence.

The team’s practice

The specific things we can do to translate
the principles into daily practice are:

*

*

*

Many teams clarify their purpose and principles – but they must then translate these into practice. Doing this properly is the key to delivering great performances.