Alternatives to Team Building

Here are a few situations in which team building is not the appropriate intervention. A recommended alternative is offered as a better approach.

When NOT to do team building

Situation:
Team members lack the skills required to do their job.
Recommended action:
Provide training for the team. This is appropriate when teams are having problems making decisions or communicating.  Indicators of poor decision making, communication, priority setting etc., should be explored to determine if training is required rather than, or in conjunction with team building. 

Situation:
Individual performance problems are impacting team effectiveness.
Recommended Action:
Individual issues need to be addressed independently of team building. Team building should not be done to handle performance issues of an individual. The can damage the morale of the entire team.  Deal with these situations one-on-one. 

Situation:
There is confusion about the team's authority
Recommended action: 
Although teams can clarity their shared purpose or mission, they may not be able to resolve problems related to their limits of authority. This is particularly true for cross-functional teams.  When appropriate, the management sponsors and team leader need to agree on the scope of the authority, boundaries and limits. 

Situation:
The team has had a bad experience with team building
Recommended action:
In these situations, it is important to delay team building. Look for ways to set aside time in regular team meetings to help the team improve its effectiveness. As the team make progress, it may become ready to engage in full-fledged team building. 

Situation:
Team members feel stuck and perceive there is a lack of opportunity for career growth or development.
Recommended action:
Organization wide, companies need to put in place systems that allow individuals to develop their skills and talents. You should do all you can to provide growth and learning opportunities for team members.  This includes making sure individuals assigned to cross-functional project teams get the full benefit of this experience. For intact teams, you can use rotational assignments and special project to increase personal satisfaction.

Situation:
It is not possible to get all the team members involved in team building.
Recommended action:
Sometimes there are geographical or logistical factors that impede a team's ability to come together for team building. Alternatives include:

• Convening a meeting of managers and supervisors and working with them to resolve issues.  They can take the agreements back to their team.
• If team is scarce, focus the team building on key issues, so you can conduct team-building activities as part of regularly scheduled meetings.

Situation:
The team does not have the resources it needs
Recommended action:
This is an issue the team may not be able to resolve.  You need to work with the leadership team to determine how to acquire the additional people, budget, equipment or other resources the team needs to meet its goals. 

Team Building Exercises

In an early post, I referred to a document to help you evaluate your team - a good exercise for any team. There are many other activities you can do to support the members of your team.  An Internet search will produce a number of options ranging from ice-breakers to activities for small or large groups. 

Ask your HR department for some resources that are readily available. Personality or behaviour assessments are often provided and popular. The premise for personality assessment is to give team members a better awareness of their behaviours and how they may be viewed by others. Having a better understanding of your teammate is viewed as helping team members work together better. 

Here are five tools that I have experienced at different organizations:

• DISC: assessment based on four different personality traits. Promoted as a means to build more effective relationships in the workplace
• True Colour Key System uses four colours to describe and explain temperaments and personality types with the goal of building more effective relationships
• Strength Finder 2.0 by Tom Path - a book that helps you discover your talents and better leverage them. Being self aware is key for leaders.  Each leader's different strength combination were shared as a means for better awareness
• Myers-Briggs Type Indicator with 16 personality types. It gives a description of your personality type when you're at your best and when under stress and not working at your best.
• Experiential Training: there are a wide range of services who offer different elements to have team members work together.  It included a wide range of activities specifically designed to work with people's dislikes e.g. we had to climb 50 foot poles, work in the dark, and play games under extreme elements such rain and mud. Think of the activities done in the reality show, Survivor.  It was very similar.  I loved the experience and I left with a greater appreciation for a wide range of people.  It is an more expensive option and not often frequently in my experience. 

So what has worked well for me in the past?

Scenario: I had two team members who were generally in conflict.  It was evident that they were very different people just by looking at their style of dress and the work spaces.  One individual had a wide assortment of whimsical elements in her workspace and a kitten calendar.  The other team member was more spartan and had a NASA calendar.  

Myers-Briggs: Their different approaches frustrated each other and projects were suffering as a result. Thankfully they realized this and when I suggested that all three of us take the Myers-Briggs assessment, they were were open and willing to do it. 

The result was that the two individuals scored exactly the same except for one indicator: one was an introvert and the other was an extrovert.  

• The introvert was ISFJ (Introverted sensing feeling judging and is often summarized as the "Protector."  Her celebrity counterpart was Mother Teresa

• The other team member was ESFJ (extroverted sensing feeling judging) and can be summarized as the Provider personality because people with this personality type are interested in taking care of others in practical ways.  Celebrity counterpart is Barbara Walters

This was a break-through moment for the two individuals.  They realized that they both wanted to take care of people but with a different approach. We started focusing on the end result of the project noted how the project was helping people. We incorporated their different approaches into the project charters and work plans.  

What did not work well?
True colour key system's success has not been largely successful in my experience.  I've been at two different organizations where this has been facilitated and both were not particularly successful. People have a tendency to rate different personality types as superior to others.  Even though the facilitator emphasized that each "colour" has inherent strengths and weaknesses, the sessions seem to be more divisive than creating better working relationships.  

One staff member, for example had a rating for Green at the highest range (24) and was seated next to a Gold who also rated at the highest range (referred to as a 24 karat gold personality).  They both had nothing but disdain for Oranges who were far too "flighty and disorganized" for their preferences.  The Blues were tolerated because they were seen as "friendly."  

Workplace relationships did not improved and this session actually created more conflict as people would say such statements as, "I'm a 24 karat gold. Deal with it," or "It's not easy being Green. But I will continue to ensure all processes are adhered to for the benefit of all."

People are complex and nuanced and working with them can be challenging. It is also very rewarding.  Make the effort to know and understand people.  Find out their pain points and what makes their hearts sing. Be kind and generous and focus on the positive. Recognize that people won't generally change unless you change your approach. You need to be flexible in your approach (this is not the same as weak).  If you are working with a Green for example, focus on the process and how it will improve things.  You may explain the exact some situation to an Orange but focus on how things will be fun, and the processes will support them in an emergency. 

And my final point is never give up on an individual.  If they drive you crazy, give some thought as to why they push your buttons and try to adapt your approach.  Make sure you spend ample time with the people who you are aligned and develop them.  Success breeds success and can often help that who you don't feel an alignment to be more willing to accept your leadership. We can discuss conflict and mitigating it in future discussions. 

The Creative Process

Here is some comfort for the times when you need to a creative solution. It could be a project, initiative, framework, book or a craft. The example doesn't really matter as the process tends to be the same. 

Creative Process:

• Fear
• Self Doubt
• Questioning yourself - Should I do this?

Why would anyone do something creative if these are the initial steps? How is knowing this comforting in your leadership role?

Because we are creative creatures, we need a means of self expression. There are so many vehicles to express yourself creatively.  It can vary widely - from the way you dress or the way you play chess. 

Your work place is a perfect environment to let your creativity shine - and by extension, your leadership.  In public service, creativity is often demanded.  Where you have policies, and processes and a high level of accountability and scrutiny you often need to be creative to work within that construct. Add politics and public opinion to add to the mix, and you have an environment that can be challenging. It requires a lot of creativity - in your thinking and problem solving.

So how is the fear, self doubt and questioning a comfort? 
If you are feeling these emotions, then you are on the right path - you're willing to look at things differently.  Growing to new levels is not a comfortable state. I'm sure you can think of a number of times when you felt "growing pains" in past leadership opportunities. 

Fear is such a prevalent element that it has been fully fleshed out in the book, Feel the fear and do it anyway, by Susan Jeffers.  It is one of my favourite books and I recommend it.  There are many YouTube summaries including this one that will give you a sense of the book and fear. 

Examples

Some of my most creative endeavours have been working with the policies, processes and people to create a necessary framework.  You noticed, I didn't say that I ignored the policies, processes and people.  True, there have been times when I had to re-write a policy and revise some processes, but the majority of the times project and initiatives have been successful because the environment required a more creative approach to work in that environment. 

• Instituting logic models into work initiatives
• Launching new software
• Lean processes (yup, a very creative process)
• New frameworks

Team building exercise: Zoom by Istvan Banyai

As a new leader, you will want to do some team building or team bonding exercises.  Not only can the activities be illuminating, they can be a lot of fun and start your leadership off on the right foot.  

You may find that after completing team building activities together, your staff better understand each other's strengths, weaknesses and interests.  This understanding helps people work even better together on future progress.  Here is an example of successful team building activity that is low cost and flexible.

Zoom by Istvan Banyai

This activity is based on the picture book Zoom by Istvan Banyai. It consists of 30 sequential “pictures within pictures" (there is also a second book titled, Re-Zoom).  
The team is tasked with putting together the story - a set of sequential images. Each person is given an image, or a number of images based on the size of the group.  I inform the group that they are creating a sequential story and they have to work together to build the story.  The only help I give them is the first and last image and tell them the title of the book needs to be their guide. Together, the team has to figure out the correct sequence. The activity focuses on effective communication and problem-solving skills.

When the team feels that have completed the task, you have to confirm it is correct.  If it is not correct, you may simply say it is incomplete, or you may say where the problem is occurring.  

As the team leader, take notes as the team works through the task. Note good questions, moments of disagreements, or spontaneous celebration. Review these observations with the team. 

Discussion

Here are a few suggested questions to ask the team:

• What difficulties did your team experience?
• What communication methods did you team use?
• What did  your team do well when you discussed the sequence of images?
• Is there anything that frustrated you?
• Did everyone agree with the sequence? If not, did you have to compromise?
• How well did you work as a team? Is there anything you could have done better?
• Did others in the team listen to your opinion? Did everyone have input?
• Did anyone emerge as a leader? How did having a leader help?
• What is the one thing you can take away from the task?

Now discuss the key elements of an effective team (see earlier post).

Variations

• If there are more people than cards, you can pair up participants
• For smaller groups or to increase difficulty, don’t let participants talk at all during the activity. Let them use gestures and actions to put the images in sequence.
• For smaller groups, you can give each participant more than one image.
• You can make the activity more competitive and measure team performance by the number of images that are in the wrong sequence.
• You can enforce a time limit to make it more difficult. 
• You can tell people that they cannot show anyone else their picture/ page of the book until it is put down as part of the sequence. 

Different applications and settings:

• I have used this in a Library setting as a team building exercise.  It doesn't matter if an individual is familiar with the book. The individuals knowledge provides the opportunity to discuss the benefits of having experienced staff or subject specialists.  
• This team building exercise was introduced to me at a coaching certification course. Basically, 30 strangers were given a page of the book and we were told to create a cohesive story. 
• This was a useful exercise to introduce project management concepts to a small department in a large municipality.

Resources: 

• Two copies of Zoom by Istavan Banyai in paperback format. Tear one copy apart at its spine.  These will be distributed to the team.  Keep one copy as the source document to confirm the team puts the story in its proper sequence.  
• You need a room that is spacious enough to have all the pages displayed in sequence (either on the floor or around a long, narrow table) 

This exercise can be done in 30 minutes: 

• 5 minutes to explain and clarify the task
• 15 minutes to do the task
• At least 10 minutes for discussion

I thoroughly enjoy this exercise and hope you can apply and modify it to best suit your situation. Enjoy.

Is your team effective? Key categories for success

There are 5 key areas or categories that need to be functioning in order for a team to work and be effective:

1. Mission, vision and goals 
2. Team roles
3. Operating processes
4. Interpersonal relationships 
5. Interteam relationships

A description of the first three categories was described in my previous post.

1. Mission, vision and goals
2. Team Roles
3. Operating Processes

Now comes the tricky part and often times the most rewarding part - your people.

4. Interpersonal Relationships
For effective teamwork to occur, interpersonal relationship must be of high quality. Each groups member needs to be fully interactive with every other group member. A high level of trust is required if problems are to be solved and group work is to be satisfying.

Ineffective groups often have poor interpersonal relationships. Members may be cautious in their disclosures and unwilling to take interpersonal risks. Constructive feedback may not be an operating norm. Until all of the interpersonal relationships are dealt with, it will be close to impossible for a group to function effectively and solve problems as an authentic team.

5. Interteam Relationships
One of the most serous drains on organizational energy results when departments or devisions within the same organization compete inappropriately.  The more specialized various work groups become, the more difficult the problems of coordination become.  Research suggests that from variables are at the root of cooperation between groups:

1. Time orientation: depending on the nature of the work, groups operative with different time frames
2. Goal orientation: different groups have different goals
3. Interpersonal orientation: some groups emphasize task-oriented styles while others have relationship-orientated styles
4. Internal formal structure: some groups have more written policies, systems, and controls for performing their work.

Theres differences can serve to weaken intergroup relations.

Think of your different areas of responsibilities.  Are there different groups with conflicts? Think of what could be the root cause? It can be rampant in libraries. Think of your Marketing department and its timelines and the different work structures in I.T.  Then add the general public into the mix and you can see that interterm relationships can often be improved.

Real-life Scenarios:
To make this information come alive, think of personal scenarios that people can relate to easily. Family gatherings can often be used to start conversations. Listen to people after large family gatherings and you often hear of people coming late, bringing an extra guest, there are some interpersonal relationships that have been festering for years, and there is little formal structure UNLESS there is a strong leader (in my experience, the matriarch).  She let's people know what to bring to the family gathering, when things will happen, she will deal with those who don't live up to the time, goals of the event, and she will certainly deal with interpersonal issues and interterm (inter-family) issues.  In short, she runs a tight ship and there is respect and a healthy outcome - family time together.  It may or may not be a big love in, but it works.

Do many of your team watch or participate in sports? Bring that forward for discussion. Curling has become very popular and since I curl, I sometimes use it to demonstrate the five important elements. While not everyone has played the sport, the size of the team is small and the goal of the game is easily explained.  More importantly, curling fulfils the 5 elements clearly:

1. Mission, vision, goals:  The mission is to win the game.  Each end of the game has a goal, and every team member knows the goal.  Every shot is visualized and all of these elements are used to make a successful team.  There are know different games in curling -- doubles and skins have different goals to fulfil of the mission of winning. 
2. Team Roles: every team member has a specific role and every team member is involved in each and every short. Poor shots can be saved through good sweeping or by having the skip to change thinking as a result and call "plan B." Every team member knows that communication is key and there is frequent feedback between members and especially the skip. 
3. Operating processes: the team knows the rules. No discussion. Problem solving and decision making is left to the skip (captain) unless input is requested. Off the ice, there are many opportunities to review and analyze the game and individual skills can be discussed in a social and supportive setting. 
4. Interpersonal relationships.  The team that has strong interpersonal relationships typically does well.  They know each other well - both their strengths and weaknesses. They know who needs more feedback and when someone is "off" their game.  But a team with strong interpersonal relationships are close and generally produce results.  It is not unusual for large competitions that a team may enter with a "stacked team." In short, all the team members are skips and are skilled players.  This does not always work.  Many skips are not great sweepers simple because they don't have to do it for 30 seconds at a time (they do short bursts of powerful sweeping).  
5. Interteam relationships: you need to ensure your team has good relationships with other teams, and clubs. Having a strong network ensures you are kept informed, have additional support and minimize internal sabotage.  It just makes life a whole lot easier and nicer. 

Give this some thought, and have some fun thinking of some real-life scenarios that work for you.

Is your team effective? Key categories for success

In previous posts, when to do team building was reviewed, as well as the different phases of team building.  But how do you really know if your team is effective? What does team building really look like?  There are tools that can support you.  I'll be referring to the Team Effectiveness Profile developed by HRDQ, 4th edition. Ask you HR team about it.

Here is a summary:
There are 5 key areas or categories that need to be functioning in order for a team to work:

1. Mission, vision and goals 
2. Team roles
3. Operating processes
4. Interpersonal relationships 
5. Interteam relationships

Description of the five categories

1. Mission, vision and goals
Healthy organizations and their subsystems have compelling visions of the future and clearly defined and well-communicated statements of purpose. Plan are developed collaboratively and work is managed against goals or objectives by the group. In your situation, in a public library, these are well articulated. Your have a strategic plan, an operation plan and a number of goals and objectives for your area of responsibility.  As a new leader, don't take for granted that staff know them or think they apply to them.

The mission may have been clear in the organization's history, but it may have become muddled. Staff my know the mission, vision and goals, but carry on their own activities or refrain from engaging in other activities.

Library service is changing but there are still staff who may think they are in the book business.  They may be have different responsibilities regarding the books -- selecting them, shelving them, recommending them, processing them - the list is quite lengthy, but I would ensure that staff members realize they are in the people business and  the community-building business.  Books are just one element of the service they provide.

Additionally, priorities may shift rapidly and if you're not talking to your team, they may appear to change without apparent reason.  So make sure the mission, vision and goals are revisited frequently, they are understood, clarified and measurable goals and objectives are readily available, and reviewed.

2. Team Roles
In highly effect teams/groups, work is organized to support the team's function(s). Roles, relationships, and accountabilities are clear to everyone. Members are technically qualified to perform their jobs or have immediate plan for acquiring needed knowledge and skills.

An inappropriately structured group or now which the members have unclear or confused perceptions about their roles and relationships, can lose considerable energy in performing its tasks.  The group may not have identified clearly all of tis tasks or agreed on the exact nature of the work to be performed. Standard job descriptions are usually inadequate because they do not specify the exact nature of the accountability each person has to each task or to each person in the group.  Lack of role clarity results in poor quality work, missed responsibilities and overlapping accountabilities that ternate needless conflict.

3. Operating Processes
Policies and procedures used to manage the work of the group support both task and maintenance needs.  Task needs refer to activities required to accomplish work objectives. Maintenance needs refer to the human needs for recognition, participation, appreciation, and vernal quality of group life.  Operating processes include such activities as problem solving, decision making, conflict management and meeting quality.

In order to have effective operating processes, your team needs to have examined each policy and procedure by which the group functions for efficient and effectiveness. This needs to be analyzed periodically to ensure important processes have not become dysfunctional.

Meeting example: You meet with your different teams regularly and the format needs to be discussed periodically to confirm that this important element of your leadership is serving the needs of all group members to communicate with each other and solve problems.  Are agendas posted in advance? How many walk-on items are generally created? How are the minutes taken? What do you want to include in the minutes?

Teams with ineffective operating procedures have unproductive or too few meetings. And the meetings are typically regarded as irrelevant or providing info they already know. Serious problems are not addressed or when addressed are neither systematically analyzed nor creatively solved. Group decisions are made by the appointed leader or a strong coalition of a few people. Disagreements are ignored or swept away so that hostile feelings remain in the group and colour future interactions.  <sigh> Unfortunately, many of us have experienced a dysfunctional group so give this three areas.  I'll post Interpersonal relationships and Interteam relationships shortly.

Leadership isn't always easy, but it is rewarding and you will bring your team up and they will appreciate it.  Hang tough!

Stages of Team Development: Performing

Performing stage is the level you want to bring your team. After all your hard work, it is worth the effort.  Many teams get stuck at Norming and although everything appears normal, there is a lack of momentum and motivation towards achieving the all important team goals. It is as though the team is comfortable in this stage and does not want to progress further for fear of returning to a storming stage -- a stage that is uncomfortable for most people. 

It is at the Performing stage where team members really concentrate on the team goals. They are determined to work towards them as they know what rewards are available to them upon completion.  They are also aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the team, and they appreciate these, and also works towards developing the weaknesses.  

This is a period of great personal growth among team members. There is a good deal of sharing of experiences, feelings and ideas together with the development of a fierce loyalty towards team members.  There will be arguments, disagreements and disputes but these will be facilitated positively as the team will now live and die by its rules and processes. 

At this stage, you need to take a non-directive role, concentrating on strategy to plan the next way forward. The team will be in many ways self-directing, perhaps even self-appraising with the you as the leader taking very much a back-seat role.  Again, your role will be to facilitate communication and ensure that the successes are communicate and rewarded. It is not a passive role but it is definitely different from previous stages. 

Remember: 
When your team gets to the Performing stage, you need to:

• Take a step back and allow the team to become self-directing
• Be there for them and continue your coaching role with both the team and individuals
• Allow individuals to take on leadership roles and encourage rotation of roles
• Communicate success and reward success accordingly

Not every team makes it to the performing stage, but it is definitely worth the effort to strive for it. 

The next post will discuss Alternatives to Team Building and will describe situations when team building is not the appropriate intervention. An alternative strategy is offered and in my experience can often bring a team along well.

Examples of high performing teams:
Think of a time when you participated in a high performing team. What make it so positive? One example that comes to mind is Burlington Central Library's renovation and building project. Team members were invested in the project and could visualize the finished results - the architectural drawings certainly helped.  There were a wide range of subject specialists at the table and people recognized that each members was integral to the project's success. 

There was trust and significant personal growth - even though I couldn't possibly understand the integration of the new and old HVAC systems, team members were patient and gave details and expressed concerns that all contributed to problem solving (and I learned a lot about perimeter heating and air flow regulators).  

Another positive aspect of this high performing team was the considerable stakeholder conversation and feedback. Not only was the Board of Directors kept informed, but so were the staff that were going to work in the new space. 

Another example was of a high performing team was found in collection development.  It's a tricky team to handle as the team is generally set-up with individuals having responsibility of selecting a special area of specialization.  The key is to ensure that although roles are very specific - an individual may select adult fiction - you as the leader must ensure the team understands that selecting books is just one aspect of their role.  Individuals are also responsible for the overall collection outside their area of responsibility.  That requires collaboration, and problem solving especially as collection dollars are not growing significantly, and new formats stress budgets.  With the general trend of dropping circulation numbers, the collection team must also have goals regarding customer service, trends and an understanding of their community. Having a long range plan and strategy is a key element to ensure your collection team is functioning well at the performing stage.    

Again, what made the team a high performing team was the clear goals, processes and expectations of the team. There was an environment that although people had admirable experience and expertise, everyone was in learning mode to ensure all opportunities were explored.  Learning opportunities were expanded and staff were encouraged to participate. Communication channels were better developed for feedbackand metrics were developed and shared with the team and the organization. Rewards and celebrations were developed based on Key Performance.  We didn't have monetary rewards so we worked within our team's authority to reward teamwork. 

I hope these examples are helpful.  Again, next post will discuss situations in which team building is not the appropriate intervention. 

Stages of Team Development: Norming

Remember a time when a real storm passes. The winds drop, the sky brightens, it's quiet and you can hear the birds sing once more.  Your team will also be this way.  It may even catch you by surprise. Your team exhibits a calm, a focus.  Goals are clearly understood, roles are clarified and rules and processes are being adhered to. People are working together positively, and relationship are becoming stronger as people are more aware of each other.  Strengths and weaknesses are realized and utilized accordingly.  In short, this stage can be characterized as acceptance. 

It doesn't mean that individuals won't have a grievance, complaint or suggestion.  The difference is that instead of open rebellion, the proper processes are used and people tend to know that they are listened to and have a voice. This is a time to be celebrated and appreciated but you still have work to do. 

Your role in this stage to ensure that this calm continues and that any behaviours that arise that my threaten the calm are channeled in the right direction. You also have the important role to convey information particularly in relation to the successes that are starting to occur within the team. You should be spending a lot of time with individual team members coaching them and supporting them to develop their capabilities that relate to the individual's team roles and the tasks that they have to perform in relation to the team goals. 

Norming: once you have achieved this stage, remember to

• Lessen the direction and spend the with individuals starting to coach them in relation to their roles within the team and the tasks that they have to perform
• At the same time, you will be challenging team members to take on extra capabilities in order to move the team on to the next stage

What is the next stage? Performing is the desired end goal.  

Stages of Team Development: Storming

Storming is a challenging phase for a number of reasons.  You may think that you have led the team through the forming stage well, and your'e starting to feel quite good about year team's progress.  You feel the team is on its way and then you get the rude awakening, and regardless of knowing the stages, storming typically catches one off guard. This is where your leadership qualities are tested fully.  Storming usually arises as a result of confusion over 

• Goals
• Roles 
• Rules

In storming, people start to test the above and put there own biases and past practices into play even though you may feel you were very explicit in the forming stage. At this stage, individual team members often interpret roles somewhat different in reality then in discussion. Examples include:

• These goals are not realistic; or these goals are too narrow in scope.  I provide a big picture perspective and use it in my role
• My role is much larger than discussed but I thought you recognized that and were OK with it since it was not addressed
• I tried these new rules/ processes but they don't work for me.  I've been doing this for over 10 years and you have been here for ten minutes. Trust me to do what's best. 

Role "interpretation" results in confusion when different behaviours are evident and conflicts can arise with the potential for factions being created within the team.  It is during this stage that your coaching skills should be well demonstrated.

Coaching: Both individuals and the team as a whole should be coached to enable and support them to ensure agreement as regards what specifically the goals, roles and rules are with respect to the team and what that means to each and every individual. 

Don't get frustrated a this stage because you believe that you have already done the work outlined the goals, roles and rules at the early stage of the team's formation. I've seen leaders go from a state of immense pride about the way they have guided their team through the forming stage to a state of anger where they look to blame the team and its individual member. Instead, smile and know that you are on the path to success.  This is a necessary phase of the team's development and once you get over it, you can move forward.

So at this time, go over the agreement made during the forming stage and ensure that the understanding is uniform across the team.  There may be small adjustments and that's not a bad thing.  You want to demonstrate that you are listening, flexible and responsive while maintaining your leadership.  We will talk about coaching individual behaviours at another post. 

Not a one-time phase: remember, every time there is a change to the team - a new strategic plan, a new team member, environmental impacts, you have to build your team again. Why?  When there is a new team member the team dynamics change.  You need to get the new team member up to speed.  This should be a time to do both one-on-one discussions and confirming the goals, roles and rules of the team in a group session.  And it may be messy, but it could easily become chaos if you don't fulfil your leadership role and build your team. 

In summary

Once the disagreements and blame start, you need to

• Get the team together quickly to thrash out what the concert and disagreements are

Remember

At this stage, you must be strong, directive and also fair. The team needs direction at this stage and perhaps people need to hear things that perhaps they don’t want to hear. Get things out in the open.  Let the team bleed a little and then begin the healing process by facilitating their coming together.  And remain positive.  This is a necessary phase to get to norming. 

Documentation

And I cannot stress enough the importance of documentation. Update shared documents and track the changes.  Reiterate conversations you have had with individuals by email to ensure clarity and understanding. And be kind - generally, people struggle with change.  Review my earlier post on push pull conversations and set yourself up for success. 

Stages of team development: Forming

Forming is a stressful phase when new teams come together or the addition of new members or there have been changes, such as a new leader. Everyone is a bit wary of each other, particularly if they do not know anyone.  This is magnified with a change in leadership. Even more stressful, if there are rumours circulating about the new leader that are not positive.

The first meeting will likely be a nervous one and you need to recognize this and make attempts to ensure the team is put at ease.  It is at this stage that cliques can develop and you need to be aware of the potential for various alliances. Not all alliances will be counter-productive to the team’s future success but it pays for the manager to watch and observe the behaviours of potential cliques.  

Here are some tips to give your team the best possible start in the forming stage:

• Outline specifically the task the team has to perform
• Be specific about each person’s role in the team’s task
• Outline how the team has come together (or continues to exist) and give reasons as to why the various team members have been brought together for inclusion within this team
• Be open about the way you operate as a manger / leader – what are your strengths and weaknesses? What do you look like under stress?
• Outline your expectations of both the team and the individuals within the team. In other words, start to contract with the team
• Encourage each team member to do likewise
• Ensure that the team has a set of rules and guidelines and that the team has an iput into how these rules are formed and agreed
• Discuss reward and recognition.  How does the team want to celebrate its achievements?
• How is the team going to make decisions?
• How is the team going to give feedback on each other’s performance?
•  How are they going to resolve conflict? Discuss past conflict.

By having an open discussion from the onset allows people the chance to air views, concerns and queries.  The goal of these discussions is to:

• Ensure people feel they have been heard and have a voice
• Give people an opportunity to contribute. If people have made contributions, they tend to be more committed
• Ensure people know the rules and regulations by which the team will operate
• Allow people to have a greater appreciation of the people they are working with on this team

In summary

As the leader, you will ensure that the team meets and understands the team's goals, the different roles, and the rules by which the team is governed. 

Remember: although there my be a great deal of agreement and compliance about what is discussed, many people will have different interpretations of what is agreed upon.  Have one-on-one discussions with the team members to help minimize this. 

Documentation: Inevitably, there will start to be undercurrents of disagreements of what has been exactly agreed up so make sure decisions are well documented, share them and make them readily available, and review.

Next post will review phase two, storming. 

Stages of team development

One of the greatest challenges leaders have is moving their team through the various team development stages.

Every leader needs to know:

What the various growth stages are of a developing team; and

How best to move the team through these stages with a minimal amount of fuss and stress

Stages of team development

In order to be productive, there are four team development stages* that teams must go through:

1. Forming: when a team meets and starts to work together for the first time
2. Storming: when the members within the team start to “jockey” for position.  This is also characterized when control issues take place
3. Norming: when rules are finalized and accepted and when team rules start being adhered to
4. Performing: when the team starts to produce through effective and efficient working practices

*Reference: Psychologist, B.W. Tuckman developed these stages in the 1970s

It is noted that some teams will go through the four stages quickly and move from forming through to performing in a relatively short period of time. There are a lot of variables: the team’s composition, capabilities of individuals, required tasks, and leadership. And while there are a lot of variables, there is one certainty: no team passes over the storming phase.

All teams must be prepared to go through the difficult and stressful times while anticipating the benefits of the productive phases. As leader, your role is to identify where along the path of team development your team is and then move it on to the next phase with as little chaos and resistance as possible. 

I will discuss each stage in more detail. In the meantime, give some thought to the teams you have or want to develop.  You may want to record your perceptions of their activity based on the following five areas: 

1. Mission, vision, and goals
2. Team roles
3. Operating processes
4. Interpersonal relationships
5. Inter-team relations

And yes, these five areas will be discussed in greater detail, too.
Remember, you need to be the effort in upfront.  There will be challenging days, but I anticipate your efforts will be meaningful and rewarding. 

Team Building: When to do it

You have inherited a team and based on your workload, you're wondering whether or not you need to do some team building. 

First, let's review what is a team. By definition a team is a group of interdependent individuals.  They have complementary skills and are committed to a shared and meaningful purpose or at the very least, specific goals. 

Ideally, they have a common collaborative work approach with clear roles and responsibilities.  They hold themselves mutually accountable for the team’s performance. 

When effective, teams display confidence, enthusiasm and seek continuously to improve their performance.  

When to do Team Building

It doesn’t matter whether or not your team is effective, now that you are leading the team, team building is required.  Below is a list of when to do team building:

• Building strength into an existing healthy team
• Building strong teamwork between two or more functions
• Formation of a new team
• New people joining an existing team
• Revitalization of a stagnant staff or staff in trouble
• Poor task execution
• Troubled interpersonal relationships
•  As a response to strategic challenges, impending or actual change
• Signs of team distress by team members
• various diverting dysfunctional behaviours - the more widespread, the greater the urgency.  

     What does team distress look like?  

• Poor decision making
• Absenteesim / Presenteeism
• Apathy or lack of interest
• Undermining others' efforts
• Complaints about lack of empowerment
• Increased conflict
• Complaints about other team members
• Avoidance of team interaction
• Irritability
• Decreased communication 
• Reduced trust
• Decreased directness / openness 
• Defensive behaviour
• Protective behaviour
• Blaming others
• Reduced risk taking

These two list illustrate that team building is not a one-time task. Even your most effective team can benefit team building if for no other reason than to build strength into the team. 

Next steps

Give this some thought.  Next we can discuss the stages of team development, building a successful team, your responsibilities as a leader, common team challenges, and a number of resources. At a later time, I’ll post an overview of when NOT to do “team building.” There are a number of issues that can be addressed as opposed to team building.

Constructive Conversations

Constructive conversations

In an earlier post, push pull conversations – getting a shared reality for each other - were discussed.  The model is useful in many situations and is a skill that needs to be fully developed. More frequently though, leaders need to have constructive conversations to provide feedback and coaching on what is occurring or has recently occurred.  

Feedback, or providing information about performance is essential to learning, and improving staff. Every staff member should be able to give an example of when you gave them feedback. Constructive conversations are essentially the following:

1. Positive reinforcement. Catch people doing things right and give positive reinforcement for good performance. Simple, verbal recognition for a job well done is the easiest to do and most highly valued. 
2. Course correction:  This kind of conversation (or series of conversations) provides feedback and make suggestions for modifying behaviours to improve performance. 
3. Review expectations: ensuring staff understands and is aligned with expectations is a good practice and avoids unpleasant surprises in the future. And don’t assume the or think expectations are obvious. For example, if you expect people to be at their desks and ready to work at 8:30 am be explicit. Stating that the work day starts at 8:30  am is not explicit enough for some individuals. 

Make your life easier: I encourage you to know your staff and understand their preferred method of receiving constructive feedback and they way they best process information. Regardless, you may want to reinforce the conversation with an email. Having an email trail makes performance evaluations easier when you are able to give solid examples of performance.  

Here are some other suggestions to ensure you have effective constructive conversation. They were shared with me at a recent leadership forum (Inventive Talent Consulting, copyright 2013):

• Don’t confuse performance with development. Coaching for performance is looking in the rear-view mirror and addresses the specifics of what was accomplished, how it was accomplished, and the impact of the accomplishment. Development conversations are looking through the front windshield.  These are fundamentally different conversations.  One of the major errors of performance management processes is the combination of performance review and development – given the choice, the manager will focus on the development conversation because it’s almost always easier. 

• Be timely. Feedback and reinforcement is most effect when given immediately.  Frequent feedback and reinforcement is best when new skills and behaviours are being learned. Once it is clear good performance is established and consistently demonstrated, it’s more effective to offer it more intermittently.

• Be specific. It is more helpful to provide specific is more helpful and constructive than general comments, such as, “good job.” Comment on the specific elements such as the quality, productivity, timeliness, etc.  

• Be authentic. Staff recognize when feedback is given in an impersonal and inattentive manner.  If you care about performance, if you care about your staff, give meaningful and authentic feedback. 

• Be direct. When we are deliver good news, we get right to the point, but people have a tendency to avoid difficult issues.  Being direct is particularly important when you have to have the tough conversations.  Don’t sugar coat it, but rather address it head-on.  And for goodness sake, don’t accumulate them and speak to the staff member when they reach your own personal tipping point.  Look to Tuesday’s post regarding directness to help guide you. 

• Know your people. You have a responsibility to know your staff as individuals.  Interact with each person as a unique person and respect their individuality. Modify your feedback to best meet their preferences. 

• Address the impact of performance.  In addition to providing specific feedback about behaviours, ensure to address the impact of performance on others.

• Remove obstacles.  When your staff struggle to achieve their goals, you have a responsibility to find out why.  You may need to provide tools, resources, or provide guidance. As a leader, it is your responsibility to remove organizational obstacles to performance. And ask people what they need from you.  Use your leadership power and influence to do remove the obstacles they cannot remove themselves.  

• Leave your ego out of it.  Constructive conversations are not about you. Focus on your staff member and the performance in question. 

• Check your intentions. Constructive conversations are supposed to be helpful. Don’t let personal agendas to intrude in the conversations. Focus on the well-being of the organization and the success of your team. Your intentions will shape the nature and effectiveness of your conversations. 

• Courage. Most staff members want more feedback rather than less.  They want a leader who is authentic and who genuinely cares about them. They want to know what you think and hear your suggestions for growing and providing value. When you realize this and ensure you let go of your ego, you will find it easier to have the courage to have the difficult conversations. 

Directness

Yesterday we discussed the benefits of initiating push pull conversations. Let me clarify that this does not mean you have to take indirect approach or arrange for a meeting. Being direct has its benefits and allows you to be get to the person’s reality quickly.  It also allows you to assert your reality face-to-face and in a timely manner.  

A direct approach should not be done if you cannot manage your emotions – with pull conversations the desire is to set aside judgement and seek to understand. That doesn’t mean you withhold what’s going on inside of you. Directness is being open to telling your truth with discernment strongly enforced on your part.  

Here are some examples directly from the book, Juice: the power of conversation by Brady G. Wilson: 

Situation: A colleague says something offensive in a meeting. You approach him afterwards and say, “I have concerns about your comment in the meeting, but first I’d like to understand your rationale. Then I’ll share my concerns.”

In this approach, you are 

• framing the conversation directly: “I have concerns”  
• reaching out in a desire to inquire into your colleague’s reality: “but first I’d like to understand your rationale
• letting him know that you’re going to be direct about your concerns after you understand his reality: “then I’ll share my concerns”

Being direct may not be your preferred style -- it doesn’t necessarily emote warmth.  It does create respect, clarity and long-term results and trust.  You need to approach these conversation with discernment and a desire to understand.

So make a point of being direct when the opportunity presents itself. And good luck.  It sounds like you're making progress in your new role.  

Push Pull Conversations

As are well aware, it’s your responsibility to have frequent and meaningful conversations with your employees.  I should emphasize that in your new leadership role it is crucial that you start having these conversation as soon as possible. It allows staff to get to know you and you to know them and start building trust. 

In this post, I’m going to refer to the book, Juice: the power of conversation. A consultant came to my organization to speak to leaders of the importance of crucial conversations -- the kind of conversations that have lasting impact and can build trust and momentum.  

Crucial Conversation: Push Pull 

Here is the Juice model that is covered in the book. It supports conversations in basically all situations (try it at home as well of the office). These steps build upon each other and although you may not get to step 5 immediately, there have been times in my experience when the first three steps occur in one sit-down meeting/conversation.  In other cases, the first three steps occur again and again as your respective realities become deeper and broader and people are more willing to share. 

Step 1: Pull out their reality

Put aside your judgements for the time being, and step into their world.  If it helps, pretend you are a journalist who is trying to truly see how they see things. Actually try to visualize their reality be it a front-line staff member, behind the scenes technology wiz, or your peer. It’s helpful to reflect back in your own words what you have heard them say to ensure you understand their reality and to allow them to feel understood. 

Step 2:  Pull them into your reality

Invite them into your world. Make it into a story to better engage them, and use language that makes you more relatable.  Help them see your reality. It is now the time to draw out the assumptions that you are operating from (and they may have). This should create a good dialogue. 

Step 3: Pull out the bigger reality

Your two worlds need to be brought together by illustrating the common ground.  It’s the perfect time to pose the question, “What is it we both want here?”

Explore this and watch for the bigger reality to emerge asking, “what would allow us to move forward?”

Again, summarize in your own words.

Step 4: Intelligent energy

When you get to the bigger reality, you release intelligent energy where people’s attention becomes focused.  People become engrossed in their work and a sense of passion for what they do. They understand the purpose of their work that creates drive and fuels behaviours that are high performing.

Step 5: High performing behaviours

This is a leader’s ideal world. At this point the intellectual energy is fueling employees as they start to understand and anticipate one another’s needs.  They leverage effects, collaborate and you feel synergies.  In short, staff members have one another’s back, including your own!

Step 6: Sustained Results

Remember that these conversations are worth the effort and time.  High-performing behaviours create sustained results and translate to improved quality of work, innovation and improved safety, retention, etc.


Ideally, use this model with face-to-face conversations.  You will find that it is easier to connect, build understanding and trust when you are together.  We can discuss some simple guidelines to help you use "Pull" conversations by email at a later date. 

In summary, the pull conversations have to be more than showing interest.  It is the desire to truly understand. Once you have established this understanding, invite people into your world.