3. Structure and Clarity: This refers to an individual’s understanding of job expectations, the process for fulfilling these expectations, and that one’s performance is important to the team’s effectiveness. Goals can be set at an individual or group level and must be specific, challenging, and attainable. Google often uses objectives and key results to help set and communicate short and long-term goals. 4. Meaning: Finding a sense of purpose in either the work itself or the output is important for team effectiveness. The meaning of work is personal and can vary: financial security, supporting family, helping the team succeed, self-expression, etc. 5. Impact: The results of one’s work, the subjective judgment that your work is making a difference is important for teams. Seeing that one’s work is contributing to the organization’s goals helps reveal impact.
The researchers at Google created these five survey statements for teams to gauge their effectiveness and facilitate discussion.
Psychological safety – “If I make a mistake on our team, it is not held against me.”
Dependability – “When my teammates say they’ll do something, they follow through with it.”
Structure and Clarity – “Our team has an effective decision - making process.”
Meaning – “The work I do for our team is meaningful to me.”
Impact – “I understand how our team’s work contributes to the organization’s goals.”
PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY: VULNERABILITY AHEAD
Harvard organizational behavioral scientist Amy Edmondson introduced the world to Psychological Safety. She explains it as “a shared belief held by members of a team that the team is safe for interpersonal risk taking.” Vulnerability is a key factor but it doesn’t mean team members have to share deeply personal details with one another. Here’s what it does mean. Let’s imagine what it would be like on a team where people felt safe to bring up difficult challenges, there was radical acceptance of individual d ifferences, asking for help wasn’t a risk, team members saw one another as success partners, and special gifts and talents were leveraged. Wouldn’t you want to be on that team?
In Amy Edmonson’s work she identified three simple things we all can do to improve in this area.
Frame the work as a learning problem...NOT an execution problem
Acknowledge your fallibility
Model the curiosity and ask lots of questions
10
Powered by FlippingBook