Teams perform better when:
- Information flows free and fast.
- Accountability is clear and implicitly expected.
- Trust is high.
Teams perform better - and deliver strategy more effectively - on a foundation of strong relationships. But relationships to who?
On the left: Relationship strengths when a team leader tries to build connections, information flows, and work around themselves. This can create dense and strong relationships with direct reports. This is, all else being equal, a good thing.
On the right: Relationship strengths when a team leader focuses on building intra-team connections and workflows and steps into the background.
In a perfect world, we have both. The world isn’t perfect. Immediacy often forces prioritisation and difficult choices - the structure on the right has twice the relational strength and more strong relations per person.
So maybe, to get the strategy delivered on spec and on time - make it about them, not you.
