In my last blog I mentioned that one thing I find frustrating, is the number of people who don’t ask for help. I’ve mentioned in several blogs that it is not a weakness but a strength to be confident enough to say – “I need more clarity”, “I don’t know where to start”, “Can you point in the right direction”, “Can you confirm the scope”, “Can you assist me in getting started”, “Can you help me understand the blocker, agree a structure, engage a challenging stakeholder” and so on.
We are not an island, we are not supposed to be totally self-sufficient and 2 heads or more are always better than 1 – if they are focussed on solving the same issues and driving to the same target goal (I feel the need to caveat that which I dislike, but help that is focussed on a different goal is help for them, not help for you).
The other thing I talked about was kindness and focussing on the similarities we have not the differences. The best way to do that is with questions – an open-mind and a listening ear.
So I thought I’d explore in this weeks’ blog how those two come together. Our current situation of 100% remote working, working with lots of partners and contractors, creating new sub-teams, under pressure and under constant change. Recipe for disaster??, Maybe, but if approached from a different mindset, a real opportunity to create a team that is strong, respectful, trusting and productive… I know which I’m aiming for – you?
There are many models to team formation, but the one I’m going to use today is Bruce Tuckman’s form, storm, norm, perform model.
The situation I’ve just described above, means we need to focus a lot on helping get into the perform phase as quickly as possible, as you can’t expect a new team to perform well when it first comes together.
Forming a team takes time, and members often go through recognisable stages as they change from being a collection of strangers to a united group with common goals. When you understand it, you can help your new team become effective more quickly.
Psychologist Bruce Tuckman’s model has been around since the mid 1960’s and describes the path that most teams follow on their way to high performance. Despite the passing of time, I’ve yet to see a simpler more effective model.
So, let's look at each stage in more detail.
Form
In this stage, most team members are positive and polite. Some are anxious, as they haven't fully understood what work the team will do. Others are simply excited about the task ahead.
“To build a strong team, you must see someone else’s strength as a compliment to your weakness and not a threat to your position or authority” – Catherine Caine
Often team members' roles and responsibilities aren't that clear. This is about making the effort to get to know new colleagues, and starting to work together. This stage can last for some time, depending on the effort and attention from the team members.
Storm
Next, the team moves into the storm phase, where people start to push against the boundaries established in the form stage. This is the stage where many teams fail.
Storm often starts where there is a conflict between team members' natural working styles. People may work in different ways for all sorts of reasons but, if differing working styles cause unforeseen problems, they may become frustrated, hostile, disconnected and disruptive.
“Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence in championships” - Michael Jordan
Storm can also happen in other situations. For example, team members may challenge authority, or jockey for position as their roles are clarified. Or, if they haven't defined clearly how the team will work, people may feel overwhelmed by their workload, or they could be uncomfortable with the approach being used.
Some may question the worth of the team's goal, and they may resist taking on tasks. Team members who stick with the task at hand may experience stress, particularly as they don't have the support of established processes or strong relationships with their colleagues.
Norm
Gradually, the team moves into the norm stage. This is when people start to resolve their differences, appreciate colleagues' strengths, and respect and trust one another.
As team members know one another better, they may add social aspects, and they are able to ask one another for help and provide constructive feedback. People develop a stronger commitment to the team goal, and you start to see good progress towards it.
There is often a prolonged overlap between storming and norming, because, as new tasks come up, the team may lapse back into behaviour from the storming stage.
“It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit” – Harry S. Truman
Perform
The team reaches the perform stage, when hard work leads, without friction, to the achievement of the team's goal. The structures and processes that have been set up support this well. The team assign work evenly and fairly based on skill not roles, and support eachother to grow and develop as well as deliver.
It feels easy to be part of the team at this stage, and people who join or leave won't disrupt performance.
“Teamwork – coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress, working together is success.” – Henry Ford
Adjourn
This was a later edition to Tuckman’s work, but in the world of change, and especially for our circumstances, this I feel is very pertinent.
Many teams will reach this stage eventually. For example, project teams exist for only a fixed period, and even permanent teams may be disbanded through organisational restructuring.
Team members who like routine, or who have developed close working relationships with colleagues, may find this stage difficult, particularly if their future now looks uncertain – this often overlaps with the forming of a new team, and the clashes between the world once known and the new can cause friction – similar to the storming issues. Letting go and adapting positively to change is a skill in of itself and we have to be cognisant and kind to those who struggle with that adaption. Working in change is not the same as being comfortable with change.
“Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organisational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results” – Andrew Carnegie
Each team will be on that curve somewhere, and working out where we are and helping us to step away from the day-to-day details, get a little perspective and ascertain which phase our team(s) are in, can be the first step in understanding the behaviours we are showing up with and those of our colleagues.
I would recommend following the three simple steps below to ensure that you're doing the right thing at the right time to help the teams you are in:
Identify the stage of team development that your team is at from the descriptions above and the table below.
Now consider what you need to do to move towards the perform stage. The table below, will help you understand and give some suggestions on how you can move the team forward.
Consider sharing your thoughts with the team, so a collectively awareness can be reached, and you can approach getting to performing as swiftly as possible together.
Activties by Stage
As a team, work on getting to know one another.
Find things you have in common, not the things that separate you.
Focus on where as a team you’re going, not where you’ve all come from.
Establish clear objectives, both for the team as a whole and for individual team members.
Take into account what already exists and can be re-used, blank sheets of paper are both scary and time-eaters – if you can start from step 2 or even 3, you gain momentum faster.
Establish basic levels roles and responsibility – Create a RACI or structure chart so everyone has the same view
Focus is on building trust and good relationships between team members.
Expand the basic appreciations from forming into solid structure, practices and processes (adopt existing ones if given, as this allows you to focus on quality and pace of context, not re-creating a non-value add wheel.)
Resolve conflicts swiftly if they occur. Listen first, be open-minded, remember the boundaries, and then respond – with rational, logical and constructive responses. Fact-based communication is helpful in this phase and often emotions are running high.
Act as a team – lean-in to support those team members who are less secure, ensure they have a voice and that it is heard.
Consider using psychometric indicators such as Myers-Briggs and the Work Interest Schedule to help you learn about different work styles and strengths that exist in the team.
Know your escalation routes. This can be a stressful stage, and knowing you are in it, does not justify inappropriate behaviours by those who are struggling. If you are experiencing situations that are creating stress, then make sure you (as a team) seek outside help from your leadership
People deal with conflict differently, consider using the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict test to better understand the styles deployed in the team when under conflict. This is all part of getting to know one another, and respecting the differences whilst still focussing on the team goals
Enjoy the successes and celebrate them. Be sure to recognise where the team are demonstrating trust and respect, where the processes you’ve implemented are working.
At the same time, continue to be mindful that things change, an agile working environment is dynamic and as such when things need to change, you will revert to storming, so do some deliberately and mindfully of the aspects you learnt about the team during that initial storming phase.
This is also a time for sharing, bonds are created and respect is being built, adding in social activities are often a feature of this phase. In the current times – a Friday 4:30 beer or a brown bag non-working lunch once a week – things that were easier in the office - need thought and planning now. Make sure that side of team-work is not neglected.
This is the time to make hay whilst the sun shines – you output is unencumbered by office politics and team dynamics support the agile speed of delivery.
Trust is inherent and respect is automatic – you are able to make good decisions faster and have total team unity – even if compromise is required.
Debate exists but is value-add not disruptive, and differing views create innovation not chaos.
The structures we have mean that this is often required. It’s a time to celebrate the team's achievements.
· Recognise the journey you went on together, the highs and lows, and then let it go.
· You may work with some of the same people again, and that will help as you will already know them, but accept that new teams, new challenges, new goals, require a reset and a new start.
This stuff is not easy, nor is it a skill that often companies invest in for their people. But to be successful it is for each and everyone one of us involved to do our bit to support the work, the quality, the pace and the culture we work in.
“We are not a team because we work together. We are a team because we respect, trust and care for each other” – Vala Afshar
Collectively we can create the environment we want, and recognising the above, applying the kindness to ourselves and others as we press on to get these new teams setup and performing against tight deadlines and complex work is no mean feat.
I truly believe the answer to getting there is questions. Ask more quality questions:
of your own understanding,
of your team’s clarity,
of the areas of focus and priority…
just keep asking good questions – through the art of questions and the kindness of listening we can get to a state of performing and deliver not only the ask, but so much more…
So remember – just ask….
“the quality of your life, is determined by the quality of your questions” – Dr John DeMartini
Next time I’ll be sharing views on what makes a good quality question. So if you’re not that comfortable or confident in following the steer above to ask more, that will help you frame them and give you some confidence. (well that’s the aim anyways)!
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