According to our experience, every leader wants better teamwork. Yet all teams are, to some extent, conflicted and dysfunctional. Teamwork consultant Patrick Lencioni says this happens for the simple reason that teams, ”are made up of imperfect human beings” facing a constant, internal tug-of-war.
At work, people struggle to balance personal needs (What’s in it for me?) with team aims (What’s best for the group?). Personal career decisions, too, often seem like tough choices between survival and seeking meaningful work.
This tension between me and we is biological, permanent, and irresolvable, says Pulitzer Prize-winning Harvard biologist Edward O. Wilson:
“Are we built to pledge our lives to a group? Or to place ourselves and our families above all else? Scientific evidence suggests that we are both of these things simultaneously. The products of the two opposing vectors are hardwired in our emotions and reasoning, and cannot be erased”.
Based on the above it is and always will remains a tireless task in leading a team by moving back and forth between personal needs and group goals.
According to Clark, Tim in Business Models for Teams:
- Purpose People want to be part of something greater than themselves.
- Autonomy People want to direct their own lives.
- Relatedness People want to feel connected.
- Mastery People want to get better and better at something.
Team Building
Team building events where we learn to play and have fun with each other once or twice a year is NOT the answer. In the past, people came together during these team-building events to “play” and have fun.
We, however, did not get to the core of what is important to the individual in the team and the team as a group
Our Approach
Our approach to team dynamics is that:
- It is firstly important that every individual in a team understand themselves better as individuals. Their EQ, How their Brain’s function and or their personality traits.
- Secondly, is it important for every team member to understand each other from the perspectives of their strengths and areas for improvement.
- Thirdly is it further important that everybody in the team understands the team’s purpose and deliverables.
- Fourthly must every team member understands and agree to their role within the team.
Our Tools and Methodologies
We have proven tools and methodologies which we use during a Team performance improvement intervention.
Business Model Team canvas
We use the Business model canvas for teams to:
- Firstly, focus the team on improving an organization’s internal operations.
- Secondly, to create a fast-track way for leaders to boost their effectiveness (rather than their efficiency) in leading their teams.
- Thirdly, Business Models for Teams, are used to create understanding and clarity at the organizational, team, and individual levels
Team Vital Signs(TVS)
We use the Six seconds Framework for Team performance. What does it mean to have high performance? What do we want in a team or organization? These questions help organize the five Vital Signs. Using the concept of a balanced scorecard, we can consider a high performing leader, team, or organization to succeed on two axes:
- People – Organization (ie, individual needs vs group needs).
- Strategy – Operations (ie, long term direction vs short term action).
These can be depicted to form a simple matrix:
- We know where we’re going: Strategy.
- We have systems to get there: Organization
- We’re doing the work to move forward: Operations
- Employees are making it happen: People
We in conjunction with our partner, Six Seconds determined that High performing teams and workplaces share key hallmarks:
- People have a sense of safety and assurance so they’ll take risks, share, innovate, and go
beyond their comfort zones: Trust. - People need to feel energized and committed to doing more than the minimum requirement: Motivation.
- They need to be adaptable and innovative: Change.
- They need to feel collaboration and communicate to take on the challenges: Teamwork.
- They need to be focused and accountable: Execution.
We present these key hallmarks on the same team performance framework. During our work sessions, we develop goals and strategies based on the framework and dimensions within the framework.
- Assessments:
- Do a Team Vital Signs assessment
- Do a SEI EQ assessment (refer to Emotional Intelligence tests on this website).
- Do Brain Development Profile assessment (refer to Brain Profile tests on this web site).
- Compile a team Brain Profile dashboard.
- Alternatively get individuals to do an Enneagram assessment.
- Compile a team Enneagram report.
- Individual Debrief sessions:
- Debrief all individuals in a team on their individual Brain Profiles and SEI EQ reports, in order to create a better understanding of themselves as individuals in the team.
3.Workshop: Do a two or three-day work session where:
- The team is debriefed on the individual’s profiles as well as the team profiles.
- The results of the Team Vital Signs assessment are discussed in detail.
- Develop or revise the team Purpose
- Develop or revise the team Values
- Goals and strategies are developed in utilizing the strengths of the team to address the areas of improvement
- During the teamwork session, several “team-building” activities are utilized which also creates a lot of fun.
4.Follow-up process:
- Monthly follow-up work sessions (one to two hours) to reflect, engage in new activities and activate activities for the next month.
- Depending on the stage in which the team was when the intervention was initialized according to Patrick Lencioni’s 5 stages model and the results of the TVS – the intervention can take up to twelve months.
- During the twelve months, two to four Team Vital Signs assessments can be done to measure the progress of the team
Contact
Contact us for a no-obligation discussion around team dynamics.
