Helping teams work better together

Think back to the teams you have worked on. What factors contributed to great teamwork and a great end result? What led to an awful experience and just as bad results? 

Through their Project Aristotle Research, Google found that the most important hallmark of effective teams is psychological safety. Harvard Business School professor Amy Edmondson who studies psychological safety, believes that teams with psychological safety have members who “are confident that candor and vulnerability are welcome in their workplace. They believe that they will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns or mistakes.” We in the PDC recently held a workshop on enhancing a feedback culture within teams and discussed the importance of psychological safety. We will continue to have this course regularly in the future.

Another piece of research we have come across is something that the Center for Creative Leadership found: whenever effective leadership happens, three things happen: Direction, Alignment and Commitment or DAC. The DAC model has helped so many people as a common, simple, way to think about how to lead teams effectively.

Direction – Does everyone on the team know the exact mission, vision and goals of the team?

Alignment – Does everyone know what their roles and responsibilities are for themselves, and those of the rest of the team? Can they understand how important their role is to the success of the team, and if they don’t do their job, how they could negatively impact others on the team?

Commitment – Is everyone giving their best at all times? Is everyone engaged in the work? And is the collective work and outcomes and success of the team more important than any one person’s individual success? 

If you and others on the team are able to think about those three things together, you’ll be well on your way to great things as a team. Just keep in mind however, the team needs to focus on all three. Unfortunately, it’s not like the Meatloaf song – you know, “two out of three ain’t bad” – you need to do all three.

The PDC will be holding a workshop on how to help teams work better together on October 30 at 12:45 p.m. If this interests you, please sign up here. If you have interest in learning more about developing DAC for your own team, department or unit specifically, reach out to the PDC and we can meet with you to discuss further. 

Go team!

Continue your professional development with the PDC:

Visit us online at pdc.wfu.edu
Register for our classes through Workday Learning
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Or, contact our professional staff:

William (Bill) Gentry (gentrywa@wfu.edu) – Director of the PDC and Learning & Development
Missy Campbell (campbem@wfu.edu) – Manager, Learning & Development
Melissa Clodfelter (clodfem@wfu.edu) – Assistant Vice President, Faculty & Staff Experience