Post on 17-Dec-2015
Executive Summary1. Introduction2. Organising the team
2.1 Team structure2.2 Team membership2.3 The team leader2.4 Recruitment and reward
3. Managing the team3.1 Team meetings3.2 Team working3.3 Team development
4. Leading the organisation4.1 Leadership of strategy and impact4.2 Leadership of behaviour across the organisation
5. Improving leadership team performance 5.1 Overall effectiveness of leadership teams5.2 Drivers of leadership team performance5.3 How well leadership teams perform on the drivers5.4 Prevalence of the drivers5.5 Actions across the charity sector
6. Conclusions7. Implications
Appendix 1 Summary of literature reviewAppendix 2 GlossaryAppendix 3 Participating organisationsAppendix 4 Profile of participantsAppendix 5 Research methodsAppendix 6 The full research model
Published June 2014 Available from Directory of Social Change www.dsc.org.uk/bol Tel: 08450 77 77 07
Insightful, thought-provoking and long overdue research to assist chief executives to get the best from their leadership teams’. David Bilton, Chief Executive, Woodard Academies Trust
Building Outstanding Leadership Teams
Chair: Denise Fellows, Cass Centre for Charity EffectivenessSpeakers: Mike Hudson and Jacinta Ashworth, Compass Partnership
NCVO Evolve Conference 2014
Objectives of our research
1. To understand:
how the leadership teams are organised and managed
how they provide leadership
2. To enable leadership teams to benchmark their performance
3. To identify the key drivers of outstanding leadership teams
Our definition of the leadership team
Chief ExecutiveCore Group
Wider senior teamThe leadership team
Chief Operating Officer
What we did
1. Extensive literature review
2. Workshop with charity leaders
3. Identified 75 characteristics of leadership teams
4. Developed and tested 110 question survey
5. Received 102 responses from the top 500 charity chief executives
6. Corroborated feedback with sample of HR Directors
7. Correlated characteristics with team performance ratings
8. Identified key drivers of team effectiveness
9. Tested conclusions at workshop with charity leaders
What does a ‘typical’ leadership team look like?
6 team members 2 or 3 women
2 ‘long standing’ members,
in post 6 years+
1 member working part-time
4 externally appointed members
3 or 4 appointedby the current CEO
2 post graduates
No-one or 1 from an ethnic minority
Summary of Compass Cass research model
LEADERSHIP TEAM
Organising the team Managing the team Leading the organisation
Team meetings
Team working
Team development
Leadership of strategy and impact
Leadership of behaviour
Team structure
Team membership
Team leader
Team recruitment and reward
Overall performance
Investment in LT development
Recruitment and reward of LT members
Meetings of the LT
Leadership of behaviour across the organisation
Working as a team
Delivering leadership of strategy and impact
Team members, at leading the organisation
Size and structure of the LT
Chief Executive, at leading the LT
OVERALL EFFECTIVENESS OF LEADERSHIP TEAM
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
32%
55%
64%
60%
60%
66%
61%
55%
73%
58%
45%
30%
28%
27%
25%
21%
14%
17%
19%
32%
15%
7%
8%
13%
8%
16%
23%
7%
9%
Extremely Very Quite Not very N/S
Effectiveness of:
Performance on the nine components of the Compass Cass model of leadership teams
Example: Team development
Series1
0% 10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%
19%
1%
18%
21%
43%
72%
Actions taken in the last three years to invest in the development of the leadership team
Used external assistance to support development
Discussed how team works, without support
Conducted a review of performance of the LT
Worked with someone from within organisation
Other
No such actions taken in the last 3 years
Example: performance on leadership team development
0%10%
20%30%
40%50%
60%70%
80%90%
100%
26%
29%
50%
57%
32%
44%
54%
35%
24%
45%
21%
8%
15%
9%
8%
5%
9%
19%
Extremely Very Quite Not very N/S
OVERALL EFFECTIVENESS OF TEAM AT INVESTING IN ITS OWN DEVELOPLENT
Value of team coach to team development
Team's capacity for learning and development
How good at celebrating success
Quality of plans for improving team effectiveness
Enablers of high performance
LEADERSHIP TEAM
Organising the team Managing the team Leading the organisation
Team meetingsTeam workingTeam development
Leadership of strategy and impactLeadership of behaviour
Team structureTeam membershipTeam leaderTeam recruitment and reward
ESSENTIAL BUILDING BLOCKS
ENABLERS OF HIGH PERFORMANCE
ENABLERS OF HIGH PERFORMANCE
Drivers of outstanding leadership teams
GREAT TEAM WORKING Valuing style and personality differences Maintaining a cohesive team Being open about mistakes and weaknesses Good at compromising
EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP OF BEHAVIOUR Modelling desired behaviour Acting as a team outside meetings Communicating well with managers Managing stakeholder relations
EFFECTIVE TEAM MEETINGS Listening to each other Using each other’s talents during meetings Following through agreed actions Taking good decisions
CLEAR LEADERSHIP OF STRATEGY AND IMPACT Tracking achievement of strategic objectives Focussing on strategic issues Focussing on achievement of impact Bringing innovation and new ideas
INVESTMENT IN TEAM DEVELOPMENT Days spent on working better as a team Reviewing performance of the team External support for the team Planning to improve team effectiveness
INCREASING IMPACT ON
TEAM PERFORMANCE
OUTSTANDING LEADERSHIP
TEAMS
Which key drivers are most often in place?
GREAT TEAM WORKING Valuing style and personality differences Maintaining a cohesive team 68% Being open about mistakes and weaknesses 63% Good at compromising
EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP OF BEHAVIOUR Modelling desired behaviour 61% Acting as a team outside meetings 60% Communicating well with managers 59% Managing stakeholder relations
EFFECTIVE TEAM MEETINGS Listening to each other 66% Using each other’s talents during meetings Following through agreed actions 66% Taking good decisions 82%
CLEAR LEADERSHIP OF STRATEGY AND IMPACT Tracking achievement of strategic objectives Focussing on strategic issues 70% Focussing on achievement of impact 65% Bringing innovation and new ideas
INVESTMENT IN TEAM DEVELOPMENT Days spent on working better as a team Reviewing performance of the team External support for the team Planning to improve team effectiveness
INCREASING IMPACT ON
TEAM PERFORMANCE
OUTSTANDING LEADERSHIP
TEAMS
Which key drivers are least often in place?
GREAT TEAM WORKING Valuing style and personality differences 52% Maintaining a cohesive team Being open about mistakes and weaknesses Good at compromising 56%
EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP OF BEHAVIOUR Modelling desired behaviour Acting as a team outside meetings Communicating well with managers Managing stakeholder relations 51%
EFFECTIVE TEAM MEETINGS Listening to each other Using each other’s talents during meetings 50% Following through agreed actions Taking good decisions
CLEAR LEADERSHIP OF STRATEGY AND IMPACT Tracking achievement of strategic objectives 58% Focussing on strategic issues Focussing on achievement of impact Bringing innovation and new ideas 50%
INVESTMENT IN TEAM DEVELOPMENT Days spent on working better as a team 42% Reviewing performance of the team 23% External support for the team 30% Planning to improve team effectiveness 26%
INCREASING IMPACT ON
TEAM PERFORMANCE
OUTSTANDING LEADERSHIP
TEAMS
How well do leadership teams perform on key drivers?
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 200%
5%
10%
15%
Number of drivers in place
% of organisations with drivers in place
% o
f org
anis
ation
s
Strength of team performance:
Weaker 25% Medium 46% Stronger 29%
Average = 11
Which are the strongest performing teams?
Organisations with higher income and more staff
CEO has long tenure and greater breadth
of experience
At least half are externally appointed
members
More than two thirds are post graduates
With a deputy CEO
or COO
Ethnically diverse
Conclusions
1. Leadership of behaviour and great team working are key drivers
Key improvement areas: valuing style and personality differences compromising stakeholder relations
2. Team meetings and leadership of strategy are next most important
Key improvement areas: using each other talents in meetings tracking achievement of strategic objectives innovation
3. Investment in team development is the weakest aspect
Learning how to do this better is the crucial issue for the future
Practical implications
1. Start by getting the right people on the team
2. Ensure a balance of internal and external appointments
3. Invest time in getting the group to work as a team
4. Strive to maintain reasonable stability in team membership
5. Discuss expectations of behaviour openly
6. Review team performance regularly
7. Agree ways of improving team performance
Table discussions
1. How do our findings compare with your experience of leadership teams?
2. What do you think is most important in strengthening charity leadership teams?
Key take way points
1. Effective leadership teams are crucial to impactful organisations
2. Getting skilled team players with strategic perspective on the team is the starting point
3. Focus on leadership of behaviour and team working to achieve outstanding performance
How to purchase a copy of Building Outstanding Leadership Teams
Visit the Directory of Social Change stand located in the King George III Suite - stand number 17
Email: publications@dsc.org.uk
Online: www.dsc.org.uk/bol
Tel: 0845 077 7707
ISBN – 978 1 906294 93 9
Price £40 Discounted price for charities £32
Helping charity leadership teams become more effective
Compass Partnership works with chief executives and directors to review team performance, coach teams to increase their effectiveness, and strengthen team relationships. We:
Conduct 360°assessments of the performance of your leadership team
Highlight strengths and weaknesses and pinpoint key actions to improve leadership team effectiveness
Deliver team coaching programmes to enhance team performance
Benchmark team performance with similar organisations.
Please contact Debbie Emerson on 01628 478561 or demerson@compassnet.co.uk to arrange a free confidential face-to-face discussion on how to enhance the performance of your leadership team.
The first investigation by Compass Partnership and Cass Business School looked in detail at the governance of the top 500 charities in the UK and identified the key drivers of governance effectiveness. Available from DSC via their website or by phone:
www.dsc.org.uk/guc
publications@dsc.org.uk
Tel: 0845 077 7707
Tel: 01628 478561 email: info@compassnet.co.uk
Publications Managing Without Profit, Mike Hudson, (DSC, 2009) sets out the theory and practice of creating highly successful nonprofit organisations.
Delivering Effective Governance, Mike Hudson, Jacinta Ashworth, (DSC 2012), identifies drivers of governance performance and highlights actions to achieve improvements in governance.
Building Outstanding Leadership Teams, Mike Hudson, Jacinta Ashworth, (DSC 2014) identifies key drivers of effective leadership teams and actions to improve their performance
Available from www.dsc.org.uk
Compass Partnership provides consultancy on the governance and management of independent civil society organisations.
Over the last 30 years we have worked with more than 800 organisations in health, social welfare, housing, education, international development, arts, religion and the environment.
We work with chairs and chief executives to strengthen governance, management and strategy and we strive always to be at the cutting edge of best practices.
Compass Partnership