We Are All in This Together

If you are committed to accomplishing extraordinary results, chances are good that you will need to collaborate with others. IdeaChampions posted some weeks ago a

Team Reality Check

Most people's experience of being on a team -- especially those who work in large companies -- is less-than-ideal, filled with frustration, power struggles, and the belief that it's not worth the effort.

OK. Those days are over. No matter how disappointing your experience of teamwork may have been in the past, it's never too late to turn things around. And it all begins with AWARENESS -- tuning into what's actually going on with you and your team.

That awareness can start by taking the IdeaChampions Team Reality Check below or online at their site.

On a scale of 1-5 (with "5" being the highest possible score), please rate the team you work most closely with on each of the following indicators of success:

1. Clear about it’s mission?	1	2	3	4	5
2. Aligned about roles and responsibilities?	1	2	3	4	5
3. Communicating effectively?	1	2	3	4	5
4. Freely sharing information?	1	2	3	4	5
5. Trusting each other?	1	2	3	4	5
6. Making the best use of conference calls?	1	2	3	4	5
7. Enjoying the process of being on a team?	1	2	3	4	5
8. Free of blame-making and gossip?	1	2	3	4	5
9. Going the extra yard?	1	2	3	4	5
10. Free of group think?	1	2	3	4	5
11. Giving and receiving feedback to and from each other?	1	2	3	4	5
12. Keeping its commitments?	1	2	3	4	5
13. Collaborating effectively?	1	2	3	4	5
14. Diverse enough?	1	2	3	4	5
15. Thinking creatively about its goals and challenges?	1	2	3	4	5
16. Celebrating its successes?	1	2	3	4	5
17. Sharing best practices and lessons learned?	1	2	3	4	5
18. Equally accountable for results?	1	2	3	4	5
19. Getting the support it needs?	1	2	3	4	5
20. Aligned about its mission?	1	2	3	4	5
21. Operating under clearly defined agreements?	1	2	3	4	5
22. Able to make wise decisions in a timely way?	1	2	3	4	5
23. Speaking its truth with each other?	1	2	3	4	5
24. Truly motivated?	1	2	3	4	5
25. Learning from mistakes and breakdowns?	1	2	3	4	5
26. Asking for what it needs?	1	2	3	4	5
27. Being strategic? Planning ahead?	1	2	3	4	5
28. Flexible and adaptive?	1	2	3	4	5
29. Making best use of email and online collaboration tools?	1	2	3	4	5
30. Taking full responsibility for creating extraordinary results?	1	2	3	4	5
31. Connecting as human beings, not just “task-doers”?	1	2	3	4	5
32. Making best use of outside resources?	1	2	3	4	5
33. Listening to each other?	1	2	3	4	5
34. Focused on results?	1	2	3	4	5
35. Resolving interpersonal breakdowns in a timely way?	1	2	3	4	5
36. Confident about being able to accomplish it’s mission?	1	2	3	4	5
37. Meeting frequently enough?	1	2	3	4	5
38. Succeeding in its mission?	1	2	3	4	5
39. In sync about how and what it communicates to others?	1	2	3	4	5
40. Committed to a process of becoming a high performing team?	1	2	3	4	5

The questionnaire will help you find the strong areas of your team as well as the areas that need further development. Remember to be honest with answers.

IdeaChampions should soon be posting their results of the online poll, with hints to help you and your team get into deep dialogue about what it will take to really collaborate in 2009. I'll post that link here when it is available.

Picture by lumaxart