Leading a tactical or short-term team isn’t for the faint hearted. Trust me. I’ve had a front-row seat to that challenge recently.

Tactical teams are typically short-term, cross functional groups who come together for a specific challenge. Could be a project to roll out some new technology. Could be the launch of a new product or service. Could be landing an acquisition.

The challenge is that even though they don’t usually work together, the team are asked to swoop in and nail something critical to the business plan.

Some tactical teams come together and perform like a well-planned SAS op. But some fail to even get to base camp, let alone get the mission delivered!

So, why the precarious outcomes?

1. The teams are thrown together at speed – no time for bonding, just straight to the front line.
2. They don’t report into you – so you're juggling influence and gaining their trust without the ‘chain of command’.
3. And they’ve been asked to do this on top of their ‘day job’ – they’re stretched so thin they’re practically transparent.

It’s enough to make you want to abandon your post!

But nail the mix and you’ve got a team so strategic and surgical you’ll win medals.

Coalesce to impress

My experience? Well, in May I had the absolute pleasure of spending an afternoon with a group of top-class coaches in a beautifully sunny Covent Garden.

We are working on a project together but it’s the first time we’ve all met in person. All of us have jobs to nail or businesses to run. We all have our areas of expertise and vastly different experience. Our coaching style varies as much as our clients do. So, what made it click?

In truth the early conversations were cagey. But everything unlocked for us when we did 3 things… and to me they are the 3 things that will make any tactical team mission ready.

#1 Vague to vision – once we started to get clear on our target, the energy levels went through the roof. As did the noise level in the room! The quicker you have a shared vision, the quicker you’ll bond over owning it. And you’ll know when you’re performing because you’re clear on what elite execution looks like.

#2 Chaos to consistency – we all had different approaches to what we do outside of this team. But once we started talking about how to do this mission, we all had ideas that we built on. Which then turned into a clear, consistent plan of attack that we believed in.

#3 Make it matter – the best question asked was what we wanted to get out of this team experience. Because that’s our win. Once you can see the benefit and believe you’re going to get it – guess what – you’ll find the energy and time to make the operation a success.

So next time you’re asked to lead a tactical team, don’t reach for the white flag. Reach for the 3 steps and make yours an elite team.