04 Jun People and Strategic Partnerships
How many teams are you on at work?
Well according to HBR…the world of work is now a network of teams and surveys have reported people saying they are on a minimum of 5-6 teams at any one time. In order to be successful, you MUST be able to navigate these teams well. It does not matter how smart you are…or what position you hold……if you cannot work well with other members on your teams. Work is done with and through others.
So who do you need to build, strengthen or forge strategic partnerships with at work? Who in your organization has the most impact on the work you need to produce? Who in your heart do you know you should build a better relationship with? Which teams are most important to you in the work you need to accomplish?
Here are three tips to help you in the People and Strategic Partnerships Quadrant of the Agile Leader Matrix™
1) Map out the three most important tasks you do. Who is the person that touches that same work before you and the person who touches the work right after you? Start with them. Focus on building those relationships.
2) Look at the top three teams you are on individually. What kind of work does each team do? Does it get things done? Are decisions made there? Or is it informational only? IF work is getting done and decisions are being made…how can you get to know the people on that team better? IF you decided to devote some time to that…would it make the experience of being on that team better?
3) And here is a big one…where might you be an obstacle on any of those teams? We all assign an imaginary priority code to the teams we are on. Have a conversation with the members of your high priority list and make sure you are doing all you can to keep this team humming along. And then have a conversation with the members of those teams that are lower on your priority list to ensure you are not impeding their progress.
Remember people will only care how smart you are when you are helping to get things done…your “smartness” makes no difference to the team if you are stopping the team from getting results.
Now go be the best leader you can be!
~Kiki
Review part 1 of this series: Your Personal Professional Development Quadrant
Would would like a copy of my article: What’s Your Agility Ability? Send me an email at Kiki@PeakPerformanceLeader.com. I would love to share it with you.