Imbedding Strengths into How We Do Things Around Here

 
 
 

Either during or after the first Strengths workshop a team will have, I often get asked the question “what’s next?” and how to we make sure these conversations about strengths continue after today.

Below is a starter list of suggestions based on the last 10-years of coaching and seeing what has been successful in the organisations I have worked with. The most important people in this process are your team leaders. If they choose to adopt strengths as part of “how we do things around here” that will naturally flow down to their teams.

Senior leader sponsorship

  1. Have strengths and an update on the programme as a regular topic of your leadership team meetings

  2. When presenting to the team ensure you have your strengths on display or talk to your strengths

  3. Ensure you have are talking about strengths during your 1-1’s with your teams

 

Make strengths part of your inductions

  1. When a new team member starts automatically have them profiled

  2. For those who are office based, put their strengths on a tent card and place on their desks

  3. Ensure the Top 5 CliftonStrengths are on everyone’s e-mail signatures

  4. Within the first four weeks

    •  Have them complete the quick course to understand their profile

    • Get them to debrief their profile with their manager

  • Ask them which of their strengths they love.  Which of their strengths drives them crazy

  • Then share with them a strength of theirs you admire and a strength of theirs you will be mindful of

  • Then reverse the conversation

Make strengths part of the everyday conversation

  1. Introduce Strengths-Based Development questions at the start of every 1-1 (1) What is a recent success you have had and a strength you think that helped? (2) What is one challenge you have ahead and a strength you think could help you?

  2. Or leverage the check in template which can support a strengths-based regular 1-1 check in

  3. Support leadership development to move from Boss to Coach.  Training provides a link between strengths, engagement measure and performance development processes to incorporate into existing conversations (setting expectations, everyday feedback, check in meeting, development plan, progress review). 

  4. Incorporate into your existing forums

  • Introduce a new team member in your team huddle with their strengths profile on a ppt slide

  • Include a section in your team huddle where people get to talk about one of their strengths they love and how this supports a success they have had

  • For the Team Awards (they could be based on your company values if you have them), make reference to their strengths

 

Have a team strengths debrief

  1. Get each team member to review their Brings Needs report accessed through the team strengths grid (you can also do this exercise inter team).  Then give one sentence for the following questions to share with the team

    • You get the best of me when...

    • You get the worst of me when...

    • You can count on me to...

    • This is what I need from you...

  2. For any learning and development training, include strengths as part of the process and include the debrief questions

    • How does this activity enhance this groups effectiveness? 


    • Did anyone notice how your Strengths themes might have been leveraged in this activity?  If so, how? 


    • Did you observe anyone’s Strengths Themes in action during this activity.  If so, which ones? 


    • How does this activity reflect how the group communicates and collaborates? 


    • How might you leverage each other’s Strengths in a more intentional way in the future?

 

Build strengths into your development conversations

  1. Include a question in the process for each objective “Which strengths could help you achieve this objective?” “How could it help you?”

  2. Ensure team leaders have a specific objective tied back to the staff survey/engagement measure (if you are measuring at team leader level)

     

Train a strengths coach/champion

  1. The best way to imbed in an ongoing basis is through a specific 1-1 debrief conversation of their results.  This can be as short as 30 minutes

  2. Having an internally trained coach is a cost effective approach to embedding strengths within a team

  3. You can either train through the Strengths Network (Essentials course)  or Gallup’s Global Strengths Coach Course

  4. Create a People and Culture squad which leads and implements high performance team culture initiatives.  A draft PPO is below

 

Purpose

  • Implement the actions that come from the team health check/engagement survey.  Turn it into a timely and actionable measure

  • Increase stickability people and culture programmes and imbeds into “how we do things around here”

  • Lighten the load of the work needs to be done by getting more people involved

  • Shortens the feedback loop from each of the teams to know what is working and what needs to change

 

Process

  • Meet once a month for 1-hour

  • Be responsible for a calendar of activity (no more than one activity/focus area per month.  It should naturally fit into the activity at Caliber versus being seen as “another thing to do.”)

  • Discuss key initiatives and People and Culture plan for the next month, quarter, and year that can be recommended to the leadership team for their endorsement (may require someone from the People and Culture Squad to present at the Leadership Team meeting from time to time)

  • One person from each team to be included.   How can this be positioned as part of their development? 

  • Report back to their teams and encourage them to be involved

  • Areas of responsibility could include

    • Wellbeing

    • Team Health Check

    • Strengths

    • Values

    • Recognition/Appreciation

    • Communication

    • Implementation of Performance Development tools such as work in progress templates and profile tools Language of Appreciation, Learning Style, Communication

 

Outcome

  • Consistent implementation and integration of People and Culture tools that Caliber have invested in

  • Positive changes in the team health check measure (an input measure) to increase team performance (output measure).  Specific measures to focus on to be determined by the People and Culture Squad and aligned with the Leadership Team

 

Run interim team health check pulses to measure all the above

  1. Run every 6 months or 12 months, depending on how much time you will need to implement change based on results

  2. The beauty of running The Team Health Check gives you the What (where to focus) and the Why (what’s driving this performance).   The Team Strengths gives you the Who (the strengths of the team will influence the results) and the How (which skills do I call on to be able to address some of the key challenges)

  3. Tie the measure to a specific leadership performance objective for each team leader and include a review of the report/result as part of Progress Review conversations

Jason Biggs