Growing teams is high on the agenda
There is tremendous energy and churn in business today. Organisations are dealing with massive change and people are joining and leaving at a higher rate than ever before. And the pressure to deliver is increasing. The flow of information, products and services between South Africa and the rest of the world is putting many organisations under pressure to change and deliver.
In spite of all the new technology the real results still come from people. People in teams!
Creating a high performing team takes time. But because of the high rate of change, teams do not have the luxury of years to develop supportive frameworks and dynamics. Old comfort zones and entrenched cultures are being swept aside. Now, more than ever, teams have to quickly develop effective team dynamics and resolve disruptive issues in the team fabric. This is most evident in project teams where the members are expected to merge and create a motivating team dynamic at the same time as they are expected to deliver on the project.
Growing teams is not easy. Team growth usually requires team members to take risks in voicing their deeper needs and feelings. In new teams, members may be expected to open their souls to people with whom they have not built trusting relationships. Some people are not coping with this. There is an agonising gap between letting go of skills and behaviours that no longer work and becoming adept at new behaviours. Throughout this phase of awkward experimentation we are prone to making mistakes which lead to embarrassment and hurt.
There is a high emotional cost to this new world of work. Anxiety levels are very high. Many of us are living with levels of anxiety that, 20 years ago, would have been grounds for hospitalisation. Yet still, in this competitive world, we must deliver.
Team building is a good way to create strong teams. When organisations feel the pinch they sometimes decide it is time to “team build”. And this is usually a good idea. But sometimes interventions with teams do not live up to expectations. There are many stories of teams who went away to deal with things only to return with headaches, stories of embarrassment and a strong sense that they had wasted their time and missed an opportunity. These events can be expensive to organise. But there is a greater cost than paying the adventure company. When teams feel they have missed an opportunity it can be very disheartening. They can fall into a malaise which can sap motivation and lead to the loss of energetic members of the team.
Often the sponsors are not clear on what they want to achieve by spending time away. And to restate a cliché, if you don’t know what you want to achieve, any agenda will do.
Get what you want from your next team build
To have a great intervention, start by defining what you want to achieve. Organisations the world over are turning to neutral facilitators and team build companies to assist their teams to understand their unique culture and behaviours and to help iron out wrinkles in the team fabric. The sponsor of the event will ask the facilitator to organise a “team build” for them. But what is team building? What are your teams’ specific needs? What constitutes a successful intervention?
Here are five directions you may wish to consider for your next intervention.
Strategy setting and action planning What is a team with great spirit but no direction? Party animals! They may be busy and dynamic but no one can say how well they are doing and what they should do next.
The team with a clear strategy but no spirit is also in trouble. Of course if you have no plan and no spirit you are kind of dead in the water. If you don’t already have your team focussed on a clear strategy you may want to include some of this work in your intervention. There have been many books written on setting strategy and this would not be the place to do justice to the subject. At a high level though, your team should be able to characterise what is happening in:
- The environment in which your industry operates. This includes considerations such as politics, economics, social issues, technology, ecology and legal issues.
- The industry within which you compete. Who you sell to and who supplies you. What new players are out there and how easily they can get into the game. And the level of competition in your industry.
- The strategic issues internal to your organisation including your purpose, your people, your culture and values. This is where strategic considerations overlap with team issues. After all if people are an asset rather than a cost, they should be high on the strategic agenda.
A motivated team with a clear strategy, that everyone talks about and uses as a lens to focus their attention, is absolutely unstoppable.
Team Development
There is a great need for training in organisations. Many managers select new members for teams based on their potential and how well they fit a particular culture rather than their superior skills. This raises the need for skills development. Including training is sometimes a good idea for a team intervention. What hard and soft skills training should you provide for your people when next you take them away?
Team Building
Sometimes teams need to reflect on how well they are working together. An effective team build will surface obstacles within the team fabric which prevent delivery. There are some well defined models for understanding an organisation.
You may wish to include the following areas in your team building intervention but again at a high level a team build intervention should address:
- The vision and direction of the team
- The structures and processes in place to deliver the vision
- The team motivation and how they gets things done
- Personalities in the team and how they relate to each other.
Team Bonding
I guess this is what many people call “team building”. The team embarks on an adventure. This can be used to support the learnings from other types of interventions. Team bonding can also be a fun occasion for relieving stress or for rewarding the team.
We have an incredible choice in South Africa for this kind of work. Being away from the familiar helps the team to focus inwards. And if they engage in scary activities they have the opportunity to support each other in a new way. Team bonding interventions can be effective in bringing teams together but if underlying dynamics are not addressed the effects can be short lived.
Self Mastery
Powerful teams are made up of powerful individuals. You may wish to offer the members in your team more personal interventions to help them develop their own unique skills and talents. This type of work usually extends over a period of time but it can be launched, punctuated and concluded in team sessions.
Putting it together
A successful team intervention may include elements from each of these activities. For instance, it is often a good idea to include team bonding or team building activities in a strategy intervention and a team bonding exercise provides an excellent opportunity for open discussion on the culture in the team or organisation.
Six points for a better intervention
Get a good facilitator.
Sometimes we need a neutral, objective person to help us with our interactions. There are some superb facilitators out there who will connect with your team and take them through an excellent process. Consider building a long term relationship with a facilitator who is able to both fit in with and challenge your team culture.
Use a well defined method
Make sure you have agreed a good method before you begin. This should include the collection and collation of team issues prior to the session if this is appropriate. You may wish to consider methods such as:
- Action research
- Appreciative Inquiry
- Open Space Technology
Do the necessary pre-work
Start with a briefing between sponsor and facilitator to get full agreement on the scope, tone and direction of the intervention. Investigate team issues up front and analyse these for discussion. Or agree a positive process and do it on the day. Fit the agenda with the team culture. E.g. some teams are loathe to stay away from home overnight and others make this essential. Understanding the culture is critical.
Have a clear agenda
The agenda should allow a variety of different types of interaction perhaps including:
- Scenario games
- Small group discussions
- Presentation of theory
- Whole group feedback sessions
Allow flexibility
Continuously gauge the effectiveness of the intervention. Change the agenda if necessary. The sponsor and facilitator should discuss possible changes to the agenda where necessary. A good facilitator should be able to manage reasonable changes to the agenda as they arise.
Finish strongly
Make sure you have a tightly defined set of agreements, decisions and actions coming out of the intervention. Plan to finish with a whole group session in which these can be agreed, with responsibilities for actions.
Put some heart in it
So much in our business world is grey, moribund, etiolated and just plain boring. Yet we are working with people. And people are all bursting with creativity. I have never met anyone who has not had something special to offer a team. It is always there. Sometimes it takes time to emerge but it is always there. Isn’t it time to make sure your next team intervention taps into this exciting resource?
StrategyWorks has the expertise and the tools
As I have developed my facilitation practice I have begun to focus on three core offers:
Growing the business: Facilitating workshops to develop strategy. Initiating projects in concept-setting, scoping and detailed planning workshops. Process workshops and process consulting. Problem definition and resolution workshops and consulting.
Growing the team: Organising and facilitating team building sessions. Working with adventure organisations to offer team bonding sessions. Team development training including “Five Steps to Wellness”. Conflict management workshops.
Growing the person: Coaching and mentoring in “one on one” sessions. Team training focussed on developing the individuals within the team.
If you would like to learn more about how I could get involved in your team, please give me a call. I would be happy to meet with you to discuss your requirements and a general approach to an intervention at no charge.
Call me on +27 (83) 708 2588.
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