Here is today's quick question for you...​What happens if we wait?

Balancing prudent decision making and a bias for action can be tough, especially when under pressure. Understanding the impact of time can help navigate this challenge.

Ask it when you're...

1. Feeling the need for more data - Seeking more data can create the impression of safety or prudence, but what if the delay has other implications?

2. Sensing hesitation or conservatism from your colleagues - Getting others to acknowledge the impact of waiting can create greater understanding of the benefits and risks that waiting may produce.

3. In a team that rushes to decisions - This question may increase understanding of the benefits of a more considered approach. It may also create space for new information or dynamics to present themselves.

Here is today's quick question for you...​Who has the D?

If you’re familiar with the RAPID framework, you’ll know that the D is for Decide. I’ve seen so much time wasted, especially in cross-functional teams, because people are unsure who has the authority to make a decision. They don’t know who has the D.

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1. Establishing a cross-functional team - Understanding roles, responsibilities, and decision protocols up front will save you a lot of heartache down the track.

2. Feeling agitation among your colleagues - when frustrated by a lack of progress, team members will express, but may be unable to escape the vortex of indecision. This question may give them a path forward.

3. Making decisions with significant consequences - The weightier the decision, the greater the need for clarity on the D.

Here is today's quick question for you...​How do our values show up in our decision-making?

The quality of collective decision-making is coming up in many of my coaching conversations. Over the next 6 weeks, I’ll feature a series of questions designed to help you create the conditions for better decisions. Starting with values…

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1. Reflecting on the impact of past decisions - As an LT, your decisions send ripples throughout the organisation. People want to trust that your values are embedded in every call you make.

2. Making a hard call - The toughest decisions are often the ones that involve tension between values. Calling them out and describing how they’re showing up for each person can help navigate to an outcome.

3. Sensing groupthink - If it feels like your team is on a runaway train, pausing and anchoring back to values can help reorient the conversation.

Here is today's quick question for you...​How can we make recognition more meaningful in our team?

Ask it when you're...

1. Responding to disappointing engagement survey results - I wish I had a dollar for every time I read a team engagement survey that reported a need for different recognition! The key is to remember that it may be about ‘different’ rather than ‘more.

2. Focusing on retaining key people - According to McKinsey, nonfinancial recognition drives 55% of employee engagement, so understanding it from your team’s perspective is critical to retention.

3. Designing reward structures - Remember that Reward AND Recognition need to be considered in your design. Reward alone won’t do the job.

Here is today's quick question for you...​What feedback models are right for our team?

Hint: Does your team prefer Radical Candor? SBI? STAR? The S*it Sandwich?

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1. Building a new team - Context and experience are important considerations for choosing your team’s preferred feedback model, and this question helps identify a good match.

2. Introducing a performance culture - Feedback mechanisms tell your team a lot about your culture. Finding the right fit between your drivers and feedback processes will make transitioning to a performance culture much easier.

3. Sensing a lack of feedback across the team - If your preferred model doesn’t resonate with the team, they’re unlikely to use it. Try asking for input to find the model that fits.

Here is today's quick question for you...​How comfortable are we in giving each other feedback?

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1. Reflecting on team maturity - This question can help assess how well your team connects and whether any unsaid ‘elephants’ could hinder your progress.

2. Designing your team offsite - It can be helpful to push your team into areas of discomfort, but dangerous to go too far too soon. This question can help you establish a baseline.

3. Developing your L&D plan  - Perhaps your team could use some training on how to deliver (and receive) feedback more effectively. If that’s the case, I’d love to help. You can email me here.

Here is today's quick question for you...​What role does feedback play in our success?

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1. Developing a performance culture - Consider how you want to position feedback in the context of high performance. How do you want your team to think about giving and receiving it?

2. Establishing relationships with your customers - How might you establish two-way feedback as core to the success of your relationships with your customers?

3. Thinking about your team’s Learning & Development needs - What tools and skills will enable your team to give and receive feedback in a way that fuels your success?

Here is today's quick question for you...​Our plan isn’t working. What do we do now?

Ask it when you're...

1. Seeing poor response to your sales and marketing motion - You’ve set expectations. And probably thresholds or tolerances, too. The results just aren’t what they need to be. It’s time to stop, evaluate and iterate.

2. Losing key people - You thought you’d created a culture to retain your best people, but for some reason, they keep leaving. You won't know why unless you ask. (HOT TIP: If your answer is money, ask again!) And you won’t change things if you don’t change.

3. Hearing NO (or nothing) from potential investors  - Something about your pitch isn’t resonating. Getting feedback on why is often tough - but it’s always worth asking. Or at least look inwards to consider what could be going wrong and build a list of possible new approaches to experiment with.

Here is today's quick question for you...​What does good look like?

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1. Starting a new role - This is a great starting point for establishing expectations with your new people leader, peers and team members.

2. Reflecting on performance - Whether you’re reflecting on your success or that of others, starting with what good looks gives you a set of criteria to guide your thinking.

3. Setting goals  - When setting goals and objectives, it’s worth thinking about the difference between good and great and how you distinguish between them for your team.

Here is today's quick question for you...​How will we know we’re aligned?

Ask it when you're...

1. Agreeing on your plans - Groupthink and HIPPO (highest paid person’s opinion) can make it look like your team is aligned. Inviting a question about alignment can help mitigate these risks.

2. Transitioning from planning to action - You’ve created the plan, and now it’s time to make it happen. As that transition occurs, it can help to share insights on how you tend to react when you feel things are going off course.

3. Working with new people  - If you’ve never worked with someone before, it can be hard to read their signals. Curiosity is the answer to that problem. Try asking them how they typically express their commitment to a plan.

Here is today's quick question for you...​What do we expect from each other?

Ask it when you're...

1. Joining a new organisation or team  - When working together for the first time, there can be a whole range of unspoken expectations that, if not acknowledged, can become traps for the team down the track.

2. Navigating tension - If things start to feel tense in your team, sometimes that’s because your expectations of each other are not being met. Asking an open question like this can help uncover the source of the problem.

3. Establishing a new partnership  - New partnerships are exciting, and there can be a tendency to jump into the work without stopping to align on how you’d like to work together. For more insights on successful partnerships, check out Wednesday Partnership by Phil Hayes-St Clair.

Here is today's quick question for you...​What is holding us back from success?

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1. Not progressing at the desired pace  - While we might have some forward momentum, often we feel like “if only <this was different> we could go quicker. Having open conversations with the right people in the room may unlock the critical blockage.

2. Allocating resources - Imagine if you could throw money or people at your most important obstruction. The first step is making sure you agree on the problem. This question can help test your alignment.

3. Seeking input from your frontline team - Gaining access to the voice of your customer can help distil the most critical problems, and your frontline team can give you deep insights from their day-to-day interactions.

Here is today's quick question for you...​What will we do when priorities are unclear?

Ask it when you're...

1. Forming a cross-functional team  - Even the best-managed cross-functional project teams can find themselves at a crossroads where the ‘right decision’ is unclear. It’s helpful to plan how to handle it before it arises.

2. Getting to know a new boss - Understanding each other’s default behaviours under stress will help build trust in your relationship.

3. Delegating significant new responsibilities  - When you have a team member stepping up into something new, making it clear how you’d like to handle confusion can reassure them and reduce stress.

Here is today's quick question for you...​How will we stay anchored to our north star?

Ask it when you're...

1. Anticipating or experiencing drift - If you’ve got a niggle in your gut that says ‘the team feels is drifting from our purpose’, use this prompt to see if the team can reflect and self-regulate.

2. Merging teams - When 2 teams come together, a new north star may emerge. I can take time for everyone to connect to it. This question helps accelerate that connection.

3. Changing corporate structure  - If you’re switching to a new type of entity (e.g. from not-for-profit to profit-for-purpose), your focus will change. This question connects your original DNA to your new operations.

Here is today's quick question for you...​What are our most important measures of success?

Ask it when you're...

1. Looking at a draft list of goals  - Many teams are optimists. They impose unrealistic expectations on themselves and others in the name of ‘stretch’, ultimately demoralising everyone. If that sounds like your team, try asking this question when you’re setting goals.

2. Attempting to refocus your team - Shiny distractions can pull your team from the most important priorities throughout the year. This question can act as a circuit breaker when loud voices are shouting from an exciting but less important vantage point.

3. Reflecting on where you could spend your time this week  - When your list is longer than the time available, anchoring back to your measures of success can keep you on track.

Here is today's quick question for you...​How do we define performance?

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1. Setting new goals or OKRs  - It can be tempting to dive into detailed specifics of individual OKRs. Try starting with ‘the big question’ of what performance means to the team, and let the answers guide you into the specifics.

2. Defining your team values and culture - Aligning what performance means in the context of your culture can be a challenging yet rewarding process. It may reveal similarities and differences in the team that you were unaware of.

3. Reviewing progress  - Before jumping into ‘how did we go?’, it is helpful to revisit ‘what did we say was important’ to set the team up for a productive discussion.

Here is today's quick question for you...​How healthy is our team?

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1. Ready to guide your team to the next level  - Patrick Lencioni, of 5 Dysfunctions of a Team fame, suggests there are 4 traits of team health - Build Trust, Master Conflict, Achieve Commitment and Embrace Accountability. How does your team measure up?

2. Checking in on your team’s well-being - this is a great prompt to open up a conversation about health and well-being across the team. It can be used in 1-1s and in group settings too.

3. Reviewing your risk register  - This question can open the door to ensuring that burnout, stress and retention of key personnel are all included in your regular risk assessments.

Here is today's quick question for you...​What do we struggle to talk about?

Ask it when you're...

1. Reflecting on psychosocial safety  - What conversations do your team seem to find difficult? Which ones do they avoid altogether? Looking at what’s not working can create opportunities to build safety together.

2. Reviewing progress on a critical project - This is a helpful way to identify and manage potential risks.

3. Developing brand and marketing strategy - Taking the customer's perspective can create new insights into the places where you lack clarity in thinking and messaging.

Here is today's quick question for you...​Which conversations strengthen our team?

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1. Reflecting on your ways of working  - As your team drives for success, it’s important to reflect on which habits and rituals are helping you get there (and which ones aren’t!)

2. Wondering what’s missing - Sometimes, identifying the (important) conversations you’re not having can make the biggest difference to your team's effectiveness.

3. Comparing notes with peers - It can be helpful to have open conversations with peers about conversations that have forged new bonds in your respective teams. They may be able to offer new perspectives by sharing their experiences and analysing yours.

Quick Question: What does it mean (to us) to be a team?

Ask it when you're...

1. Introducing a new structure  - Uncertainty features in any restructure, no matter how small. New teams galvanise around shared values and principles - which emerge through understanding what it means to be a team.

2. Role modelling your desired leadership culture - Demonstrating a genuine desire to understand your team will help build a culture of openness and inclusivity.

3. Observing unhelpful behaviours  - In asking for high performance, you’re likely to see a range of behaviours in the team. Some are highly individualistic and perhaps even destructive. You can set the standard by aligning on what it means to be a team.