What do 80,000 of the most effective leaders across 400 companies have in common?
About 20 years ago, Gallup did what they do best. They conducted interviews across a wide swathe of companies, from small starts-ups to well-established multinationals. The results of the study were then published in “First, Break All the Rules.”
And for me, these questions have remained a key part in how I approach management and consistently build high-performing teams.
- Do I know what is expected of me at work?
- Do I have the materials and equipment I need to do my job right?
- At work, do I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day?
- In the last seven days, have I received recognition or praise for doing good work?
- Does my supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about me as a person?
- Is there someone at work who encourages my development?
- At work, do my opinions seem to count?
- Does the mission / purpose of my company make me feel my job is important?
- Are my coworkers committed to doing quality work?
- Do I have a best friend at work?
- In the last six months, has someone at work talked to me about my progress?
- This last year, have I had opportunities at work to learn and grow?
The questions were specifically ordered. If, for example, your supervisor regularly praises you (#5) and encourages your development (#6), but you don’t have the tools to do your job well (#2), you will not be a top performer. Or similarly, if the company’s mission is important (#8), but you feel unheard (#7) and unrecognized (#5), again you will not be a top performer.
Let’s look at the 12 questions in more detail.
Q1 – Q2: The Foundation
The first two questions form the foundation. All other questions are irrelevant if employees provide low ratings here.
Imagine someone who doesn’t have the right equipment to do their work. Or even worse, imagine someone who doesn’t know what their role and responsibilities are. It would be a depressing existence to be a part of such a team!
Don’t assume that each direct report knows what they need to do, nor that they have the right tools to do it!
Q1: Do I know what is expected of me at work?
It doesn’t matter if you provide frequent praise. It doesn’t matter if you provide learning opportunities. It doesn’t matter if you have snacks, drinks, and other perks.
If you haven’t set clear expectations for short-term and long-term success, your team is going to bounce from task to task and project to project without really understanding the value of their work.
Clear expectations need to be discussed and set.
Q2: Do I have the materials and equipment I need to do my job right?
If your team doesn’t have the tools to do their job well, it becomes a source of frustration. Although clear expectations may have been set, which means they understand the goal at which they must arrive, a lack of tools is going to negatively impact performance.
Tools may be CRMs. Tools may be a repository of best practices and systematized processes. Tools may be an effective means of asynchronous communication, such as Slack, to ask questions and share information.
Tools must also work well or be set up correctly. A computer that often freezes or crashes has a negative impact on job performance. Buggy software or a CRM that lacks data similarly becomes less useful.
Q3 – Q4: The Motivation
Employees need their top skills and responsibilities to align. There will always be other tasks at which they might not excel, but it’s a drain when every day proves a struggle.
Also, praise provides a positive feedback loop. Everyone is motivated by positive recognition of their work. As a result, praise leads to performance improvements, which leads to more praise, which leads to even higher performance, and on and on.
Plus, those initially difficult tasks become easier when the blueprint for future wins are identified through positive feedback.
Q3: At work, do I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day?
As a leader, you should understand the different knowledge and skills of each person you lead. Some people excel at communicating directly with clients, others at data analysis, and others at improving existing systems and processes.
Through this understanding of your team, you can provide opportunities for projects, tasks, and responsibilities that tap into the strengths of the individual. You can also balance these strengths with other opportunities to build new skills.
Balance in the team doesn’t come from everyone being able to do every task. It comes from working together as a collective whole, supporting one another’s strengths and weaknesses.
Q4: In the last seven days, have I received recognition or praise for doing good work?
Not only is it important for the direct report to do what they do best, but they also need their performance recognized. This fourth question connects to the previous question, and is equally important.
If an employee never has the opportunity to excel, they are never going to receive recognition. This would happen when they are buried in tasks that don’t align with their strengths.
And equally frustrating is when they have the opportunity to excel, but are never recognized. This results in someone who doesn’t see the point of putting in extra effort.
Q5 – Q6: The Support
As a leader, these two questions determine how supportive and safe everyone in the team, department, and/or organization feels. When teams are able to strongly say “yes,” there are two more components to high-performing teams.
The best teams share information rather than horde it.
The best teams rely on one another, rooting for and supporting each individual’s success.
And as a result, the best teams feel comfortable taking on new challenges and risks rather than avoiding possible failures.
Q5: Does my supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about me as a person?
People leave managers, not companies. And although poor decisions might be made, a manager who cares about the team is more likely to have created a collaborative and supportive environment in which each person can work to their strengths, talents, and passions.
There is respect for the direct reports, and the manager values their contributions. The employees are not automatons or replaceable components. And with this question in mind, the manager is more likely to find opportunities which challenge and develop the team, discussing and understanding how each person can meet current and future challenges.
Q6: Is there someone at work who encourages my development?
It’s not just a leader who can mentor and encourage the development of new skills, but also others within the team. And when the team sees their success as a collective effort, they are more likely to support one another. That means sharing ideas and information, as well as through formalized training.
Keep in mind that development should not strictly be viewed as paths to promotion; not everyone wants to assume a titled position, after all. Yet everyone deserves continuous growth. Acquiring new skills and knowledge meets this need.
And a leader creates the environment for this to happen.
Q7 – Q10: The Fit
These questions focus on fit. They allow a team to value and seek out diversity, and yet also create a sense of belonging.
As a leader, we want to foster strong agreement to these questions. There is a positive loop, with individuals feeling more motivated when their opinions count, when they feel connected to the mission, when everyone around them words hard, and when they have a friend.
Invest the time and energy into creating a sense of trust, respect, and collaboration.
Q7: At work, do my opinions seem to count?
Micromanaged and told precisely what to do: This is not an environment in which your direct reports can learn, grow, and thrive.
No matter their background or experience, their opinions matter. They bring unique ideas and perspectives, generating new insights and courses of action. Anyone and everyone is more than able to contribute meaningful, valuable ideas. And when opinions do count, people become more willing to take initiative and own their actions.
Of course, it does not mean that all ideas need to be implemented. The adage “too many cooks in the kitchen” holds up; but we can value everyone’s opinions, even when they do not match goals, existing resources, or realities.
Q8: Does the mission / purpose of my company make me feel my job is important?
Let’s say your team has a strong sense of empathy and are customer driven, wanting to see the customer derive value and succeed with your product. However, they are going to be unhappy if the mandate is sell, sell, sell… and then upsell and cross sell regardless of value provided. They are probably not going to fit in with the organization.
The same holds true if someone within the team has different values.
There needs to be alignment with the purpose of the company, the team, and each direct report’s individual actions. They need to recognize that their daily actions, challenges, and stresses all have a larger, more impactful meaning.
Leaders need to clearly convey, and do so again and again, how much a direct report contributes to the purpose.
Q9: Are my coworkers committed to doing quality work?
When there are quiet quitters in the team or people who regularly produce substandard schlock, the leader needs to rectify the situation. And they need to do so immediately!
When bad behavior goes ignored, then the top performers see less and less purpose in providing quality work. The thinking goes: If Bob does the bare minimum for a paycheck, then why should I keep working so hard?
Pretty soon, you have a team who doesn’t care, doesn’t try, and doesn’t meet performance expectations.
Q10: Do I have a best friend at work?
This question always generates the most confusion: What does a best friend have to do with high-performance teams?!
When employees have a friend, they have someone to listen, empathize, and advise. Struggling with a project? Unhappy with what was said in a meeting? Irritated that the higher-ups shelved your work? A friend makes time for you.
And this extends not to just the professional, work-related issues, but also the personal ones too.
Not every employee feels comfortable talking to their boss or colleagues about highly personal or sensitive issues. However, a friend fulfills this role.
Q11 – Q12: The Growth
This final group of questions is no less important than earlier questions. However, as initially stated, they matter little if scores are low elsewhere.
These focus on new skills and growth.
Q11: In the last six months, has someone at work talked to me about my progress?
An employee needs perspective on what they do well and what they need to improve through honest feedback. Ideally, it should come from a manager of course, because they know the strengths, weaknesses, and future needs of the team. However, others within the team and organization can also provide less formal feedback.
It’s important to keep in mind that feedback must come more frequently than annual or bi-annual reviews, though. The cadence is too low, resulting in fewer opportunities to gain insight and course correct, if necessary. 1:1s provide an ideal opportunity to discuss progress, as well as new skills and abilities.
Q12: This last year, have I had opportunities at work to learn and grow?
For leaders to develop a high-performing team, they need to encourage, motivate, and support. Every interaction can be an opportunity to guide, even with more-experienced professionals who may be less aware of specific weaknesses.
However, it’s more than acquiring new knowledge and skills. It’s also about being able to put them into practice. If employees have the chance for their ideas to be heard, discussed, and possibly implemented, they will learn and grow.
Remember: Stagnation is a team killer. Some individuals find new opportunities and challenges elsewhere. Others put in the work, but feel less motivated; they become quiet quitters.
Conclusion
So there you have it! These twelve questions backed with data guarantee high-performing teams.