Acorn White Paper : Impact
In this fifth and final paper on Acorn’s guide to Team Coaching we consider Impact and Learning and their role in shaping team performance. If Primary Purpose describes the planned destination, then Impact is about sensing and adapting to reality as the journey progresses.
The ultimate measure of a team’s success is that it’s achievement is welcomed and adds real value. It is all too common for a team’s hard won achievement to drop down the organisations agenda for the next big thing, or become irrelevant as needs change, or have a lukewarm or hostile reception.
These papers have aimed to draw attention to obvious and hidden factors that can undermine or enable highly effective teamwork. We have shown that typical organisational structures and cultures have taught us to behave very individualistically and that creating an effective team is a challenge and quite different from leading a co-operative group.
High performing teams need a suitable task, appropriate leadership, enabling structures and members with the right skills, attitudes and behaviours. They need to work hard at becoming a team and continually learn in order to deliver well received outcomes. It does not come naturally. As tasks become more complex they require more high performing teams. The individualistic group approach cannot match the quality of a team’s results.
Hopefully, the insights we have shared in these papers will help you develop your team’s performance. If you have any questions, or need support, please contact us at Acorn Coaching and Development. Our purpose is to help organisations improve performance through their people.