Great at Work: The Hidden Habits of Top Performers

by Morten T. Hansen

Key Points • A full 80 percent of respondents in our study acknowledged, “Leading teams effectively is really important in my job.” Whether as a leader or a participant, you achieve not alone, but with teams. • Much of a team’s joint work occurs in group meetings. Your team’s effectiveness and your own individual performance therefore hinge on the quality of those meetings. • Yet most people—69 percent according to one study—complain that their meetings aren’t productive. • In our study, many people struggled with two important aspects of team meetings. Some failed to hold rigorous “fights” or debates in which they explored ideas and scrutinized assumptions. Some also failed to commit to decisions once they were made and to work hard to implement them (to unite as a team). In either case, team meetings suffered, and an employee’s individual performance diminished. • To have a productive fight in meetings, pursue the following strategies, either as leader or participant: • Maximize diversity, not talent • Make it safe to speak up • Prod the quiet to speak • Show up as an advocate, not a salesperson • Ask nonleading questions. • To improve team unity, try the following: • Ensure everyone has a voice (being heard creates buy-in) • Commit, especially when you utterly disagree • Confront the prima donna • Sharpen the team goal • Stop playing office politics and get behind decisions.