Working better, together

How to create the best team culture through mindset, communication and behaviour shifts in order to increase

your team’s performance potential

“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change

their minds cannot change anything.” - George Bernard Shaw

DEBORAHKEEP.COM PAGE 1

About DeborahDeborah is passionate about driving home the critical importance of communication mastery within leadership, and the effect that outstanding influencing skills have on team performance and client relations.

With over fourteen years experience in educating leaders about mindset and behaviour, Deborah specialises in the area of culture, leadership and performance. She loves helping leaders leverage the inflection points, the critical moments they have to influence and to create and maintain an environment that their team wants to perform well in and one that is engaged, empowered and accountable.

Copyright and Disclaimer

Copy this the right way. You have permission to post this, email this, print this and pass it along for free to anyone you like, as long you make no changes or edits to its original contents or digital format. We reserve the right to bind it and sell it as a real book.

We care, but you’re responsible. This white paper is general in nature and not meant to replace any specific advice. Please be sure to take specialist advice before taking on any of the ideas. Deborah Keep disclaims all and any liability to any persons whatsoever in respect of anything done by any person in reliance, whether in whole or in part, on this white paper.

DEBORAHKEEP.COM PAGE 2

Introduction

This white paper explores the critical elements to increasing your success as a team, and to create the team culture that you aspire to have through mindset, communication and behavioural shifts.

The ultimate goal is an environment:

- where individual and team performance potential is identified, and a clear vision and purpose is established that the whole team buys into

- where the team optimises their current resources, processes and opportunities and thereby increases individual and team effectiveness

- where leaders and teams utilise key influencing strategies to maximise team and stakeholder interactions

- where the leader and team drives an accountable and collaborative culture, promoting and adopting mindsets of possibility and ownership

- where strategies of engagement are applied so that people do their best work in a silo free, collaborative environment

However, it is a well known statistic these days that engagement within the workplace is at a continuous low, with Gallup surveys showing 70% as common figure for employees that are “not engaged” or ‘actively disengaged’ at work.

The fact is that many people are surviving and not thriving. This white paper explores solutions to the key challenges and goals for your team and its performance and results.

DEBORAHKEEP.COM PAGE 3

Three common obstacles in getting the best out of your team

Three of the common obstacles in getting the best out of your team are outlined below:

• Silos across teams create barriers and blocks which lead to frustration, duplication of work, or sub standard work because people lack the clarity as to who does what and how it should be done. In addition, the overall purpose, or ‘why,’ for the team and the organisation is muted. I have worked with countless teams that admit that they are unaware of what other team or division roles are and who to go to for what. They agree that effectiveness is significantly compromised due to lack of clarity in processes and roles. The term ‘black hole’ is a frequent one, as many teams do not know where their work, input or ideas actually end up. The feeling has been compared to being that of a mouse on a wheel - there is large energy consumption and effort, but little effectiveness, progress or direction.

• Lack of team and stakeholder influence can inflict damage on relationship building and collaboration. When a leader or team members use the same influencing techniques to get different results, little changes or happens at all. If there is no investment in communication skills, there will be less impact on the performance and results of a team. The knock on effect is that the customer or client can suffer.

• Disengaged team members and their negative emotions impede the performance of the team as a whole and affects the results of the organisation. Again, the current statistics around employee wellbeing and stress are all too common now, with 70% of the workforce reportedly disengaged and 20% suffering from mental health issues, a statistic from the Australian Bureau of Statistics National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing. This will all have a knock on effect for the team and the team culture as a whole.

DEBORAHKEEP.COM PAGE 4

Shifting to a culture of high proficiency and engagement

This model tracks the difference between high proficiency and high engagement versus low on a continuum. Starting at the bottom, if a team feels paralysed, they feel the futility of their input, and therefore are characterised by contributing just the bare bones of performance compared to what they really are capable of. Morale in this situation will be very low, and the team may experience high turnover and a general mood of despondency. This team would be very removed from knowing their purpose or contribution to the overall work and goal of the organisation. It will also impact other teams, and any potential high performers by creating an unintentional but nonetheless toxic environment.

When teams are demoralised, they may have a common bond between themselves but not to other teams or divisions or the corporation as a whole. They may also lack a bond to the leader, and the leader may well struggle to get unity and high performance from the team. Negative emotions dominate, and affect performance overall. Team members are also extremely unlikely to be going home satisfied and waking up looking forward to embracing another work day. Their mindset and behaviour will reflect this and consequently their performance will suffer, something that the leader will find themselves spending a disproportionate amount of time on consequent issues.

If a team is distracted, the desire to work better together is there, but the lack of direction is both obvious and disruptive. High potential is in existence, yet the elements of distraction serve to interrupt performance. An environment of wasted time, gossip, guesswork and negative mindsets can prevail.

DEBORAHKEEP.COM PAGE 5

These three characteristics of a team can either be obvious, or hidden, which for the leader can be incredibly challenging to identify and then trouble shoot the issues that the team are facing.

The tipping point, that critical point that will take a team over the line and have them characterised as either empowered, connected or pumped, all really boils down to masterful communication.

An empowered team is one that owns their performance and results, and feel the benefits of functioning as a solid team. There are limited blocks to their effectiveness, and the ones that do exist are dealt with through communication, clarity and collaboration.

A connected team is one that feels not only connected to themselves as a unit, but also to other teams and divisions, and to the organisation as a whole. Alliance helps foster an accountable culture that has a mindset of belief and purpose as its core. The members in the team feel validated by each other and by their leader, and trust prevails.

A team that is pumped is both highly engaged and highly productive. It looks after itself, the leader can trust it to perform beyond expectations and to trouble shoot when required with responsibility. Teams in this end of the continuum tend to work in full flow, and are very self aware both internally and externally.

Where would you place your teams on this continuum?

Model to demonstrate how you, the leader, can Shape, Sustain and Surpass a culture of high proficiency and high engagement:

DEBORAHKEEP.COM PAGE 6

The model on the previous page explores how you can Shape, Sustain and Surpass a culture of high proficiency and high engagement.

SHAPEAs a leader, it’s vital to shape the culture you want by defining what mindset and behaviours are needed in order to reach it, and by reinforcing the ground rules and expectations that are non variables. You should share your vision and compare that to the current state of play so that everyone is clear what needs to be done. The ‘why’ of this should be clear to everyone. For those that are paralysed, demoralised and distracted, this is still a vital message to be driving on a continuous basis.

To help shape the culture you want and avoid the potential negative responses or resistance to sudden change, one of the approaches recommended is that of Kaizen.

Kaizen is a productivity philosophy. The essence of Kaizen is slow, small steps. Embracing a Kaizen approach gives a sense of ownership, accountability, commitment and the bigger picture perspective. It also promotes a culture that is proactive in looking for and fixing any issues so that work is rewarded for its quality and not quantity. 

SUSTAINOnce you shape the culture and make the first initial steps to proficiency or engagement to change, you need to ensure that it continues by demonstrating your belief and investment in it. There may be employees who are used to seeing new initiatives come and go, so prove that this one is here to stay by a non-stop reinforcement of the message. You’ll start to see some shifts in mindset and behaviour, and more team members moving up the high proficiency and engagement scale. This will have a ripple effect as peers will also notice new attitudes across the team.

SURPASSThe ultimate goal is to hit that stage where your team can run themselves without you there. This is when you know you’ve surpassed your culture change goal, not to mention the productivity and efficiency will show continuous improvement. The team will behave like a close community, making collective decisions for the greater good.

DEBORAHKEEP.COM PAGE 7

Exploring the model further along the bottom axis:

Let’s start with you

SHAPE: Define your culture - here you set the boundaries, the expectations and the vision. Everyone needs to know the ground rules along with case studies demonstrating what is possible. SUSTAIN: Lead by example - reinforce and remind everyone through personal involvement, asking the right questions, listening with awareness and solution focused thinking.SURPASS: Trust and honesty are key characteristics - and a product of visionary thinking and actions, purposeful language and influence, and demonstrations of vulnerability. These all help break down any ‘us and them’ barriers. Stories can be used here as a very effective way to build trust, demonstrate your human factor and create a culture where it’s not only ok, but expected, to talk about failures or problems and how they were handled.

Now let’s discuss your team members

SHAPE: Educate, involve and self-assess - engage them in the process of establishing where they are now in terms of proficiency and engagement and where they need to get to.SUSTAIN: Adopt a new collective mindset - understand the role of mindset, emotions and neuro factors in what drives their thinking and behaviour and being conscious of how they are showing up.SURPASS: Ability to have hard peer-to-peer conversations - absence of defensiveness, distrust and barriers across the team.

And finally the team unit itself

SHAPE: Make current team productivity public - create visibility and start visible progress.SUSTAIN: Regular touch points are the norm - transparent progress meetings and input from everyone are acknowledged to be vital to the culture change journey.SURPASS: Team is pumped and in flow - the ultimate goal.

DEBORAHKEEP.COM PAGE 8

The critical elements

The journey to a highly proficient and engaged team involves a shift in how the group thinks and acts, and require its leaders to demonstrate their belief that it is possible.

With the right leadership and approach, any shift in culture can be changed. Michael Cheika (Australia’s rugby union coach) is a great recent example of someone who transformed a culture and consequently performance, that of the Wallabies, into an accountable, proud and high performing team within just 12 months.

The critical elements to consider are Communication, Clarity and Collaboration.

DEBORAHKEEP.COM PAGE 9

Communication

Essential communication skills allows the leader and team to become more masterful at influencing, listening and understanding. If each team member can become skilled at seeing each situation from another side, if they can become more self-aware, if they can identify issues before they arise and know how to have hard conversations with positive outcomes, then the role of communication becomes the cornerstone for a shift in culture.

“The single biggest problem within communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” George Bernard Shaw  

DEBORAHKEEP.COM PAGE 10

Clarity

With clarity becomes a smooth, slick and streamlined operation. Each team member understands and has bought into the overall goals, vision and purpose of their work, and are aware and reminded on a frequent basis of their contribution. This in turn creates fulfillment and respect. Clarity is achieved through transparency and trust, and also through highlighting any blind spots that a team member may have.

“To know what you know and what you do not know, that is true knowledge.” – Confucius

DEBORAHKEEP.COM PAGE 11

Collaboration

With collaboration comes the breakdown of silos and barriers, blocks within communication and within teams. Team members learn how to work with and not against each other, the organisation adopts a more open door policy and communication becomes two way and multi directional. Team briefs for both the good stuff and the bad stuff become commonplace and people are able to talk freely in the safe environment that is created. Fraction and friction cease to exist. The pool of knowledge, skill and experience within a team can often be overlooked as employees become pigeonholed into their role and silos prevent collaboration.

As the leader, you need to actively involve your current team and ensure you are fully resourcing the human power that exists. It starts with the basics - asking the right questions, listen masterfully and practice some perspective taking to really experience life from their shoes.

“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” – Henry Ford

DEBORAHKEEP.COM PAGE 12

Communication and Clarity creates Proficiency:

No more mice on the wheel - the team has a crystal clear remit and regular debriefs to stay on track and address any negative emotions, mindsets or thoughts.

Clarity and Collaboration creates Productivity:

No more black holes - each team member is willing to give it their all to be the team that is working to the best of their ability.

Collaboration and Communication creates Progress:

Progress needs the right mindset, and this is one of solution focused thinking. Often people are unaware that they have a choice in how they think or act. This model below highlights a mindset continuum that may exist to some degree within your team.

DEBORAHKEEP.COM PAGE 13

The Mindset Model:

When people are choice oblivious, their mindset may be of ‘inaction.’ This is when they are reactive to what is going on around them or to them, as they don’t believe, or are unaware that they do have a choice. They often see themselves as the victim, or the one to whom things always happen to.

When someone’s mindset is of ‘cynicism.’ they are very defensive and skeptical of any potentially positive intentions. They lack believe that any new initiative will work or will last.

When someone is ‘self-absorbed,’ they fail to see beyond their own world or reality. Everything is about themselves. They almost forget the bigger world out there.

A ‘renegade’ is someone who is anti-establishment, anti-rules and regulations, and anti-hierarchy. They protect themselves by wearing this impenetrable armour.

Moving to the other side, where people are Choice Conscious, they operate from a mindset of ‘ownership,’ where they know they can interpret their reality intentionally.

A mindset of ‘belief’ helps reframe someone to focus on positive outcomes and choices, and there is a realisation that collective belief can drive any change.

When someone becomes ‘aware’ they see a whole new world out there, out of their own head. New options and possibilities and perspectives can arise out of this mindset.

Your ‘ambassadors’ are key to driving any initiative, and they help break down any renegades or cynics by being on their level but demonstrating the positives of changing behaviours and thinking.

DEBORAHKEEP.COM PAGE 14

Conclusion

Teams that GLIDE soar above and beyond their potential. Is your team working to its fullest performance and potential? If not, what is that worth to you as the leader and the organisation as a whole?

By focusing on communication, influence and performance, personal and professional capability can’t help but increase and benefit the entire team, division and organisation as a whole. Questions to consider:

• Are your leaders finding it challenging to influence the performance they need from their teams?• Is getting the best out of everyone feeling a bit of a pipe dream at the present time?• Are expectations for results still high despite resources being low?• Are there communication blocks or silos impeding a strong performance within your organisation?• Is there a need for a cultural shift to a more open and collaborative environment?• Could your leaders and teams benefit from more clarity in purpose and vision?• Is there a lack of stakeholder influence prevalent within your teams or divisions?• Do you need to move your teams from paraylsis to being a highly performing and connected unit?• Are your leaders spending most of their time putting out fires as opposed to developing effective and sustainable practices?• Is engagement and productivity suffering at the cost of time, skills and resource constraints?

“I define connection as the energy that exists between people when they feel seen, heard and valued; when they can give and receive without judgement; and when they derive sustenance and strength

from the relationship.” – Brene Brown

DEBORAHKEEP.COM PAGE 15

How Deborah can help with the GLIDE programme

The GLIDE programme helps teams work better, together.

Within today’s climate of constant change, it is more critical than ever before for teams to be able to

communicate, have clarity and collaborate to continue to get the results they need and want.

Through identifying and maximising the inflection points within the communication flow across a team or

organisation, leaders and teams learn how to leverage resources, talent and engagement. This results in an environment where teams are empowered, effective and connected, and consequently where they take their

performance to the next level

  

Teams that GLIDE soar above and beyond their potential

DEBORAHKEEP.COM PAGE 16

The modular programme, ideally run over 3 - 6 months

to help engage, embed and expand the learning, covers

the following key areas:

‣ GROWTH - identify individual & team performance potential, & establish a clear vision & purpose that the

whole team will buy into

‣ LEVERAGE - optimise your current resources, processes

and opportunities

‣ IMPACT - apply key influencing strategies to maximise

team and stakeholder interactions

‣ DRIVE - Drive an accountable and collaborative

culture, promoting mindsets of possibility

‣ ENGAGEMENT - strategies to sustain engagement so

that people do their best work

Contact Deborah at deborah@deborahkeep.com for

more info or to book in a complimentary introductory

session.

“I had been working with Deborah for a few months

on a personal and professional coaching level, and

very soon enlisted her services to train our National Field Team of over 120 people to “communicate with

impact”.  Deb’s tag-line of “Helping Leaders Lead Better and Teams Work Better, Together” could not

be more true. She presented a program to our field

team which had the impact I wanted – an increase in confidence, communication skills and capability,

from not only a work basis but also filtering into people’s personal lives and wellbeing.”

National Field Operations Manager