Squadify Connects

Power Bundle: introduction for coaches: working with the team leader

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Wed, 24 Jul 2024 03:15:14 +1000

Your team has started their power bundle journey. They've got their results from their Squadify team tracker and are now focused on the actions to close the gaps. So how do you best engage as the coach?

Power Bundle: introduction for coaches: launching the first TeamTracker

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Wed, 24 Jul 2024 03:02:36 +1000

We've so far covered how the power bundle works, and we hope you've also had a chance to connect with your team leader and or the team, or at least plan those meetings. Now it's time to launch the first Squadify team tracker. In this episode, we'll explore briefly the data, the report, how the individual and team debriefs run and making the actions work.

Power Bundle introduction for coaches: welcome

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Wed, 24 Jul 2024 02:48:06 +1000

Welcome to Squadify's Power Bundle, the data-driven approach led by you, the coach that will optimise team dynamics and deliver the outcomes that they want to achieve.

Power Bundle introduction for teams: getting the most from your coach

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Wed, 24 Jul 2024 02:32:30 +1000

You've started your power bundle, got your results from Squadify, and are focused on your actions to close the gaps. How do you best engage with your coach?

Power Bundle introduction for teams: your first team tracker

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Wed, 24 Jul 2024 02:20:47 +1000

We've covered already how the Power Bundle works, and with luck, you've also had a chance to connect with your coach. Now it's time to launch your first Squadify team tracker. In this episode, we'll explore briefly the data, the report, how the individual and team debrief run and making the actions work.

Power Bundle introduction for teams: welcome

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Wed, 24 Jul 2024 02:08:11 +1000

Welcome to Squadify Power Bundle, the data-driven approach with your very own coach that'll accelerate and optimise your team's dynamics and deliver the outcomes you want to achieve.

Sustaining success: Building your team leadership

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Mon, 25 Sep 2023 21:00:11 +1000

If you've been with us from the start. Congratulations. You have completed your workout. Almost a year of insights and experiments is complete, and we hope that it's been really beneficial to you and your team. But the journey doesn't quite end here.

Five secrets of high-performing teams: they invest in personal relationship

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Sun, 24 Sep 2023 21:00:00 +1000

Human beings are hardwired to be relational, but in the competitive, fast-paced world of business teams can become tunnel visioned into achieving tasks, delivering technical expertise, and in doing so sometimes creating friction and challenge in the dynamics. So what's the payback for investing on developing your work relationships?

Five secrets of high-performing teams: they have the ‘secret sauce’ of execution

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Sun, 24 Sep 2023 21:00:00 +1000

Average teams tend to work hard, but they're more reactive, more transactional and execution is often done by individuals, not the team. High performing teams deliver the most important things consistently, and they deliver together. There's a secret to doing this that will let you into in this Connect.

Five secrets of high-performing teams: they are safe, not just nice

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Sun, 24 Sep 2023 20:00:00 +1000

Good teams are often nice. You feel it. Everyone's friendly, meetings are smooth and people are polite. But these teams can be missing the ingredients of psychological safety that would actually accelerate their performance. What do the best teams do to build on the niceness to really deliver? We'll take a look at the theory and also share some Squadify client success stories about how they made the shift and the impact that it had.

Five secrets of high-performing teams: they are real teams

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Sat, 23 Sep 2023 20:00:00 +1000

In the next five Connects, we'll be drawing on the latest science and particularly sharing some insights from Squadify's almost 2 million data points to help to rapidly accelerate your own teams. We hope we can help you to take the guesswork out of teamwork.

Five secrets of high-performing teams: they have clarity at a whole different level

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Sat, 23 Sep 2023 20:00:00 +1000

Clarity for a team can be a challenge to nail down, particularly when there's internal change, external challenges, and even chaos, which seems to make it a moving target. It's easy enough to fall back onto individual KPIs and relegate the importance of team goals. But high-performing teams buck this trend and show a specific discipline to make success a shared experience by developing and reviewing a collective goal and plan. The Squadify global data proves that indeed these teams have clarity at a whole new level.

Building rockstar skills: Leading decision-making

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Tue, 19 Sep 2023 01:38:21 +1000

Decision-making can be a mysterious process in teams so here’s a template that you can use for Aligned Decision-Making to make things more transparent and to get better outcomes: https://7942349.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/7942349/Aligned%20Decision-Making%20(ADM)%20process%20.pdf

Building rockstar skills: Coaching

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Tue, 19 Sep 2023 01:26:36 +1000

Here’s a link to the work of the father of executive coaching, John Whitmore and his GROW model: https://www.performanceconsultants.com/grow-model

Building rockstar skills: Giving feedback

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Tue, 19 Sep 2023 01:12:45 +1000

This Connect once again uses the trusty 3Ws but this time in combination with EIC. Here are some resources to help you.
3Ws: https://7942349.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/7942349/1-Dec-12-2023-10-35-28-1287-AM.png
EIC feedback model: https://turningoverpebbles.wordpress.com/2018/04/13/want-to-improve-performance-effective-feedback-is-key/

Building rockstar skills: Having difficult conversations

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Tue, 19 Sep 2023 00:07:38 +1000

Things sometimes get a bit tricky so being able to lead difficult conversations can deliver better outcomes for all concerned.
Here are some useful resources to help you: https://7942349.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/7942349/1-Dec-12-2023-10-35-28-1287-AM.png

Building rockstar skills: Running effective meetings

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Mon, 18 Sep 2023 22:46:35 +1000

Your meetings should be specific, small, short and structured.
Here’s a link to the 3Ws to help with the structure: https://7942349.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/7942349/1-Dec-12-2023-10-35-28-1287-AM.png

Building rockstar skills: Facilitation

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Mon, 11 Sep 2023 20:33:26 +1000

This first in the mini-series on rockstar team skills, this Connect is on facilitation. It’s rare to see a team leader facilitating team discussions (and it’s challenging as they have their own say too!) but when it happens, it transforms the outputs and is more inclusive and engaging than yet another group conversation. For workshopping ideas, this is a very handy website: https://www.liberatingstructures.com/

Leading Change: Leading transformation

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Mon, 11 Sep 2023 20:15:54 +1000

John Kotter’s model on leading change is still a highly effective approach to change. It gives leaders the steps that, if followed will help team members accelerate through the change curve together. Take a deeper dive here: https://www.kotterinc.com/methodology/8-steps/

Leading Change: Creating solution-focused conversations in change

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Mon, 11 Sep 2023 20:00:13 +1000

The ability to have structured conversations that lead to good outcomes for everyone involved is a vital skill of a leader. This Connect explores how you can use the 3Ws structure to so this. Copy and paste this URL into your browser - 3Ws: https://7942349.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/7942349/1-Dec-12-2023-10-35-28-1287-AM.png

Leading Change: Psychological safety in change

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Mon, 11 Sep 2023 19:47:39 +1000

This Connect revisits Psychological Safety in the specific context of change. You can remind yourself of Timothy Clarke’s model here: https://psychsafety.co.uk/the-four-stages-of-psychological-safety/

Leading Change: How the brain works in change

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Mon, 11 Sep 2023 19:31:19 +1000

This Connect is about how the brain reacts to stress. For additional research on the ‘amydala hijack’ take a look here: https://www.healthline.com/health/stress/amygdala-hijack
For a deeper understanding of the sort of threats that may be perceived but the brain, check out the work of David Rock: https://www.mindtools.com/akswgc0/david-rocks-scarf-model

Leading Change: Understanding how people transition in change

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Mon, 04 Sep 2023 20:29:15 +1000

This week, we dive deeper into the human aspects of change using the Kubler-Ross change curve.You can find loads of resources here: https://www.ekrfoundation.org/5-stages-of-grief/change-curve/

Leading Change: The leader’s role in change

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Mon, 04 Sep 2023 18:42:58 +1000

Change is truly becoming a constant today. Navigating the journey of transformations, restructures and layoffs is difficult for any employee, but requires specific skills and behaviours to understand and lead both yourself and your team through the transition. This miniseries gives you a clear perspective on what change is, how to navigate it, and how to compassionately lead your team through it.

Execution: A healthy agile team

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Wed, 30 Aug 2023 02:57:20 +1000

Agile is not just a load of ceremonies and process. All the conditions for team success need to be in place to make it work. Use this simple guide to the 3Cs that is tuned for agile: https://7942349.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/7942349/3-Dec-12-2023-10-07-45-3937-AM.png

Execution: Experimentation

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Wed, 30 Aug 2023 02:48:05 +1000

So many challenges that teams take on today are new, so a crucial part of our agile approach is learning. Getting good at that will accelerate your team and give you better outcomes.

Execution: Leading a retro

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Wed, 30 Aug 2023 02:38:37 +1000

Some keys to a successful retro:

Give everyone a chance to reflect and have a set of points that they then share on a whiteboard or similar so that it’s not just the vocal folks like us that get a say
Secondly, keep working psychological safety. One of the best ways to do this is to set the tone, especially for question 2 – what didn’t go so well.
You lead the way – call out some things that you could have done better. That will clear the way for others to feel they can do the same.

Executing a sprint

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Wed, 30 Aug 2023 02:28:46 +1000

Your team is now really clear on what it's doing and crucially not doing in the month sprint. That lies ahead. This week, we're looking at what happens along the way to make the sprint a success.

Execution: Sprint planning

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Wed, 30 Aug 2023 02:00:54 +1000

This week we get into action and share the secrets of teams that plan and execute together with total transparency. There are sophisticated versions of this, but as you know us, we keep things very simple and we'll get you started as an agile team in just a few days.

Execution: Building your roadmap

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Tue, 29 Aug 2023 20:48:50 +1000

We've talked a lot about getting your clarity as a team really nailed down. And in this episode we'll take it to the next level. How can you maintain clarity of direction and also adapt as conditions change, and as you learn?

Execution: Why agile?

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Tue, 29 Aug 2023 20:46:24 +1000

Teams are here to get stuff done together. So this new miniseries on execution is going to be action packed, and we hope will become a key part of your leadership toolkit here at Squadify. We've built and work-tested a form of agile that any team can use to unite and accelerate. And we're gonna let you in on some of those secrets.

Building psychological safety: What Squadify data tells us about psychological safety

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Mon, 26 Jun 2023 21:09:38 +1000

When Squadify looked at the rankings of the specific team tracker questions from its global set of over 30,000 team members and then aligned it to Dr Timothy Clark's model of psychological safety, the findings were really enlightening. It's also incredibly useful for leaders navigating challenging environments today. So today's Connect aims to give laser focus to the specific things that leaders should be on the watch-out for, and how to differentiate between a nice culture and a psychologically safe one.

Building psychological safety: Challenger safety

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 01:40:33 +1000

It is being said that challenger safety democratizes innovation. That's a pretty powerful capacity to have in a team, and so we explore the practical tips and insights to make it happen.

Building psychological safety: Contributor safety

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 01:31:52 +1000

We've taken a look at making sure that team members are included and that they have the ability to learn. This week's Connect builds on that foundation and gets to the crucial part of being in a team when everyone feels able to make a difference.

Building psychological safety: Learner safety

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 01:22:13 +1000

Being able to grow and develop skills on the job is both motivating and helps the team to build the collective muscle to meet new challenges. But sometimes the fear of getting it wrong means that it's just not quite as safe as we may think to speak up.

Building psychological safety: Inclusion safety

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 01:13:26 +1000

Feeling included is a foundational part of our human D n A. We're actually hardwired to connect, and even our stress response is there to check for danger every few seconds. So creating inclusion in your team as early as possible is a key priority.

Building psychological safety: Why we need psychological safety

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 01:02:03 +1000

psychological safety could sound like a soft topic, and you might imagine that a psychologically safe team is a place where people are just nice, but there's an awful lot more to it than that.

Aligning the team through Clarity: Role clarity

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Sat, 17 Jun 2023 12:43:00 +1000

In a world where people support each other and share the workload, role clarity could look a little old fashioned and even a barrier to teamwork. But good fences make good neighbours, and role clarity and its interdependencies are actually at the heart of team success.

Aligning the team through Clarity: Strategies

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Wed, 17 May 2023 00:26:34 +1000

Strategy is a big word. Well, it isn't that big, but it can be very complex. But as you expect from us by now, we like to keep things simple. We've looked at why your team exists and what it wants to achieve. This week we look at how it will get there.

Aligning the team through Clarity: Measures

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Wed, 17 May 2023 00:24:47 +1000

You could be forgiven for thinking that this Connect is going to be mega dull, and for pressing play with that sinking sense of years of KPIs coming at you that make little sense, or you have no control. Have no fear; this is a great topic, and once mastered can have a huge impact on aligning your team.

Aligning the team through Clarity: Vision

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Wed, 17 May 2023 00:23:06 +1000

Warren Bennis a leading scholar and a key light in building effective organizations over this century once said Creating a compelling vision, one that takes people to a new place, and then translate that vision into reality. Once you have clarity on your why or purpose, the next step is to craft the vision of the destination that you are seeking.

Aligning the team through Clarity: Purpose

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Wed, 17 May 2023 00:21:17 +1000

Simon Sinek tells us that people don't buy what you do, they buy why you do it. And the same applies for people working in your team. Creating a sense of purpose, which provides meaning and alignment, is crucially important and the focus of our Connects today.

Aligning the team through Clarity: Outside in

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Tue, 09 May 2023 20:52:30 +1000

Before we start to build your clarity on a page, we need to make sure that it's anchored by an external focus. Your team needs to serve its stakeholders and know the context that it works in. Checking on that first will pay huge dividends down the line.

Aligning the team through Clarity: Clarity on a page

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Mon, 24 Apr 2023 23:06:56 +1000

We do a lot of work with teams of all kinds, and one thing we can say is that they think that they know what they're trying to achieve and how they will do it. But in fact, they generally don't. This Connects sets up the rest of this mini-series so that you can lead a team that is not just going places or being really busy, but knows where that place is and how they'll get there.

Aligning the team through Clarity: Leadership mindset

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Mon, 24 Apr 2023 22:58:19 +1000

Aligning your team behind a clear direction that everyone understands is motivated to achieve and can deliver to is probably one of the most fundamental keys to success, and also where a whole lot of challenges can lie. Welcome to today's connect, the first in a mini-series, focusing on alignment, bringing your people together, and helping them make sense of their work and actually achieving more.

Aligning the team through Clarity: Sigmoid Curve

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Mon, 24 Apr 2023 22:48:57 +1000

There's probably not a single business or organization on this planet that is just content to stay with the status quo. And given so many changes in our ways of working, markets and economies, you can really understand why. But making the actual change is often harder to do in your team. So understanding a visual journey to your next transformation is gonna be incredibly valuable to lead you and your team towards your vision.

Team leadership: Sustaining your own performance

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Tue, 18 Apr 2023 13:41:00 +1000

Hybrid work can be exhausting at times. Fatigue and burnout are two big factors to manage. So today we conclude our series on leading in hybrid by going back to you and making sure you are looking after number one okay.

Team leadership: Survive to Thrive – Hybrid hacks

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Tue, 18 Apr 2023 00:16:10 +1000

Working in hybrid and remote teams offers huge benefits in terms of flexibility, time saving, and availability of talent – not to mention the benefits for the environment. But leading in hybrid requires a few new skills, so we have three tips for you today based on our research with the London School of Economics.

Team leadership: Competence: your team code

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Tue, 04 Apr 2023 23:49:40 +1000

Teams are made up of individuals, but how they work together as a team makes a huge difference to performance. But what is that secret code of skills and behaviour that are going to make the team really work well together? That's what we're looking at this week; the last of the three Cs: competence.

Team leadership: Getting the climate right

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Tue, 04 Apr 2023 23:39:30 +1000

“Culture eats strategy for breakfast” is a well-known quote from management consultant Peter Drucker. You can have the best strategy and direction, but if your team aren't set up for success, it'll become really difficult to properly succeed. So this week's episode is focusing on our next condition for success: climate.

Team leadership: Building clarity

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Wed, 29 Mar 2023 01:05:17 +1100

"If you don't know where you're going, any way will take you there" said the Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland. So how do you make your direction so clear for a team that they all follow and are eager to follow the same path? Let's build on last week's episode and look at creating a clarity that is really compelling in your team.

Team leadership: The conditions for team success

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Wed, 29 Mar 2023 00:54:18 +1100

What difference would it make to your leadership if you knew that there were just three conditions that you need to focus on and could make your team incredibly successful?

Team leadership: Introduction

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Wed, 22 Mar 2023 02:11:59 +1100

Team leaders are leading in an environment today that has significantly changed in many ways. Being awesome at your skill or trade will only get you so far. So we are starting a mini-series of Connects, which over the following weeks will tackle the big rocks that team leaders need to get a handle on to really thrive in this new world of work.

Setting yourself up for success: Your Connects habit

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Wed, 15 Mar 2023 03:40:47 +1100

Transformation and evolution happens bit by bit. Today's Connect will set you up for success for the rest of your journey, so that you can achieve the change that you want for yourself, your team, and your organisation.

Setting yourself up for success: Time to do something … small

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Thu, 09 Feb 2023 03:25:42 +1100

Do you wake up in the middle of the night and add to your to-do list by your bedside, and that never ever ends. Hmm. And then maybe wonder why you feel burnt out.

Setting yourself up for success: Choosing your 'be'

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Thu, 09 Feb 2023 03:24:48 +1100

Ever feel worried that something you really want to go well, ooh, will just fail or go badly? Well, welcome to the world of self-fulfilling prophecies and how you can change them to deliver the success that you seek.

Setting yourself up for success: Starting at the beginning

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Thu, 09 Feb 2023 03:22:36 +1100

We're realizing that the only thing that we really have control of is yourself. But how do you actually do that and then really positively impact your leadership?

Setting yourself up for success: How to retro

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Thu, 09 Feb 2023 03:19:05 +1100

You've had a week to get clear on your circle of influence. Now you'll have a chance to take some time out to reflect on how it went.

Setting yourself up for success: Your leadership influence

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Thu, 09 Feb 2023 03:17:17 +1100

Things are a bit confusing and complex at the moment, and as a team leader you may be feeling that things are a little out of your control, but you may have more of a grip than you think.

Trailer: Welcome to Squadify Connects

Pia Lee and Dan Hammond — Thu, 17 Nov 2022 22:50:51 +1100

We know the challenges that teams and leaders face today. We've led team and have worked with thousands of team leaders from the shores of Tanzania to the floors of Silicon Valley.