David Burkus, a former business school professor and bestselling author, joins host Robert Glazer to discuss strategies for leading and building high-performing teams. They explore topics like adapting priorities during the pandemic, challenges of remote work, the paradox of work flexibility, creating a compelling vision, and the success of WD 40.
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Quick takeaways
Understanding and nurturing team culture enhances collaboration and performance.
Effective teamwork requires common understanding, psychological safety, and pro-social purpose.
Creating a successful team requires finding a balance between individual autonomy and team collaboration while emphasizing core values.
Deep dives
The Importance of Cultural Dynamics in Teamwork
The podcast episode emphasizes the significance of paying attention to the cultural dynamics, habits, norms, and behaviors within a team. The speaker highlights the role of these factors in team operations and suggests that they are often overlooked. By understanding and nurturing the team's culture, it becomes possible to enhance collaboration and performance.
The Shift Towards Remote Work and Flexibility
The podcast discusses the changes in the work landscape since the onset of the pandemic. It covers the shift from spending more time in a university setting to working directly with clients and organizations. The speaker emphasizes the importance of aligning one's schedule with personal priorities and making deliberate choices about work hours and flexibility. The episode also explores the challenges and opportunities presented by remote work and the need to strike a balance between virtual and in-person collaborations.
The Role of Team Habits, Psychological Safety, and Pro-Social Purpose
The podcast highlights three critical elements of effective teamwork: common understanding, psychological safety, and pro-social purpose. These aspects contribute to the team's culture and performance. Common understanding involves clear expectations and knowledge of team members' strengths and weaknesses. Psychological safety enables individuals to freely express opinions, take interpersonal risks, and contribute to the team's success. Pro-social purpose gives meaning to the team's work by emphasizing who is benefiting from their collective efforts. These elements foster collaboration, motivation, and overall team satisfaction.
Importance of deliberate decision-making in remote work
When it comes to transitioning to a fully remote company or implementing a hybrid model, it is crucial for organizations to make deliberate decisions rather than simply going with the flow. If organizations fail to be intentional in their approach, employees are likely to default to returning to the office for the majority of the workweek. While autonomy is important for top performers, there should also be a conversation about their accountability to the rest of the team. Standardizing job descriptions and performance appraisals can help hold individuals accountable to their team responsibilities and avoid giving too much power to employees seeking total flexibility in their work.
Balancing individual autonomy and team collaboration
Creating a successful team requires finding a balance between individual autonomy and team collaboration. Building a team around star players who are also great team players is ideal, but it is essential to establish a team culture that emphasizes collaboration, accountability, and purpose. It is important for leaders to differentiate between world-class individual performers and those who contribute positively to the team. By aligning decisions and actions with core values and emphasizing the value of psychological safety and learning from failures, organizations can cultivate a strong team culture that drives success.
Dr. David Burkus’ forward-thinking ideas and bestselling books help leaders build high performing, cohesive, engaged professional teams. A former business school professor, David now works with leaders from organizations across all industries, including PepsiCo, Fidelity, Adobe, and NASA--and he's also authored multiple bestselling books--including a new one, Best Team Ever, which published this year.
David joined host Robert Glazer on the Elevate Podcast to discuss the strategies for leading, developing, and building high-performing teams.
