Building a unified team vision

One of the things I work with senior leadership teams on is helping them define and create a blueprint to actualise a unified vision collectively as a team.

A unified team vision at any level, especially at the top is one of the most critical defining success parameters for any organisation. This is what makes a group a team.

What is a unified team vision and why is it so important?

A unified vision is a desired mental picture of future success that all team members hold together. Vision starts from the desire within which guides us to grow and improvise. It embodies the hopes and ideals of each member of the team. It provides a sense of purpose and clarity in direction and the path forward.

While many teams I have encountered do this quite well organically; maybe because they exist in a solid culture or the leaders inherently knew how to do this, there are quite a few who still do not get it. Sometimes their vision is too fragmented; maybe the whole team is only riding on the vision of a couple of people and does not take into account the team or organisation as a whole.

That is not an inclusive vision. Maybe people do not understand or value having a unified vision.

The critical thing to recognise while setting a collective vision is that the individual is just as important as the collective. The team is a sum of its parts.

Every member must clearly understand the vision, take ownership of it, have a plan on the execution and pass it forward effectively communicating the vision to the rest of the organisation.

During these workshops, I enable individuals to first identify their personal vision for the team without being cluttered by anyone else’s. Subsequently, through a series of exercises, we slowly bring the team together. The critical point of these exercises is to bring the individuals together emotionally. Yes, that’s correct. It is to find that frequency at which everyone is excited about the collective future for the team or organisation that achieving this vision will bring along with the personal satisfaction and fulfilment for each team member to derive out of it. It is essential to clarify what it will look like and what will the experience feel like. We get a deeper understanding of the core values of the individuals and the values that the organisation claims as its own. We delve deeper into the beliefs – both supportive and limiting. This further feeds into the purpose which is the reason why the team exists, and how the team impacts the organisation. We answer fundamental questions which are usually taken for granted, like what would happen if the team did not exist. We then go into what the mission is, which describes what the team is genuinely trying to achieve.

Sometimes we do encounter roadblocks where values and beliefs clash. It is then about going deeper and finding common ground and the win-win scenarios.

Most teams jump into the goals directly which is a mistake. Make sure you have some semblance of the unified vision first and then delve into defining the goals from that place. I suggest no matter how well functioning the teams are they must go through such an exercise at least twice a year to achieve phenomenal success.

The views expressed in this article are not those of Fortune India

The author is the founder and CEO of Talent Power Partners a global Leadership Development company based in Bangalore. She is a Leadership Development Specialist, an ICF Certified Executive Coach [PCC] and author of the book - Team Decision Making.