We had some insightful discussions and concluded that whilst today’s challenges are significant, they are not entirely new. Every generation has experienced its’ own unique form of disruption and lived through wars, financial crises, industrial revolutions, periods of social unrest and fundamental shifts in employment practices. Organisations adapted, work forces evolved and new opportunities emerged. We have a tendency to believe that our current challenges are unprecedented, but history tells us that uncertainty has always been part of organisational life. However, what feels different at the moment is the pace and rate of change..

Previous generations often had decades to adapt to major changes. Today, advances in artificial intelligence, automation, digitalisation and global connectivity mean that disruption arrives faster and from multiple directions simultaneously. Political events in one part of the world can impact supply chains overnight and a technological breakthrough can potentially change a business model within months rather than years – this speed of change creates a sense of continuous chaos

But perhaps the most important questions for leaders is this; can we use capability to drive our organisation through the and should we be trying to eliminate chaos altogether? The answer to the second part of this question is probably, no.

A degree of uncertainty can actually be healthy as without pressure to change:

• organisations can become complacent
• innovation slows downs
• decision-making becomes cautious
• and organisations lose their ability to adapt.

Constructive tension often encourages creativity, collaboration and fresh thinking. Some of the greatest advances in science, engineering and industry have emerged because people were forced to solve difficult problems in turbulent conditions.

The challenge comes when chaos moves beyond healthy pressure and becomes overwhelming. Too much uncertainty on the other hand can lead to reactive decision making, employee burnout and a culture where people become focused on surviving rather than improving. When teams are constantly reacting to external events, capability development is often one of the first activities to be slip. Ironically, this is exactly when organisations need it most.

We need to try to get this delicate balance right. Successful organisations can’t ignore uncertainty, nor do they become consumed by it. Instead, they focus on building capabilities that enable them to face whatever comes next.

At our recent conference several capabilities consistently emerged as priorities. Strategic decision-making is as critical as ever, allowing leaders to make progress even when they don’t have all the answers whilst adaptability enables organisations to respond quickly to changing circumstances. Collaboration becomes increasingly important as complex problems demand expertise from across divisions and disciplines and resilience will support individuals and teams to maintain performance under pressure. Cyber security and digital capability are also becoming essential skills rather than specialist disciplines while emotional intelligence will always be key in helping leaders to bring their people with them through change.

Perhaps the most important leadership lesson though is that waiting for certainty is rarely an option. Great leaders do not necessarily know exactly what the future holds but they try to create clarity where they can, communicate with the workforce honestly about what they cannot control and help people take the next meaningful step forward. The organisations that thrive through uncertainty are not those that successfully predict every challenge, they are the ones that continuously build their capability to respond.

Chaos may be unavoidable, but capability is a choice and while the future may feel uncertain, investing in the skills, behaviours and leadership needed to navigate complexity remains one of the most reliable ways to build organisational success, whatever challenges lie ahead.

Contact us at hello@h2h.uk.com to find out more about our insights into driving capability through your chaos.

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This is not just a general workforce issue. The government’s own Diversity in UK Tech report (2025) found that professionals aged 50 and over make up 31% of the UK’s working-age population, yet only a fifth of the tech workforce, a gap it warns will make existing skills shortages worse if left unaddressed. Separate research from CW Jobs found that 41% of tech workers said they had encountered age discrimination at work. While we may assume ageism is something that happens to older workers alone, it is worth noting that the same research highlighted anecdotal reports of some employers favouring more experienced colleagues over younger talent.

The hidden assumptions that shape opportunity

Ageism rarely appears as explicit discrimination. It surfaces in the quiet shortcuts our brains take, the language we use and the stories we tell ourselves about what different age groups must be like. For example:

When assumptions are addressed they can materialize in the workplace as unbalanced workloads, who gets airtime in meetings, who gets trained, and ultimately who gets to belong. In an operational environment, where innovation depends on diverse thinking, these shortcuts can be especially costly.

Could age bias be going unnoticed in our everyday interactions?

Age‑coded behaviour often feels subtle, but its impact is anything but. People managers can start by observing and seeing if some of these behaviours are present across their teams.

• Meetings: Who speaks the most? Who gets interrupted? Are younger colleagues dismissed as naïve? Are older colleagues treated as blockers?
• Team dynamics: Do different age groups collaborate meaningfully, or do they cluster into generational silos?
• Job descriptions/adverts: Words like “digital native”, “high‑energy”, or “high potential” can quietly signal who is welcome.
• Performance conversations: Are expectations consistent across age groups, or do assumptions creep in?
• Development opportunities: Is training offered equitably, or do you assume some people are “not looking to grow”?
• Mentoring; Are you intentionally creating two‑way learning across generations?
• Systems and processes: What do your promotion, pay, and retention data reveal about age‑related trends?
• Challenge culture: Do people feel safe calling out age‑related assumptions when they hear them?

The challenging work begins when you ask:

Are the assumptions I’m making limiting opportunity, contribution, or belonging for people of different ages?

If the answer is “possibly”, then you have a starting point.

Age is the one characteristic that every single one of us will experience if we’re lucky. Unlike other protected characteristics, age is universal and dynamic and we all move through it.  In a world where careers span 50+ years, where people retrain multiple times, and where skills evolve at pace, organisations cannot afford to let outdated assumptions shape opportunity.

Creating an age‑inclusive workplace isn’t about treating everyone the same. It’s about intentionally designing environments where people at every life stage can contribute fully, grow meaningfully, and belong authentically.  As Harvard Business Review’s research on the multi-generational workplace suggests, generational distrust and ageism are seeping into organisations worldwide, with differences in communication style and technology preferences fuelling stereotypes that hurt team performance. It does not have to be this way. We are living and working longer. The question is whether our workplaces are evolving fast enough to match that reality.

If you would like an informal chat with us about what inclusion looks like in an operational environment then contact us at hello@h2h.uk.com or click here to request a call.

The study from Harvard Buisness Review is available to buy here or you can download their previous study on Unlocking the benefits of a multi-generational workforce here. 

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As with most conflict resolution situations, finding common ground is a good place to start. Here are three of the most common core beliefs we see show up across the multi-generational workforce and where some of the differences in expectations may lie.

1. We all want to be treated with respect

Most people want to be treated fairly at work and to feel that their views are taken seriously. For some, respect is shown by recognising experience and length of service. For others, it means being invited to contribute equally, regardless of role or title. Personality and preference also shape how respect is understood:  professional distance versus a more informal style and visible recognition of their efforts. Conflict can arise when one person feels dismissed by open challenge, while another feels overlooked when decisions are made without discussion. In both cases, the underlying value is the same, RESPECT, but people differ in how they expect it to be shown.

Top tip for Line Managers

Create a team agreement on respectful behaviours:  not a policy, but a short, co‑created set of norms everyone can stand behind.

2. We all want to do meaningful work

It’s fair to assume that most people arrive at work wanting to contribute and do well. Yet what “good work” looks like can differ significantly. For some, it’s the satisfaction of creating something durable. For others, it’s the immediate impact of seeing their work make a difference, or the fulfilment that comes from supporting colleagues and helping a team grow.

The language of “purpose” is sometimes dismissed as a modern or generational obsession. But perhaps it’s simply a refreshed way of expressing that we want to find meaning in the work we do.

Top tip for Line Managers

Ask individuals what “meaningful work” looks like to them. Keep outcomes consistent, but allow different working styles where possible

3. We all want to progress, not stagnate

Most people want to feel they’re moving forward in their work, not standing still. While it may seem that some are content doing the same tasks in the same way each day, almost everyone values some form of progress; even if they don’t label it as such. A lack of progression is one of the biggest drivers of turnover, disengagement, and burnout.  Progression, however, doesn’t have to follow the traditional path of promotions, titles, or hierarchy. Financial growth and increased stability are rarely unwelcome, but they’re only one form of advancement. Long‑standing team members may value increased autonomy and trust, while newer recruits may be more motivated by skill development and fresh experiences.  Career progression has never been one‑size‑fits‑all. It takes many shapes, and effective leaders recognise and support the version that matters most to each individual.

Top tip for Line Managers

Offer a menu of progression paths, for example: promotion, autonomy, project ownership, skill expansion, mentoring roles.

We all need to be careful not to frame these challenges purely as generational differences, as this risks oversimplifying human behaviour and reinforcing stereotypes. Multi-generational workplaces don’t succeed by erasing differences; they succeed by recognising the shared values beneath them and navigating individual preferences within them. When leaders do this well, they create better collaboration and more inclusive policies that genuinely work for all age groups.

Find out more from us and how we can help with the development of your people here or email us at hello@h2h.uk.com

This short article from Harvard Business Review also has some useful ideas and insights – Unlocking the benefits of multi-generational workplaces

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When done well the key principles of active listening, feedback and growth will help employees to align their personal development objectives with business goals and help the business to thrive.

Why is this so important in the STEM sector in particular?

It is well recognised that the ‘purely technical’ workplace is a thing of the past. Managers have often been appointed, in part due to their technical expertise and skill, but managing people is a whole other ball game and perhaps one where they might feel uncertain at times. People are of course complex and embedding coaching practices as part of your daily interactions with your team can make a real difference. In the innovative and experimental STEM sector a coaching culture approach supports cross-functional collaboration, encourages curiosity and perhaps most importantly helps teams navigate failure when it doesn’t go according to plan. Furthermore, the multi-generational dynamics of the workplace now require a more people-centric approach to leadership.

These need to be consistently deployed as part of everyday leadership – your BAU. This will enable all team members to have reflective and constructive conversations which support each other’s growth and help with problem solving. Many top-performing engineering teams now credit coaching with enhanced performance, higher morale and more efficient delivery. (see the recent h2h coaching case study)

Putting a coaching culture into practice takes time and a strategic approach, especially if this is something that is fairly new for your organisation. As is often the case, when the Senior Leadership Team leads by example, the chances of success are much improved. If your managers are unaware of the coaching fundamentals, training in what this looks and sounds like is a good place to start.  At h2h we often reference the  70-20-10 model which shows that 70% of the learning comes from experiential, on-the-job activities such as team meetings, project reviews, de-briefs and performance check-ins.

Being mindful of the various generational expectations and communications styles within your workforce is a good tip when trying to roll this out across the organisation. In fact, this approach may help you to bridge any age gaps and foster mutual respect.  Peer coaching programmes and sharing of cross-functional knowledge may be another avenue you choose to explore alongside reverse mentoring which can help to promote an inclusive and sustainable culture where all voices are heard. There are also several digital platforms, tool kits and tech solutions that you may want to look into if you need to scale this up across a large organisation and which can help you measure impact and track results.

Ultimately, engineering empathy through a coaching culture may just be your competitive advantage. From attracting great talent, in onboarding systems through to employee engagement and succession planning. It is the strategic option for businesses, particularly in the scientific and engineering sector, who want to future-proof their workforce, unlock innovation and build resilient, inclusive teams.

At h2h we offer a range of coaching services tailored to individual or organisational requirements, including:

• One-to-one coaching
• Transition coaching
• Team coaching
• Developing internal coaching capability

Contact us at: hello@h2h.uk.com for more information on our coaching services.

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Where Leaders Get It Wrong 

There are many different ways to dig into what’s behind that statistic but a recent e-Letter from Roy Lilley, a leading UK policy analyst in the health sector, recently suggested seven areas of concern (R. Lilley, NHSManagers.net e-Letter, 12 March 2026) which resonate even eleven years after the Gallup report. 

He says: 

This is the real risk…  

… when leaders align with power rather than the evidence…  

… when leaders are no longer the buffer between power, people and performance…  

… when leaders learn to protect themselves rather than confront uncomfortable truths… 

… when leader’s survival becomes more important than the purpose of the organisation… 

… when, leaders, over time, become skilled at not discussing the real problem… 

… when leaders are managing up and not managing the problem… 

… when leaders are complicit in poor decisions and upheaval becomes routine, instability becomes acceptable and decisions that once would have been challenged simply pass through… 

… when all that happens… 

… we have no need for leaders. 

This is a disturbing, but all too recognisable, “To Don’t” list for leaders with each failure enabling the next. I’m sure we can all think of specific leaders who have displayed one or more of these characteristics at one time or another.  

In his e-Letter, Roy Lilley goes on to contextualise the leadership failures for the healthcare settings on which he commentates. However, there is plenty to take from this for leaders in all sectors, by turning it into a positive “To Do” list.  

Turning That Into A To Do List For Leaders 

So here’s my seven point checklist for any leader who wants to add add value rather than render themselves superfluous by destroying it! 

1. Evidence can be scary when it challenges our current thinking, because the status quo has power. Use quality data, expertise and balanced, honest assessment from multiple sources, as a leader so that you can use even the most uncomfortable evidence in your decision making. 
2. Be the buffer that allows your team to perform, absorbing organisational pressures and power plays. Sometimes this means actively positioning yourself to absorb demands from above. 
3. If it feels uncomfortable, there’s something important going on, and uncovering that is your focus as a leader, rather than protecting yourself from that uncomfortable feeling. 
4. If there is a conflict between something that is good for you personally, and your organisation’s goals and purpose, you know what to do. As a leader in an organisation, sometimes you need to put your personal goals on one side. 
5. Create the psychologically safe environment around you that allows your team to engage with difficult conversations before they become crises. 
6. Spend your time solving problems and enabling your team to do the same rather than curating your appearance within the organisation.  

And finally… 

7. Speak truth to power. Maintain a habit of rigorous scrutiny that calls out poor decision making, especially where it leads to upheaval, rather than opting for a quiet life of compliance. 

Each of these leadership habits builds on the previous one creating an integrated set of principles that add value. Being principled often requires bravery, especially when that means challenging the status quo.  

Leadership Behaviours To Support This 

And what are the behaviours that will enable these habits? They are the ones that are at the heart of the best leadership development: emotional intelligence, ethical leadership, engagement and enablement, influencing with positive intent, and psychological safety.  

With emotional intelligence, leaders recognise discomfort as a signal rather than a threat, prompting them to put their own emotional response to one side initially.  

Ethical leadership requires a moral compass that requires leaders to use evidence openly and honestly, and challenge power-motivated decisions. 

When a leader is acting as a buffer and creating a psychologically safe workplace, they are driving engagement and enablement with their team. 

Leaders who manage the problem rather than their own reputation need to be able to exert 360 influence with positive intent without becoming political or self-serving. It is the intent that separates constructive challenge from careerism. 

Finally, psychological safety is a foundational thread running through the whole To Do list. Leaders who model their own willingness to embrace discomfort and learn from it, stand a much greater chance of creating climates that support these behaviours more widely. And when this climate is in place, it supports all the other behaviours in turn and a leader can truly add value to the experience of their employees and their organisation. 

Leadership needs people with minds that are open and curious, that are willing to grow and learn, so that they can continue to add value in a world that is changing more rapidly than ever, and presents us with new and unexpected challenges every day. That’s the route to tipping the scales towards the positive end of that 70% variance in engagement. 

 Contact us at hello@h2h.uk.com or click here to find out more about how we can help support and enable leadership capability across your organisation.

References 

Gallup. (2015). State of the American manager: Analytics and advice for leaders. Industrial Report Magazine, 2(1), 1-21.  

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Long gone are the days of one employer, one job and one career ladder, today people will often have at least 2 or 3 career changes over the life span of their working lives. However, in the last 5 years the world of work has shifted significantly due to rapid advances in technology, AI, the rise of flexible working and the multi-generational workplace. People are now looking for more variety and fluidity in their work and more balance in their lives, where multiple roles, part-time positions, freelance and side-hustles are combined to make up a portfolio career.

“I think more people of all ages will move towards portfolio careers and approach their working life with a more flexible attitude. With skills shortages impacting all industries – particularly STEM sectors – we will need to think differently about how to get the people we need in the roles that are so vital to the economy.” – Senior HR Leader

A portfolio career brings several benefits for the employee such as flexibility and autonomy which dovetails well with the emerging trend of more project based and part-time roles. This shift in approach is of particular appeal to those under 30 and can lead to an improved set of transferable skills and adaptability amongst this population. There are many articles on the benefits for individuals  such as this from Forbes on non-linear careers. However, this also needs to be counterbalanced with the flip side of the coin – potential instability, isolation and perhaps some push back from employers who may question commitment and reliability.

Advice is not so readily available for employers. So how can employers react to the emerging trend of the portfolio career and use this to their advantage? In a nutshell we cannot resist this shift and need to rethink traditional systems and practices in order to create an environment that attracts and retains multi-skilled professionals and embraces flexible talent models. Easy to say, but not so easy to do.

Organisations should consider the following:

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A recent study by LinkedIn and Microsoft which found that in 2025 even more people want to quit their jobs than did in 2021. The survey of 31,000 individuals across 31 countries has found that 46% of employees want to leave their jobs in the year ahead – more than the 40% in 2021. A further study undertaken by Universum identifies that 36% of highly skilled professionals in Europe are considering changing employers in 2025. Whilst various other sources are also indicating that those most likely to make the move are Millennials and Generation Z – the latter of which now make up over 27^% of the workforce in the UK.

So, what is driving this? There are of course a number of causes and trends but some of these are quite different from the ones at play in 2021. They include:

• The trend for employers requiring the workforce to be based in their place of work rather than working remotely or flexibly
• A lack of investment and/or reduced offering around training and development
• Limited career advancement opportunities and pathways
• Compensation concerns and reduction in salary increases and accompanying benefits
• Shifting workplace priorities that are often out of balance with individual needs for flexibility and work-life balance.

If you consider the main motivation and engagement factors at work for many millennial and gen Z employees, then many of the above are high in priority. Given that these age groups are projected to make up roughly two-thirds of the workforce within the next few years (Deloitte)  – what can be done to change the narrative and find a long -lasting solution?

UK based organisations are currently having to cope with the implications around minimum wage and NI contributions as well as changes to international tariffs. These are of course having a far-reaching impact on how business’s operate. However, you can try to monitor these trends and find solutions to improve retention and hold on to your employees if you can:

1. Re-enforce and promote the flexible working policies that do exist to ensure employees and prospective ones are aware of them. Evaluate the impact of different approaches so that the ones that work best are retained and benchmark what you are doing against competitors in order to stay informed of marketplace trends.
2. Develop line management capability and flexibility so leaders are agile and know how to get the best out of their teams. Provide clarity around flexible working and give managers some autonomy within their role to enact this as they know their people best.
3. Invest in focused career development. Developing clear career pathways can help with this, as can dedicated upskilling and technical/leadership development programmes that have a clear alignment with on-the-job activity.
4. Develop a creative and well promoted training and L & D offering. There are many different development approaches that can happen directly in the workplace and have limited upfront costs. These include mentoring schemes, shadowing, project opportunities, secondments and the use of subject matter experts.
5. Promote the employee offer. Ensure current and potential employees are clear on what is on offer to them in terms of wellbeing, flexibility, development and career growth.

If this blog resonates with you and you would like to find out more about potential solutions to The Next Great Resignation. Then take a look at the following pages of our website and explore how you can encourage your employees to stay through developing your line management capability, career development toolkits and increased training and development opportunities or contact us at enquiries@h2h.uk.com for an informal conversation.

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If you’re part of our leadership team, it can be useful to measure your effectiveness by how many decisions you are making together. Of course, we also come together for other reasons such as information sharing, developing strategy, collaboration, and problem solving. But as a leadership team, if we’re not making decisions, we’re probably not driving the business forward.

If you’d like your team to be making faster and better decisions together, you may want to consider some of the following tactics.

1. Agenda

The team I mentioned before had a very professional agenda. 2 pages long, it covered everything from operational matters for the here and now through to strategic planning for the next 5 years. Whilst all areas were touched on, many ended up being added to the agenda for the next meeting for follow up. They needed to prioritise. A useful starting point is to make sure that decisions that the team need to take together are put firmly at the centre of any agenda. This may well require us to sacrifice other items and find other ways of dealing with them in the sidelines. For absolute focus, make sure that the decision that is required to be made is stated clearly on the agenda itself.

2. Proposal

For any decision that needs to be made there should be a proposal that’s been prepared in advance. This may be by a specific team member or a sub team that’s worked on this before the meeting. They should be prepared to present a brief and compelling positioning for the decision that is being proposed. Supporting analysis should be shared in advance in a pre-read.

3. Pre-consult

In preparation for the meeting, the owner of the decision required should be pre-consulting with each of the team. As a result, they will know all the different concerns and points of view represented by different members. This enables them to present the full complexity of the decision required where every team member feels that their views have been considered and represented. Ideally, there will be no surprises in the meeting.

4. Chair

During the agenda item, the team member making the proposal will effectively facilitate conversation. It’s helpful for someone else to act as chair during this agenda item. Often this falls to the leader of the team. But if they have a significant role to play in the discussion it may be better for someone else to take this role. They hold the team to account for both how they work the decision, and also to ensure that the decision is made in the agreed time frame.

5. Visualise

Having done all this good work far too often teams then discover later that the decision and hasn’t followed through on – more than likely because not everyone agreed with the decision. Ensure absolute clarity by writing the decision that has been made in the meeting visually so that everybody can see and agree to it. Scan the room and if you doubt anyone’s buy in, call it.

I hope some of the brief thoughts here help you to drive decision making in your team. If you would like to find out more about how h2h can help you develop your team or teams in your organisation, contact us at enquiries@h2h.uk.com .

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I observe a lot of teams in action, and often I see the leader wrestling with the very same dilemma. They need the team to be faster and drive through on key priorities so, they apply pressure to make sure it happens. These ‘pace-setting’ leaders tend to bring superhuman energy, passion and focus to a project that can initially feel like a shot in the arm. They get close to the action and put an unremitting focus on business performance and the actions to deliver improvements, often bringing much needed short-term gains. They drive for more data and engage in its analysis to gain better insights. And as a result, team members work harder and harder to keep up with the leader’s scrutiny and requests. From a distance the team can appear to be dynamic game changers and yet more often than not business results are not sustained and the longer-term strategy suffers as the focus is dominated by shortfalls in the short to medium term. As progress lags behind the leader’s desire, they see no option but to apply more pressure and get into more detail, while feeling that their people aren’t up to the job. Team members in this environment often comment that they have no time to do their job and that they spend vast amounts of time ‘feeding the monster’. They feel micromanaged, undervalued and ultimately disengaged.

Leaders in this situation often approach me with comments, such as:

• ‘I need my team to step up and take responsibility.’
• ‘I want to see more passion and drive – I’m worried they wouldn’t move as fast if I wasn’t pulling them.’
• ‘I need to raise the capability of my team as they don’t know the answers to the questions I’m asking.’
• ‘I need to spend more time on strategy, but I can’t do this as the basics aren’t in place.’

If any of these resonate for you, it may be a good time to consider whether you may benefit from slowing down to speed up. In my tile cutting scenario, I achieved this by resisting the urge to push harder and instead focussing on 2 things – guidance and lubrication.  In a leadership context this will include:

Providing ‘guidance’

• Ensure clear understanding of what our stakeholders and customers expect from us
• Ensure clear accountabilities and matched expectations
• Ensure clear strategic direction that translates into priorities and milestones
• Monitor progress and course-correct, subject to the internal/external landscape
• Call out blockers, encouraging experimentation and risk taking within agreed boundaries

Providing ‘lubrication’

• Observe closely and provide high-frequency feedback to every team member
• Coach each team member to drive their performance and effectiveness, being careful to not solutionise for them
• Establish high challenge, high support team interactions, where all lead as required
• Ensure the team focus is on priorities and what is in the team’s control, deblocking and managing stakeholders as required
• Raise heads and encourage the heart by calling out the good and celebrating successes.

Putting our focus on ‘guidance and lubrication’ doesn’t mean that we are being softer. It means that we expect more from our team, holding them to account for doing the work. As with most things, this starts with us looking at how we need to change ourselves before we can enact changes in our team.

Changing leadership styles to suit the needs of your team can feel risky  so if you would like a sounding board on how to develop your approach and the performance of your team contact us at enquiries@h2h.uk.com .

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Pseudo-teams often come about because individuals report to the same person or sit in the same part of the organisation. Others may be a legacy of a historical purpose that is no longer relevant, or a well-meaning intent that lacks clarity. Pseudo-teams detract from the team members’ individual performance while delivering little joint benefit. If you suspect this may be the case for you, why not take 10 minutes at your next team meeting to ask all team members to rate the following on a scale of 1 to 10:

‘Our team meetings are compelling, energising and consequential.’

If the ratings range from low to middle of the road, it’s time to take action. The best place to start is to clarify why the team needs to exist at all.

CLARITY OF PURPOSE

Effective teams have an absolute clarity of purpose. They know why they exist, and this is challenging, valuable and unique. Their common purpose is compelling, creating a positive tension that means team members ‘have to be part of it’ – both energising and sustaining through the ups and downs. The purpose will clearly contribute to the longer-term objectives of the organisation. If you don’t already have a written purpose statement for your team, you might start with:

‘Our team exists in order to ……., so that …’

This simple but powerful statement can then be used to define further the remit of the team, it’s objectives and roadmap, which once developed, create a sharp focus on what you must deliver in the short and medium term. By understanding what you really need to achieve collectively, you are then able to evaluate the required team structure.

TEAM STRUCTURE

Effective teams are made up of those who are essential to the delivery of the teams’ purpose. Only as large as required (ideally 4 to 8 including the leader), they are each committed to the common purpose, with clear accountabilities and complimentary skills. So having established your team purpose, you can move on to discuss:

‘Who needs to be part of this team?’

Inclusion in such a purposeful team raises levels of engagement and motivation, where colleagues know that their strengths are essential to the team’s success and that their contribution is valued. The common purpose obliges the team to work together even when the going gets tough, and this underpins a commitment to mutual support that will sometimes include personal sacrifices for the greater good. There is of course a value in bringing everyone together to share information, consult and provide mutual support, but decoupling this from more specific strategic or operational teams, means that people feel included for a reason and that their time is valued. This approach establishes clarity of purpose and intentional team membership in order to create a group that can develop and learn how to work together effectively.

WAYS OF WORKING

Every team is different, shaped by the mindsets and behaviours of the leader and every team member. It is important to match expectations, understand preferences and constraints, and establish how the team will best work together. This includes the structural rhythms of how to communicate, make decisions, solve problems, and influence stakeholders. In addition, effective teams hold each other to account, manage uncertainty, take risks, challenge each other – all of this requires a level of healthy conflict which will not happen without a climate of trust. Effective teams take time to really get to know each other, understand their strengths and challenges, appreciate what makes each other tick, and give and receive, regular and constructive feedback.

If you want to grow trust and enhance ways of working together, a great place to start is by talking about how you are doing things rather than what you are doing. Why don’t you try committing some time at the end of each team meeting for every team member to share:

‘What’s working well…? Even better if…?’

Our hope is that applying some of ideas across your organisation will help you to enjoy the benefit of working in a truly effective team and avoid the trap of pseudo teams.

If you would like to find out more about how h2h can help you develop your team or teams in your organisation, contact us at enquiries@h2h.uk.com

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