What makes a team effective?

You can answer this as a teammate or leader. But, here are the questions for which everyone needs answers:

Does each player understand what his job is and understand how the team prospers when that job is done well?

Is there a premium placed on good, honest and transparent communication? Is all the information at hand to do each job well?

Is each person developing skills and abilities which increase her value to the team and to the world?

Do teammates respect each other and work to add to each other’s effectiveness?

Do we feel good about the services and products we provide? Do we have pride in what we do?

Is it easy to be on this team? Is it easy to do what is expected of me without stupid obstacles being in the way?

Honest answers to these questions identify areas where our teams can get better.

As the questions arise and shortcomings are identified, the place to best start fixing them is through discussion among your team.

Discuss it. Consider some options. Try something different. It’s the “lean” path to excellence.