As people, our values are our deepest driving force. They govern our lives in every way: what we do and say, the decisions we make and the actions we take, and through those actions, they influence how other people perceive us and what they say about us to others, which impacts on our reputation.
When it comes to company values it’s no different.
How many times have you heard a company refer to their people as their most valuable asset, or, to excellence being what they strive for, or innovation being at the heart of everything they do?
These words are a clear assertion of a value and a value is quite simply a word or phrase that defines something that the business values: in other words, something that it considers important.
Values make up the ethos of a business and, forming the foundation of everything that happens, both inside and outside of the workplace.
They represent the beliefs, principles, attitudes, qualities or traits, that are considered highest priority and so they at the heart of what the business stands for.
They are how the business ultimately resonates with its people, its clients/customers, its suppliers and stakeholders, and with the wider world, influencing how the business is perceived by others, what people say about it and therefore the reputation it has in the world. And of course reputation plays an important role in the decisions people make about who to work with and for and who to do business with (if you’ve ever made a decision to work with a person or business or to buy a product or service based purely on reputation, then you’ll have seen this process at work).
So, that’s all well and good, but how do values add actual value to a business?
Values are powerful because they define what’s important. How they really add value to a business is when they manifest in the actual behaviour of the people in the business.
This is about translating ethos (values) into culture (behaviour).
In order for an ethos to manifest in culture, it needs to be fully integrated within the business, to the extent that it influences and drives how the people in the business deal with each other and how clients and customers are served and treated. That way, the values are visible to people, both inside and outside of the business which affects peoples’ perception and in turn their decisions and actions.
Culture is what’s actually being lived in the business.
Whether this work has been done officially or not, values already exist in the business.
People have been recruited based on them and they’ve been trained, measured, rewarded and promoted based on them too. People have also been let go based on them.
Equally, values are present in the daily decision making, interactions and action taking that’s happening in the business right now.
- So, whilst ‘integrity’ might be cited as a company value, if the reality is that when someone in the business makes an error, they conceal it, make excuses and mislead the team or client, integrity is not actually present and the culture is one of ‘dishonesty’, or ‘back-covering’.
- If ‘putting people before profits’ is cited as a value, but in reality, decisions are made without the input or consideration of the people and there is an absence of any mechanisms to support the people, then ‘people before profits’ is not actually present and the culture is one of ‘profits first’.
- And if ‘equality’ is a value, but the reality is that there is a clear chain of command and obvious status symbols for specific people only, then equality is not present and the culture is one where rank is significant.
Just like consumers, businesses have a choice. They can leave the values of the company up to the individual behaviours of the people in the business, or they can invest the time and resources to proactively and intentionally define the core values that will be the driving force behind it and to shape a culture that best serves the people: it’s team, clients/customers and best drives the growth and/or success of the business.
Identifying your businesses values and defining the culture that they inform may sound like a ‘nice-to-have’, but in reality, it is a highly strategic piece of work and when done right, one that will greatly influence the future success of the business.
If you found this blog valuable, please share it!
If you read my previous blog Why Cultivate a Culture of Teamwork?, you’ll understand the benefits of a truly collaborative working culture for your business.
But how do you actively cultivate this type of culture?
Whilst teamwork ought to come naturally to us (it is afterall, how our ancient ancestors approached all areas of life in order to keep themselves well and alive!, many of us have unlearnt this natural skill in recent decades.
Here are eight considerations for cultivating a culture of teamwork.
- VALUE IT
Firstly, like with any valuable change to the business, you need to truly recognise its value for the business. Whilst it could be argued that effective teamwork is preferable to people working independently in any business, the reasons it is desired in one business will differ from the reasons it’s desired in another.
Identify specifically how teamwork will enhance the working environment, increase the peoples’ motivation, or improve the results in YOUR business. Once you identify that something is important and why, it becomes a ‘value’ and values drive culture.
- DOCUMENT IT
Values drive culture, but different people have different values, so when seeking to create a culture of teamwork, it’s essential to document the values that are shared amongst the people in the business.
A business will have many values, but there will be five or six that stand above the rest and these are the core values – the ones that drive the people in the business to achieve.
Identify and document these core values and make sure that Teamwork (or another word or phrase that means or incorporates teamwork) is one of them.
- COMMUNICATE IT
Documenting Teamwork as a value is important, but many businesses have values that are documented but that the people in the business don’t know about and therefore don’t live and breath. A value is only a value if it is truly valued by the people in the business, otherwise it is simply a word or phrase that has no real meaning and therefore impact.
Define what you mean by teamwork by documenting the specific behaviours that you’d expect to be exhibited when teamwork is present. Update handbooks and websites and refer to teamwork, using the documented definitions, at all meetings and in everyday conversation.
- DEMONSTRATE IT
Knowing that teamwork is valued will naturally influence the ethos (the principles of a culture), but culture itself is evident in behaviour and so it’s essential that everyone in the business, and especially the leaders, actively demonstrates teamwork in what they say and do and in how they interact with people, both in and out of the business.
Make sure leaders walk the talk by exhibiting teamwork behaviours at all times: be consultative and ask people their view, play your part and expect others to play theirs and do this all of the time, even at times when things aren’t going according to plan and the temptation to ‘pull rank’ rears its head.
- RECRUIT BASED ON IT
Leading the value of teamwork by demonstrating it will influence how the other people in the business behave, but what about those who have not yet joined the business? You want all future team members to share the value of teamwork and so you want to begin to recruit with teamwork in mind.
Amend all job descriptions so that they include team working as a key desired attribute with a description of what that means in YOUR business. Write a culture statement to accompany all job adverts, which describes the culture and specifically the teamwork element, so that it attracts people who genuinely value being part of a team and working in a collaborative way, and so that it detracts those who don’t.
Build the value of teamwork into interviews by asking competency-based questions that enable the person to demonstrate, with stories of previous scenarios, where they exhibited team work. And, communicate that teamwork is valued in this business and therefore measured and rewarded and that people who don’t work well in this type of environment don’t tend to stay with the company. Don’t be frightened to allow people to deselect themselves!
- MEASURE IT
Recruiting teamworkers will improve teamworking no end. Equally, some people will join the business with a different understanding of teamwork to the one those in your business has.
Adapt your performance management process so that it places emphasis on teamwork. Incorporate 360 degree feedback into the process to enable colleagues to comment on each others team working behaviour and during 1-2-1’s and reviews and team meetings, ask questions like: How have you demonstrated teamwork this week? Who would you like to thanks/acknowledge for great teamwork this month? What specific results have been enhanced by teamwork?
- REWARD IT
When teamwork is measured with the same level of importance as results, it will become a focus for the people in the business to actively improve their teamworking ability. However, nothing promotes behaviour more than praising and rewarding it.
Make teamwork a key skill requirement for advancement and promotion. Make it so that the person who brings in lots of business, but who works in isolation isn’t valued anymore than the person who achieves results through teamwork. Make it so that financial rewards attached to successful outcomes are shared amongst the team and intentionally share stories that emphasise teamwork: “Isn’t it great how the accounts team have reduced the payroll errors by 20% by working together?”
- INVEST IN IT
Remember, teamwork can be counter-intuitive for some and even for those for whom it isn’t, it takes time to build a true team and to create the conditions to enable people to learn to and fully leverage the value to the business and the people, of working collaboratively.
Like anything that has value and longevity, this requires making it a strategic focus and allocating time and resources to making it reality.
Invest in teamwork continually, and you’ll cultivate a culture of teamwork – it’s that simple.
And then watch your business and your people flourish.
If you found this blog valuable, please share it!
Businesses are much more likely to create desired results when their people work effectively as a team, especially in environments where change is constant, there’s a need to consider the views of multiple stakeholders and service users, where the desired results rely on the passion and drive of motivated people, and/or where there are limited time and resources.
So what is teamwork?
Teamwork is defined as: the combined action of a group, especially when effective and efficient.
For me, the key is in the term ‘combined action’. In other words action that comes from the collective efforts of the people and not one individual, or multiple individuals, but performed individually.
In a teamwork environment, people believe that ‘none of us is as good as all of us’ and so thinking, planning, decision-making and action-taking are all better done collaboratively. This is because good teamwork creates synergy and synergy is powerful, because the result of the combined effect of the team is greater than the sum of individual efforts.
How do you spot it?
When a group of people are working as a team, they are actively working towards a shared vision (the what) and with a common purpose (the why) and whilst they are contributing their individual knowledge, skills and experience to the cause, they are intentionally leveraging the knowledge, skills and experience of everyone in the team for the benefit of the bigger picture.
This enables them to recognise and play to their strengths whilst admitting areas of weakness and skill gaps, it enables them to identify and solve complex problems quickly and to come up with and implement innovative solutions that are way beyond the scope of any one individual, and it enables them to do this with less effort.
And there are benefits for the individuals too because teamwork gives people a sense of connection and belonging (a basic human need), it provides camaraderie and support, it enables learning and growth, it nurtures self-esteem and confidence and it develops skills and strengths.
If you found this blog valuable, please share it!
Take a look at the modern business world around you and you’ll find that:
-Customers and clients are becoming increasingly demanding
– Competitors increasingly innovative
– Talented people are increasingly making values-led decisions about which company to work for.
The need to differentiate has become more important than ever before.
But what is culture?
The word culture originates from the Latin word ‘cultura’, meaning “to cultivate” or “to grow” and is generally used to define patterns of human behaviour as well as the structures that give that behaviour significance.
Culture is the shared values and behaviours of a group of people and in a business context, it’s how the shared values of the people in the business, so in other words, what’s important to them, translates to how they behave in the business.
So, whilst a company’s culture is not tangible, it is highly evident in what the people in the business do and say.
It’s in their working environment, their working processes and the way they deal with each other and their clients and customers.
It’s in how they discuss challenges, how they deal with differences of view, how they make decisions and how they respond to and navigate change.
It’s in how they deal with responsibility and accountability and how they plan for and measure success.
And it’s in how they support each other and manage pressure and stress.
So, why is culture important?
We all know that brand differentiation helps attract clients and customers. Well, a company culture is its brand and when you consider that ultimately, clients and customers are served by people, company culture plays a big part in attracting and retaining the right people for your brand.
Every business has a culture. However, whether it’s by design or not is another matter and that’s where the differentiation bit comes in.
How can you differentiate through culture?
To effectively differentiate through culture, a company needs one that is distinctive – one that stands out and that starts with defining the values that will drive it.
It’s wise to follow the principles of good marketing here: Assuming that the vision is clear (and if it isn’t, that’s the place to start!), begin by asking what the required values (ethos) and behaviours (culture) are in order to inspire the motivation, create the momentum and ultimately produce the desired results.
Once these have been articulated and documented, the next step is to actively cultivate them by making culture both a strategic a daily focus.
When you have a clearly defined culture (both on paper and in reality), your people will thrive, and so will your business.
If you found this blog valuable, please share it!
He has very ambitious growth plans and already has a group of talented and committed people who work in his small business, but he is acutely aware that they are not working collaboratively, and the business is suffering as a result.
After the initial pleasantries, his opening line to me was “I’m not sure that team building is what we need – we’ve done the hanging from trees stuff and it made no difference”.
But, I understood the misconception. I remember back in my corporate days, the various attempts at team building.
They usually involved going off site to an outdoors facility, being put into groups with people you didn’t know well and attempting to work together to solve problems, get around assault courses, make something and yes, it some cases, it involved hanging from trees!
Now don’t get me wrong, there’s huge value in these sorts of team activities. I have some very happy memories of fun company days out like this and I’ve been involved with organising and facilitating them too in previous HR roles.
On a personal level, I credit some of those experiences with increased self-awareness and communication skills and I know that I overcame fears and built my confidence as a result. From a business perspective, they also helped me to build valuable cross-departmental connections and relationships which helped my career.
However, what I never observed from those activities was any long-term impact on the beliefs and behaviours of the people I worked with, or any improvement in team work when we all returned to the office.
Why?
Because team building activities don’t work in isolation.
Team building is not an activity. It’s not something that you do once, or even at intervals throughout the year and expect a genuine team to emerge.
Team building is a strategy and as such, it’s something that you do every single day.
If you found this blog valuable, please share it!
In this modern business world where customers are increasingly demanding and competitors increasingly innovative, the pressure is on for us businesses to continually improve our products and services, keep our costs down and increase the value of everything we do for our clients and customers.
This requires a lot of creativity and in knowledge-based industries where people are required (and paid!) to use their brain, the best creative ideas tend to come from the people at the customer face.
So what is creativity?
When we think of creativity, we tend to think of the arts when in fact, creativity has very little to do with art.
Creativity is the act of turning new ideas into reality and it is characterised by the ability to perceive what’s in front of us in new and imaginative ways, to transcend traditional ideas or rules and patterns, to make connections between seemingly unrelated things and to establish meaningful new interpretations.
Most importantly though, creativity is about output.
Without an output, what you have is imagination, not creativity
Have you ever worked on an issue or problem only to find the more you work on it, and the harder you think about it, the more you keep going over the same thought patterns and getting the same result?
There is a biological reason for this
As we repeat our thought process, we strengthen the neurological pathways in our brain, making it physiologically easier to follow the same route next time. This is really useful when the brain is learning things to create unconscious competence (like learning to drive) but it’s not very useful when we are seeking to be innovative!
Finding new ways of looking at or doing things, or designing new products or procedures requires the creation of new neurological pathways and the best way to achieve this is to work collaboratively.
Collaboration results in better creativity
When we work with someone else on a problem or challenge, their knowledge and experience (or sometimes their lack of knowledge and experience), and the differing perspective that they have as a result, leads to greater creativity. Assumptions get challenged, inconsistencies are identified and worked through and seeds of ideas get taken to the next level. This often works in an escalating fashion as each contribution from each party creates new creative pathways in the other.
This is simply not possible to achieve in isolation.
Collaboration isn’t a nice-to-have in business. Collaboration is essential
So, next time you have an issue or a challenge in your business, or you are reviewing your product or service, coming up with a new route to market, or want to create an entire new offering, get the team together, facilitate a brainstorming session and get creative!
If you found this blog valuable, please share it!
In November 2017, Inspired to Change were voted the UKs Happiest Team at the Laughology Awards.
But how do they create this happy environment?
To increase individual and collective happiness, we need to keep ourselves and those we live and work with dosed up with a cocktail of ‘Happy Hormones’.
But what is a happy hormone?
A happy hormone is quite simply a hormone (or in some cases, technically, a neurotransmitter) that makes us feel good.
So, what does this DOSE cocktail involve?
D is for DOPAMINE and it’s also for DRIVE.
Dopamine literally drives our brain’s reward system, urging us to seek pleasure and motivating us to achieve goals. It regulates our emotional responses, enabling us not only to identify where rewards might be, but also to take action to move toward them.
Most types of reward increase the level of dopamine in the brain which is why when we receive recognition or praise, we get a dopamine hit which makes us feel good. A lack of dopamine can result in a lack of enthusiasm and motivation and in self-doubt and procrastination.
O is for OXYTOCIN and it’s also for ONENESS.
Oxytocin is also known as the ‘love’ or the ‘hug’ hormone, because it makes us feel connected and loved. It plays a role in empathy, intimacy and trust and it regulates social interaction, enabling us to both build and maintain healthy relationships.
Most types of connection with others increase the level of oxytocin the brain, which is why when we hug a loved one, a friend or a colleague, we get an oxytocin hit which makes us feel good. A lack of oxytocin can result in isolating behaviour, feelings of loneliness and enhanced fear and distrust.
S is for SEROTONIN and it’s also for STABILITY.
Serotonin helps us to maintain mood balance, because it regulates anxiety, sleep, appetite and digestion, making us feel calmer, clearer and more emotionally settled. It regulates memory and learning, enabling us to feel more focused and it also plays a role in social behaviour, making us more amiable and social.
A healthy mind and body increases the level of serotonin in the brain, which is why when we get enough sleep, eat well and look after ourselves, we feel good. A lack of serotonin can cause anxiety, irritability, insomnia, pain, panic and depression.
E is for ENDORPHINS and it’s also for EASE.
There are, in excess of 20 endorphins that our brain produces, helping us to maintain general physical and psychological wellness. They regulate emotional and physiological responses, by interacting with the opiate receptors (our natural painkillers) in the brain, enabling us to cope with stress and anxiety and physical ailments and pain.
Exercise and laughter as well as foods like chocolate and chillies secrete endorphins, which enhance feelings of pleasure and satisfaction, increase immunity and modulate appetite, which is why when we have high endorphin levels, we feel good. Low levels of endorphins can manifest in lethargy, reduced tolerance to pain, anxiety and/or stress and a myriad of unexplained physical disorders.
So, what can we do to intentionally increase these happy hormones in our team so that they feel ‘good’ more often?
We can do this by applying the Three Principles of Positivity:
1) Positive Thinking
How we think as individuals affects what we experience, so changing the way we think plays an essential role in changing how we feel. This is also true about collective thinking. When we think in a positive way, we take more positive action and we interact more positively with others, generating all the happy hormones we need.
When a group of people work together, they begin to influence how each other thinks and so encouraging a culture of positive thought will generate a culture of happiness.
2) Positive Action
This is about doing things that will lead to positive outcomes, whether that’s individually or collectively, because positive outcomes give us the very thing we need to create more positive outcomes – it has a compounding effect.
Small actions, that in themselves might seem insignificant, make a big difference and lead to more small actions. The action of doing it releases dopamine which motivates us to do more.
3) Positive interaction.
This is about connecting with others. Whether someone is an introvert or an extrovert, to some degree, all human beings are social beings. Social connection and interaction is important.
When we interact with others in a positive way we boost our levels of serotonin and oxytocin, which encourages us to interact more.
Ten Top tips for incorporating the three Positivity Principles:
1) A shared vision gives a team a shared purpose and is what binds the individuals in the team together, creating oxytocin. Involve the team in designing their vision. Engage them in defining both the what and the why and encourage them to get clear about what’s in it for them, both individually and collectively, producing dopamine and therefore the motivation to make it happen.
2) Teams are happiest when they share a set of values and behave in accordance with those values. Involve the team in creating the team culture together, creating a sense of ‘oneness’, stimulating oxytocin and elevating the importance of the team above any individual within it.
3) Common goals give a team a shared focus and breaking a big vision down into incremental goals helps the brain to recognise the ‘win’ at each interval, producing serotonin and dopamine and propelling the team onto the next goal. Bring the team together at key intervals throughout the year, to discuss and collectively decide on the intended outcome for that period.
4) Intentional positive actions enable teams to achieve more, more often which produces dopamine and more positive action. Get into the habit of creating a weekly focus, in addition to the vision and goals. So for instance, small projects that everyone plays a part in like clearing the office, updating the database or filing away all paperwork.
5) Starting each day or meeting with a positive mindset creates serotonin, so start conversations with the question ‘what’s been good?’ and incorporate a principle of ‘gratitude’ by asking people to list things that they are grateful for, proud of and excited about to remind them that they are valued and they have things and people that they value.
6) Celebrating wins, no matter how small gives us serotonin and dopamine, the very thing we need to create more wins. Incorporate regular celebration into your team culture and get into the habit of marking wins, no matter how small with something meaningful, whether that’s a high five, a congratulatory email, round of drinks on a Friday or a reward of some description.
7) Feeling valued and supported stimulates oxytocin and serotonin and keeps teams feeling valued, engaged and motivated. Have regular meetings purely for the purpose of enabling encouragement, support and help for each other.
8) Laughter produces serotonin and endorphins which enables teams to deal with pressure and stress effectively. Encourage healthy banter and jokes and share funny videos intentionally to keep those endorphins flowing.
9) The healthier your team, the more endorphins that flow and the happier they are, so encourage ample rest, sleep, exercise and time with loved ones.
10) The power of intent is underestimated. Decide to be a happy team and the rest will come relatively easy.
Focus on keeping your team DOSE’d up and you’ll see a happier and more successful team and in turn, a happier and more successful business.
If you found this blog valuable, please share it!
They All Involve People!
All successful businesses recognise that their success comes through and as a result of their people which is why successful businesses have a growth strategy that has an emphasis on Leadership and Team Alignment.
Leaders and teams who are fully aligned with both the business vision and each other will ultimately deliver the results you want, because when they are aligned in this way, they are motivated to drive the business forward through choice. That’s why I developed:
THE TEAM ALIGNMENT METHOD – Four Steps To An Aligned Team.
Now, this process isn’t particularly unique or clever. In fact it’s very simple. However, the reality is that often seemingly complex tasks (like creating an aligned team that drives your business forward through choice), don’t require a complex approach.
STEP ONE: DESIGN THE VISION
An aligned team is a team that works together towards a SHARED vision. A shared vision therefore is essential. Without a shared vision, creating an aligned team is not possible, because it’s the vision that binds the individuals in the team together.
For a vision to be shared, the team must be involved in designing it. Too many leaders impose their vision on their team and then wonder why their team are not as inspired and motivated by it as they are. When the individuals in the team are involved in deciding on the direction they are going and importantly, defining ‘why’, then they are motivated from within, and when they are motivated from within, they do what’s necessary t make it happen – through CHOICE.
STEP TWO: CREATE THE CULTURE
Whilst the Vision provides the direction, it is the team Culture that provides the conditions to enable the team to achieve it. Culture is often difficult to define because it is not tangible. However, culture is entirely visible through its manifestation in the work environment: in the behaviour of the people in the team.
I describe culture as a personality. In a person, personality is a construct of their mindset (beliefs, values and attitude) and their behaviour. Equally, a team’s culture is a construct of their collective mindset and their behaviour, which results when the team agrees on and complies with a set of guidelines for working together.
Culture literally translates to “How we behave around here” and the more explicit the team is about the culture that best supports the vision, the more likely they are to adopt consistent behaviour that also supports it.
STEP THREE: ESTABLISH THE GOALS
Whilst the Vision provides direction and the Culture provides the conditions to achieve it, it is the team’s Goals that drive their daily, weekly and monthly activities to ensure that they move incrementally and consistently towards it.
The vision is the destination. However, often by the nature of a vision, the destination is a long way in the future, therefore aiming for the destination on a daily weekly or monthly basis can be overwhelming.
The goals break the vision down into incremental milestones which brings the vision closer to the current reality, providing achievable targets to aspire to and reach along the way. Instead of aiming for the vision on a daily, weekly and monthly basis, the team are able to aim instead for the next milestone and then the next one after that.
Just like the vision, the more involved the team are in establishing the goals, the more committed they are to doing whatever it takes to achieve them.
STEP FOUR: DEFINE THE ROLES
One of the most noticeable characteristics of an aligned team is that each individual within it is completely clear about the role they play in achieving the common goals and reaching the shared vision. As a result they have a high level of accountability.
Accountability is often described as ‘being responsible’ for something when actually, that is what ‘responsibility’ means. Accountability is not just about being responsible for something – it’s about being answerable for it too and the distinction between the two things is an important one.
Accountability only works when there is complete clarity of responsibility and expectations and this is why defining the individual roles within the team, complete with where responsibility lies for specific tasks and who is accountable for certain outcomes, is absolutely essential. In doing this, the leader works with the team to allocate responsibility for tasks and accountability for outcomes to individuals based on their strengths – and this is where many leaders get it wrong.
We have come to believe that our strengths are the things that we can do well which is why so many of us find ourselves on a career path that we later come to dislike. The thing is, a strength is NOT the thing you do well. A strength is not the thing you’re good at. That is a skill. A strength is the thing that you are both good at AND that you energised by. It’s the thing that makes you feel STRONG. That ‘s your REAL strength. When the individuals within the team are given tasks and responsibilities based on their REAL strengths, that’s when things start to get interesting.
By leading their team through THE TEAM ALIGNMENT METHOD step by step, even the most inexperienced team leader can move their team from a group of people who simply coordinate their individual efforts, to a powerful force, on a mission who work collaboratively towards a shared vision, driving the business forward THROUGH CHOICE.
If you found this blog valuable, please share it!
My Team Alignment Method is the approach I suggest all leaders and groups take to build an effective team.
However, before embarking on any kind of team development journey, it is important first to understand the 4-stage process that all work groups naturally move through en route to being a TEAM.
The Team Development was first developed by Bruce Tuckman in 1965 and it details the four stages that all teams move through. He called it Forming > Storming > Norming > Performing
Whilst this model has been around for many years, I have adapted it to suit the modern business world.
However, whilst my labelling and explanation of the stages is different to Tuckman’s, the essence of my amended model remains very true to his original work.
I call it: The TEAM Journey
STAGE 1 – STARTING
In this stage, the starting of the team takes place and the individual’s behaviour is driven by the simple desire to be accepted.
There is a lack of understanding of the team’s vision or purpose and there is high dependence on the leader/manager for direction and guidance.
This stage tends to be comfortable for the individuals as they behave and work relatively independently. The focus tends to be on goals and tasks and on who does what and when, in addition to gathering information about each other.
To the leader/ manager, the team may appear to be working well as tasks are completed. However, the reality is that often they are not completed as effectively or as efficiently as they could be and the avoidance of any conflict means that issues and feelings are not addressed. As a result mutual respect and trust is not established and so success it limited.
STAGE 2 – KICKING
In this stage, the kicking of the team occurs as whilst the vision and the purpose of the team becomes clearer, uncertainty about where the individuals fit into that builds.
Individuals begin to vie for position and to assert their preferences and ideas, and as differences are emphasised, tension arises and conflict can occur.
This stage is not avoidable. All teams go through this stage and for a team that has never worked together before, it is especially significant.
Due to the often contentious nature of this stage, it can feel uncomfortable, especially for those who are particularly averse to conflict, as individual’s air and explore their differences.
For the leader/manager this stage is a challenge as the individuals shift responsibility for tasks and outcomes and apportion blame for failings.
The KICKING stage is an essential stage as it creates the conditions to enable the individuals to push through their differences by both recognising and accepting them. It enables them to identify where they and each other member brings value to the team and to begin to establish mutual understanding and respect. It does however have the potential to be a destructive stage if there is a lack of tolerance and patience. Cliques may form at this stage and power struggles may occur.
However, with the freedom to share opinions and feelings openly and without judgement, the team are able to work together more comfortably. Some teams unfortunately never develop past this stage.
STAGE 3 – WORKING
In this stage, the working of the team begins as agreement replaces resistance and the individuals find commonality and ways in which they complement each other.
They begin to compromise their own agendas for the benefit of the team as a collective. Their desire for and their commitment to the team’s success is strong and they begin to depend more on each other than on the leader/manager and to work together, playing to their strengths and pulling on the strengths of their teammates.
This stage is a welcome stage for everyone after they’ve been in kicking and it is highly noticeable as the tension and conflict is replaced with mutual appreciation and respect and trust builds.
For the leader/manager, this stage is very welcome as the team appear to get what they are about and to be both willing and able to take on more responsibility. As a result, a deeper level of delegation is possible.
The WORKING stage is significant as everyone becomes clear not just on the role they play and the value they bring, but also on the value brought by every individual in the team. Everyone begins to feel appreciated and valued and this is reflected in the outcomes they achieve.
Some individuals may continue to operate independently on occasion and ideas, opinions and feelings may still not be fully shared openly in this stage for fear of recreating conflict.
STAGE 4 – DRIVING
In this stage, the driving of the team emerges as the individuals cease to operate independently and instead operate interdependently, depending on each other to perform their respective roles well.
The individuals in the team are knowledgeable and competent, highly motivated and dependent on each other which makes collective problem solving and decision making easy.
There is complete openness, high empathy and mutual respect and trust and as a result, the team proactively seek ways of getting the work done efficiently and effectively without the need for external leadership or management.
What is most evident in this stage is that differing ideas, opinions and feelings are encouraged within the team, with the intent of challenging the norm and continually finding new solutions and ways forward.
Equally, the skills and strengths, roles and responsibilities and the attitude and attributes of the individuals complement and support each other as well as the team’s vision, culture and goals.
For the leader/manager, delegating to this team is a joy! Everyone is clear about where they are heading as a team and fully appreciates the significance of their role in the context of the vision. They are confident in playing to their strengths to perform that role well and they thrive as a result of the increase in expectation and responsibility.
The DRIVING stage is the stage to aspire to as in this stage, the team dynamics become highly functional, the individuals within the team thoroughly enjoy the experience of working together and the vision becomes a personal aspiration for everyone.
As a result, they actively drive the business forward for no other reason than they want to and so they power forward with ease. Achieving the business vision becomes inevitable!
REVERSING
Team development is not linear process. Even the most DRIVING teams will experience challenges and may reverse to earlier stages in the cycle when changes occur.
The loss of a valued member, the addition of someone new, a change in leadership or direction and focus, or even the achievement of a significant goal can result in reversing.
Most typically, in the face of change, the team will reverse back to kicking as new agendas, ideas, perspectives and opinions challenge the existing dynamics of the team.
For the leader/manager, delegation can suffer in the face of a reversing team as the impact on the team results in mistakes or missed deadlines. However, a previously DRIVING team that has fully experienced what it is to work interdependently, already possesses the characteristics required to adapt to the changes, address the challenges and to progress through the process quickly and with relatively low discomfort or disruption.
A team in the working stage may struggle with this and a kicking team may never recover which is why aspiring to create a DRIVING team is so important.
If you found this blog valuable, please share it!
Whereas a Work Group is a collection of individuals who coordinate their individual efforts, a Team is a group of people who work together collectively towards a shared vision.
This distinction between a Work Group and a Team is important, because whilst a Team will always achieve more consistent, more significant and more long-term results than a Work Group, a Team is much more difficult to build.
Building a Team requires the commitment and the capacity on the part of the leader to facilitate a natural 4-stage process of team development and due to the nature of their role within that process, to also develop themselves as a leader.
What’s the difference?
A Work Group has an individual and independent focus and the emphasis is on the individuals within the group rather than the group as a collective.
An individual who works as part of a Work Group may have goals, clarity of tasks & responsibilities, and they may even have accountability for outcomes, but whilst they may come together with the rest of the group, it is usually with the sole intent of sharing information as it is their leader/manager that they ultimately look to for direction and guidance.
A Team on the other hand has a collective and interdependent focus and whilst the people in the team are highly valued as individuals, the emphasis is on the group as a collective.
What’s the impact?
An individual who works as part of a Team will have a strong sense of shared purpose because their role and responsibilities are defined by the team’s collective vision and goals. Personal agendas are also team agendas and collective success takes priority over individual success.
Whilst they each have their own roles, they have shared responsibility for outcomes, which means that they depend heavily on each other to perform their respective roles well.
Members of a Team come together frequently and with far greater purpose than to simply to communicate: they discuss challenges and problems, brainstorm solutions, share ideas, plan work and make joint decisions.
People in a team do not look solely to the leader/manager for direction or guidance, they look to each other and so their accountability for outcomes is provided by the team as a whole.
When you successfully leverage interdependence in a group, you have a Team and when you have a Team, the overall achievement is far greater than the sum of the individuals within it. Together Everyone Achieves More.
By leading their team through THE TEAM ALIGNMENT METHOD step by step, even the most inexperienced leader can move their team from a group of people who simply coordinate their individual efforts, to a powerful force, on a mission who work collaboratively towards a shared vision, driving the business forward THROUGH CHOICE.