Team Models – The Personalities That Create A Health Practice Team
Team Models – The Ideal Team Makeup
Search the internet for the ideal team makeup and you’ll find endless examples about team models. The team model will give you an understanding about how teams develop.
In sport and business and even in families, it’s really important to identify the types of roles that are played in teams and to understand when they are useful to us and when they are not.
The more I work in teams, the more I have come to understand that there are specific roles people play – even if they aren’t fully aware of it themselves. I have coined a few terms for these different personalities.
MOZZIES
Teams are built on energy. In all good teams – we need to have MOZZIES. They are the ones full of energy and one little buzz from the mozzie can make a lot of positive energy around you.
When the mozzie in your business is going well, it usually follows that the business is going well
SWINGERS
The swinger can go both ways … Negative to Positive. They are a good emotional barometer for where your team is.
When things are up the Swinger is really upbeat and positive, and this is the time to fan the flames of success.
When things aren’t so good they are really gloomy, and it’s best to take action quickly to correct the mood.
The mood of the swinger usually a good indicator of where you are at.
WATCHERS
The Watcher see things – they don’t necessarily contribute but they see everything that’s going on. They can be very canny and they can be useful. Ask them what’s going on in the team. What’s the mood like? What are they noticing? What needs attention?
Try to build trust with the watchers in your business and take them out for a coffee every now and again to find out what they’ve noticed about what’s happening in your practice.
MARTYRS
The Martyr will let you know all about how much work they are doing. They will be the one telling you they had to work late, they’ve got so much on their plate, they’re doing someone else’s job because they couldn’t do it… ‘I’ll do it if no one else will’. They often suck energy from the space they are in. It’s important to have people doing things… but not out of obligation. They have to be working from a place of wanting to contribute. Keep an eye on these ones…
BRICKS
Those team mates who do everything right 10 out of 10. They are the true tradesmen … very process oriented even if they lack initiative. Bricks enjoy ticking tasks off from the To-Do list. They play an important role in any team though because there’s always process tasks that need to be done – and the Bricks are the ones who are best for these jobs.
SABOTEURS
The Saboteur creates negative energy – as opposed to the Mozzies who have the positive vibe. They will be your devils advocate – creating division with the team. They are good at creating small cliques, sharing office gossip and speaking negatively of people.
The Saboteur will test your commitment to what you want. On the flip side – they can actually be good because they can force us to talk about the things that we don’t want to talk about (which might be an underperforming team member, or a terrible review from a client.)
A little bit in each of us
You probably already know someone who fits these descriptions, and if these personality types make up a team, it’s safe to say that there’s a bit of each of them in each one of us.
The Team Model and Your Practice – Where Do You Fit As The Owner?
How do you show up? Are you full of energy and consistency? Does your mood change often? Do you play Power Games? Do you have someone sitting on the sidelines just watching what happens? Is there a team member who constantly seems to be undermining you? Who are your trusted team members who get the job done consistently?
Check in with yourself, and bring the best version of you to the table, as often as you can.
Your team will be led by your example.
Til next time
Brian
