Can You Automate Teamwork And Leadership?

I was intrigued recently to read of the release of the new Microsoft Teams and in particular the claim that it "facilitates....collaboration and allows people to come together", as this suggestion also got me thinking about the myriad of tools now available, whether they be apps., diagnostics or profiling tools, that suggest they can assist in the development and improvement of our teams.

Given this plethora of tools, what does concern me now, is the risk that some would be Leaders may be thinking that they can now 'outsource' or automate the development of their teams.

It is my view that great Leaders regularly bring their immediate teams together (even if that is via technology ) thus helping create an environment whereby the team members feel safe to have the open, honest, robust and REAL conversations - including sharing successes and misses, rewarding and recognising great performance and challenging any counterproductive behaviour. They keep focused on their purpose, and in fact use their purpose as the starting point for problem-solving, and have absolute clarity on what success looks like for that team - both behaviourally and commercially, and have means by which to track progress on those performance measures.

I have yet to see any app., web-based tool or diagnostic tool that can do all of this! I have however seen some great Leaders do this!

May I suggest that some of these tools could be terrific conversation starters. As a Leader, one of the great skills you will develop is starting or facilitating conversations with your team with evidence. I know there are a number of apps and diagnostic tools that can provide strong evidence, whether it be around staff engagement, or team profiles or even sales cycle times, but without the conversations and your teams regular and consistent engagement, this evidence will become redundant.

Leaders build great teams. Great Leaders build unstoppable teams. Fortunately, your direct and personal engagement is still the single most important element in this process.