Can you help me ... ?

A short story on how I recently helped a small leadership group that was anything but a team. Although they all got along very well, they were simply working alongside one another rather than with each other. They were not ready for a big two-day team session so I recommended to start with the basics: a weekly team huddle of no more than 30 minutes, where each shared with the others something really great that had happened in their scope the previous week, and updated them briefly on the progress on their priorities. No Powerpoints or meeting room tables: the huddle was done standing up in the open space, visible to the others in the organization. And the last part of the team huddle was where the team leader asks who needed help from anyone else in the coming days or weeks to be successful in their priorities.

The team huddle went well and created a very basic but regular exchange where people learned about what was going on in the others' areas. But the interesting development happened with the last part of the team huddle. The first team huddles, when the team leader asked if anyone needed help, there was awkward silence, fiddling of empty hands, and soft but unconvinced whispers of "no, thanks ...". And then in the fourth team huddle, John spoke up "Yes, in fact, I would like Susan to help me with ...". The huddle was concluded and John and Susan walked off and started to discuss the issue John was struggling with. The ice had been broken and in the next team huddle, there were multiple requests for help. The final part of the huddle, which at first had been an uncomfortable way of concluding the session, became the way the team connections started to form. And soon, people were going to see the others in between sessions, not to talk about their priorities, but to ask others for help.

Asking for help is a powerful glue to start building a team. You cannot mandate it, but as a leader, you can model it. And when you ask someone for help, do so in front of others. If you want to build a team, start small !

How can your team deal with complex challenges ?

Most of the challenges facing leaders today are complex. Dave Snowden’s Cynefin model separates the types of situations leaders are confronted with into simple, complicated, complex and chaos, and indicates how each should be dealt with differently (HBR November 2007). A complex challenge requires leaders to probe, sense and respond. How can this model be applied to a team ?

When teams are invited to solve a problem or find solutions for a challenge, they nearly always intuitively move into solution mode very quickly. Each will mentally assess the situation, categorize or analyze the facts and then share which solution is the best and why this is so. “I think we should do this because I used to …”. Experts often save the day. Brainstorming helps to share as many ideas as possible in a short period of time so the team can respond quickly to the issue. Advocating solutions, expert input, brainstorming or sharing best practices works for simple or complicated problems where the Cynefin model prescribes the steps of sense, categorize, respond, and sense, analyze, respond respectively. Simple and complicated problems are prevalent in an “ordered” world where actions have predictable results. Approaching complex problems in the same way leads to half-optimized solutions at best and a team stuck in disagreement at worst; it is often up to the leader to decide what to do. So much for the team’s contribution !

How can a team work through the steps of probing, sensing and responding and tackle complex problems efficiently ?

That’s exactly what Action Learning does. Action Learning is a problem solving process where a small team works on a real and complex business challenge, takes action and learns as individuals and as a team while doing so. Rather than jumping into solution-mode, the ground rule “statements are only made in response to questions” helps the team focus first on what the real issue or challenge is. Perceptions and assumptions are put aside as the team asks questions about the different aspect of the problem. This corresponds to the probing step in the Cynefin model.

Based on the discussion and exchanges in the Action Learning session, each team member will decide what actions to take after the session. They can take action to test out an idea, confirm an assumption or talk to people to collect more information. This is the sensing step in the Cynefin model.

When the team reconvenes to continue their work on the challenge, each will share the result of their actions and what they learned from them. The team will take in this new information about the challenge, and continue to work on shaping the understanding of the situation through questions. This is the responding step in the model. 

For a leader, the Cynefin model describes how to deal with a complex challenge. When this leader wants to empower the team to learn, develop and come up with new ideas, the Action Learning process provides a clear structure and rules to avoid the pitfall of tackling complex challenges through the ubiquitous brainstorming-like “let’s find the solution” approach.

What (or rather who) stresses you out ?

In a study around stress, researchers measure stress levels directly from the levels of cortisol in saliva. A bunch of participants were asked to swab their mouth every hour, put the swab aside, and write down what they were doing at the particular moment of sample-taking. The results ? People have the lowest levels of stress when they are with friends, relatives or their spouse. And they are most stressed when they are with colleagues or clients. And who tops the list of stress-creators ? The boss. The highest level of stress exists when people are in the same room as their boss.

Since most of us spend more time at work than with our spouses or friends, this means we are stressed for most of our waking hours. And this most likely impacts how we then later on interact with friends or relatives or spouses. If you are a business owner or leader of a team, isn't it a scary thought that the people who work for you are most stressed when they are near you ? You may think your door is always open and that you are a very open-minded leader. You may try hard to be fair to everyone and you may even manage to control your emotions to minimize the impact on those around you. But you are the boss. And that reality has a significant impact on how the ones reporting to you feel when they are with you.

The best way to minimize the negative impact of the stress you generate - most of it unconsciously - is to be aware of how you interact with those reporting to you. Evaluate yourself after each discussion or meeting and create the habit of creating a small learning/reflection loop several times per day. Was this time better than the last one ? How did the person on the other side of the table contribute or react ? What did you do that seemed to have a pretty good impact ? In the next meeting, what would you repeat or on the contrary avoid saying ? Make an explicit effort to reduce stress for those around you through small gestures or practices.

The Power of Silence

We are so hooked on fighting for air-time, making sure we are heard and showing what we know that keeping silent is a challenge for many leaders. Asking a question, waiting for the answer, and then really listening and exploring is the core of real leadership.

When you ask a question and end up answering it yourself ... you are basically saying that you knew the answer and were just "testing" if your team knows or not. You are also saying that you do not really have the time or interest to listen to their ideas.

"But what should I do if they are quiet ? If they have no idea ?" leaders often ask me. My answer is invariably ... "Shut up and wait !". "But what should I do if they are quiet for 5 minutes ?" For one, it will probably never be 5 minutes, although it may feel like that. Second, if you are really interested in their answer, you should just wait.

Think carefully about the questions you are asking. Are you trying to find out if they know the answer ? That's a test, not a question. Do you have the answer to the question you are asking ? If so, why ask it ?  Too often, leaders ask questions to find a way to say what they know or think. A question that is really meant to find out what others are thinking is powerful. Rhetorical questions, gotcha-questions, multiple-choice or do-you-know questions are not how you build trust, innovation or your leadership.

An interesting article recently about the power of uncomfortable silences on the BBC website:

http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20170718-the-subtle-power-of-uncomfortable-silences

Another meeting ... another opportunity lost ?

I am not one of those people who declare that meetings are all useless and that you as a leader should stop having meetings. That is great for a shock-effect blog or book title but stopping meetings is just not realistic. And actually counter-productive. I really think that meetings are a great way to lead an organization, develop individuals and build teams. But you need to ask yourself why you are having a meeting in the first place.

If people just show up knowing that each will take turn to flip through a set of Powerpoint slides ending with "Are there any questions ?" then of course you cannot expect much engagement or team development.

Source: Harvard Business Review

I recently came across this statistic in Harvard Business Review about how people evaluate their meetings in terms of "bringing the team closer together". 62% said that the meetings do not bring the team closer together. That is really worrisome. How do you expect a team to grow and get to work better together if you use the meetings for "other priorities" ? There are very few opportunities where a whole leadership team is together. That was the main feedback from a team I recently worked with. The entire  management team of a manufacturing plant was together only every 3 months to listen (!) to the quarterly update of the plant results ! At all other times, it was only sub-sets of managers that worked together on particular topics. The whole group of managers had NEVER worked together on a problem together. Yet they were seen by the organization - and expected to be seen as such - as the "leadership team".

Think about why you are having a meeting. Take at least 5 minutes at the end to reflect - as a team - on what you just did, what worked and what didn't, and what to do different next time. Maybe, just maybe, you will develop more meaningful meetings, and the beginnings of a real team.

Is your team sustainable ?

Sustainability is one of the many popular business buzz words. In the last year or so, I have seen issues of Harvard Business Review and Rotman Magazine dedicated to the topic of sustainability. In times of uncertainty, stakeholders want to be reassured that the organization they are investing in, belong to or are a consumer of, will continue to be around.

On a somewhat smaller scale, let's look at a team's sustainability. A sustainable team would mean that the team is "able to be maintained at a certain rate or level". This means that the team continues to deliver high performance, year after year, whether in a crisis situation or in a growth environment. A sustainable team also means that the team continues to deliver after you - the leader - has moved on.

Leaving behind a sustainable team is the pinnacle of team leadership.

Any team can be "whipped up" to deliver under difficult circumstances. A pep talk, an all-hands meeting will often boost energy and motivation. But this does not go on forever. If the team is pushed all the time, for more, faster, better ... individuals will often end up being burnt out. You can only push so much, or be pushed so much.

The only antidote to performance burnout is to create and maintain a positivity in the team. Positivity is not the same as friendship (although camaraderie is part of it). Positivity is a shared energy and power to support extraordinary motivation (www.teamcoachinginternational.com). In a future blog I will review the components of team positivity, and how you can nurture each to create a sustainable team.

All about Teams !

I have to admit: pretty excited to read my comments on a team article in my favorite professional magazine, Harvard Business Review.

Next up: writing and publishing my book on the Power of Teams !

What to look for in a new team member ?

Recruiting someone new to join your team is a daunting challenge. The CV or resume is no longer useful since services now spruce up your CV to make it look the best in the eyes of the recruiters. Some organizations try to "ensure" success by having multiple interviews. Possible questions and suggested answers have been so widely shared that there is no real uniqueness here anymore. Quite often, interviewers go with their gut when it comes to deciding on an applicant. Maybe there is a better way ?

Google is a master of data, and they did it again. They researched what characteristics really determine success on the job when recruiting someone new. An initial analysis showed that grades or school reputation, or past experiences are not predictors of job success. When they then looked at this challenge in much more detail, they found out that the differentiating factors are :

1. cognitive abilities ... brain skills (as opposed to physical) in performing tasks and solving problems

2. intellectual humility ... having an open mind: knowing what you know but also knowing what you don't know

3. ability to learn ... absorbing new knowledge, unlearning and applying into action

According to Google, these factors make the difference and determine job success. So maybe it is time to rethink how we evaluate new team members and try to focus on these critical factors rather than unending series of interviews.

When team connections come second ...

A team session is by definition focusing on the team interactions. During the day, the team members discuss in pairs or triads or with the entire group. All energy is spent on the exchanges, questioning, listening and then creating together. The team really feels like a team !

Why does this energy or momentum quickly dissipate after the team session ? Why does the team feel less like a team ?

Our brain has limited energy. During the team session, all energy is focused exclusively on the team interactions. Outside of the team session, each team member falls back on dealing with the different daily challenges and priorities that come their way. This can be under the form of meetings, calls, emails or reviews. The brain focuses its energy on solving the problems, finding solutions, explaining, negotiating or justifying. Not much energy is left for taking care of the interactions and relations within the team.

I recently experienced this is an interesting way. A large group of people is asked to walk around in a room, and interact with the others (eye contact, saying "hello"). The team members at first get simple instructions (start, stop, call out your name, clap ...) but these get more and more complex (when hearing "clap", say out your name, and "stop" means start). At the start there was a buzz when people walked around and interacted with the others in the room. In only a few minutes' time, the buzz disappeared, eyes were focusing on the floor, and each member of the group was spending all the energy on complying with the complex instructions. No energy was left to spend on interacting with the others in the room.

The key take-away: you need to deliberately carve out time to to grow your team, every day. The team session can give a good boost but without regular team reboots, not much will be built up.

The Power of Awareness

We often assume that people around us see and know themselves like we see or know them. When there are behaviors that are not appropriate or don't help the team, we assume that they are very well aware of these behaviors, but that they either don't want to or are not capable of changing. We "give up" and think it is hopeless to expect them to change their behavior.

I recently had a discussion with a manager as part of a leadership development program. This manager was well known by most around him as someone who just talks too much. Telling others what to do rather than finding out what they think. Using up air time that belongs to others (including answering questions that are asked to them). Never keeping this concise and just keeping on talking. This behavior is so obvious that it bothers everyone around him. He is otherwise a capable, hard-working and motivated young manager, but most around him just conclude there is no way he can change the way he is.

So I had a chat with him recently asking about his personal development as part of the leadership program. He told me he had simply divided by two the amount of talking, instructing and telling he does. He had gone "cold turkey". He simply changed his behavior very strongly from one day to the next. And those around him immediately noticed. So I asked him how he had done it ? What trick had he used ? It must be difficult to so fundamentally change an ingrained behavior. ? His answer ? For him, it simply was the first time he had become clearly aware of this behavior and the impact this had on his team. Nobody had told him, or even hinted to him. They just all assumed he was aware but that things were beyond repair. It was simple awareness that snapped him out of this negative behavior.

Simple lesson: don't assume all is clear for those around you. Tell them in a simple and clear way what is expected from them. No guarantee that all will be done accordingly, but at least they will be aware.

Can you spot the team leader ?

Open up your Google browser. Type in "high performance team" and look for the images that turn up.  You will find stock photos of "sample teams" but these are not real teams. They are people posing for a picture that is supposed to represent a team. The pictures you will see of "real teams" are all sports teams. Bike riders, skydivers, rowing teams, or the Formula 1 team at a pitstop. And in all of these pictures, the members of the team are in full action. Where is the leader of each team ? Are they somewhere behind the scenes ? Or is one of the folks in the picture the leader ? Or are there many leaders ? I believe it is the latter. Sports teams work based upon leadership. not on the premise of a leader. Some lead the team in individual development, others in medical support, others still in communication, financing, equipment or recuperation.

Now turn to Amazon and look for books on high performance teams. All these books (and there are plenty) are focusing on who ? Not on the team, but on the team leader. There are plenty of models of what the team leaders should do. The 5 steps. The 3 dimensions. The 7 D's (I made these up ... don't look for them !). Because for some reason we are made to believe that it is the team leader who brings about the team performance. The team leader "does upon the team" certain things and then, voilà, the team propels itself to high performance. Or does it ... ?

And so here is a conundrum. Sports teams manage to deliver performance week after week. There is no apparent single leader or 'boss'. Yet at work, all the focus is on the leader and on what he or she does (or not) with or says (or not) to the team. Ever wondered why getting a team to work optimally at work is such a challenge ? Maybe we should be looking at teams again ...

You have the team you deserve !

Somebody once said that populations have the politicians they deserve. In the same vein, your team is the one you deserve.

With the exception of a team leader inheriting a new team for the first couple of months, your team is the reflection of you as a leader. I often hear team leaders vent about their team. The team members don't have the needed skills. They don't take responsibility. They don't make decisions. They stay in their comfort zone. And there are old conflicts lingering that impact performance.

Well, no team is perfect, that is for sure. But what have you done about all this ? Have you coached, mentored, given feedback, acted upon the improvements or the lack of improvements ? Are there clear targets and a clear understanding of what happens when targets are not met ? If you have done all this and it does not bring the results you want ... what are you going to do different next week ? As for those issues you are not happy about, but you don't do anything about (other than vent your frustration), your inaction sends as much a message to the team of your priorities and your values.

Stop complaining about your team ! It is a reflection of how you are doing as leader.

When does your team start ?

What is the best time to start to work on your team's interactions, looking at how to optimize productivity and team cohesion ? That question came up when I worked with a recently formed team. The team had been in place only 2 months, and because not everybody was located in the same office, a few team members had not yet met their new team mates (although they did know each other). At the end of the 2-day workshop, one participant shared that it would have been better to have more team history (6 months or so) because this would make the workshop more effective.

He had changed his mind by the end of day 2.

All too often, leaders call me for help with their team when things start to go South. When tensions arise, or even conflicts appear. When people are getting entrenched in their respective silos. Or when the team is just treading water and not delivering on its targets and commitments. Of course working with a team in this situation can help and performance and cohesion can improve.

But to come back to the original question: the earlier you start to work on your team, the better it is. On day 2 of the session, the team members shared their respective responsibilities and expressed where they needed help from the others in the room. Or they proposed their help with a topic a peer was working on. They then established the norms they would start to work towards. And finally they identified one single project that they would jointly work on, and that would show their efficiency to themselves and the rest of the organization. They will reconvene and check on the status of all this in one month.

The feedback from the team leader at the end of the workshop was: "Really happy we did this. We saved a lot of time !". Don't wait for a crisis to start working on your team !

Are you focused ?

It is pretty amazing what you can do when you are focused and concentrated on what you are doing. This street artist, amidst the bustle of 1000s of people walking buy, creates T-shirts by drawing simple straight lines in different colors without any ruler or guide. Just his very steady hand. In a handful of minutes, he creates a unique T-shirt that is almost impossible to copy. If he would just lay them out for sale, there wouldn't be much interest. But by showing his skill, these commodity T-shirts become hot designer products. He is definitely enjoying "flow" (Csíkszentmihályi). In very little time, he is creating real value.

Let's take this story and reflect on how we typically do when we are working in a team. At the end of the very busy day, how much value have you really created for yourself, the team you work in or your organization ? How much of your working time have you been in "flow": focused on the things you need to do ? And how distracted have you been by what is surrounding you ?

There is the magic pull of the electronic gadgets in our hands. When they buzz or beep, we feel important, wanted and eager to contribute. We like to think something "urgent" is wanting us to take care of. In reality there are very few urgencies that need to be addressed in the minute that follows. And what urgencies get dealt with by shooting off an email ?

More fundamentally, when we are in a team discussion, we are often just waiting for the other to stop talking to get our point in. A typical way to start is "Yes but ..." which means pretty much "I haven't heard what you just said but listen to me !". Active listening is called like that because it requires effort. Staying focused and asking yourself W.A.I.T (Why Am I Talking?) is what brings real value to the team, not the amount of airtime each gets.

Remind yourself about your level of focus a few times during the day ... Ask yourself "For the last hour, how focused have I been ?". And re-calibrate !

the Action Learning Iceberg

How does your team react when you tell them there will be a team building or leadership session next month ? A session where they will learn how to communicate better, give better feedback, increase collaboration. Or build trust.
Some will pump their fists: "Yeah, a day away from the office !". Others will roll their eyes and think how to minimize the impact on their already heavy workload. In a few cases, someone will report a work emergency the morning of the session.
During the session, people are often distracted (phone, email, or other apps) by urgencies coming from their "real work". The session feels optional and work priorities need to be dealt with.

At the end of the session, reactions will vary from "That was fun. Now let's get back to work." at best to "What a waste of time." at worst. Time and money gone. Motivation, teamwork and collaboration enjoy a temporary blip, if at all.

Action Learning turns things upside down. Leadership and team development cannot happen disconnected from daily priorities. We bring a team together to work on a burning issue, a complex problem that impacts the whole organization. Top management gives the team the authority to work on this challenge, propose solutions and implement ideas. A number of sessions happen over 3 months or so, and the team takes actions between the sessions to collect information, test out ideas and validate assumptions. If we were to stop here, this would just be an enhanced form of project work or problem-solving.

The Action Learning coach looks at the part of the iceberg under the water. The coach observes the team dynamics and identifies learning moments - not teaching moments. Learning is anchored in the observable interactions between team members. The coach brings these dynamics to the team's awareness and invites team members to discuss what works well, what can be better and how the team wants to develop the dynamics further. There is no theory or 'here's what you should do' guidelines. The team is the context from which learning is created. From one intervention to another, and from one session to the next, the team and the individual members grow. Almost literally. Growing means taking the current situation as the reality and moving up one step. And then another.

The coach has a double role. Of course the team needs to be able to present their solutions for the business challenge to the top management at the end of the sessions. At the same time, the coach ensures that each individual, as well as the team as a whole, increases self-awareness, and takes steps to become better individuals and members of the team. I sometimes say that the business challenge the team works on is the excuse through which to bring in personal and team development.

Looking for real development in your individuals and teams ? Take a look at Action Learning www.wial.org.

TEAM.AS.ONE ... when a team connects

When I started off as an independent consultant nearly five years ago, I gave myself about three years to "figure out" what I want to focus on. Not that I didn't have any idea at the time, but I wanted to take some time to explore and find my sweet spot.

So I am really happy that, with some delay, I have now nailed down what I will focus my energy on going forward. I will focus uniquely and exclusively on team development. You could call it team coaching or team growth. The priority is to help teams develop and ensure they perform better, whatever way performance is defined as (by the organization or by the team itself).

I worked with a brand coach and a designer to create my tagline and a logo. And here you go ... 

TEAM.AS.ONE ... when a team connects.

I look forward to helping your team develop, grow and improve its performance !

And to a successful 2017 for you and your team !

Taking teams for granted ...

When a professional develops experience and successes over the years, he at one point often gets promoted to manager (or leader, or supervisor ... pick your preferred term). And most of the time does quite well. He will get some feedback or evaluation about which of the managerial skills he needs to develop. And again most of the time all this goes well. Until it no longer does. And then the peers or superiors get into analysis mode about how to deal with this manager (leader, supervisor ...) who is not performing as he should. At that point, we often realize that the person had kind of - accidentally ? - stumbled into a management role. He had not really been prepared, or mentored, or trained to take on the role of a manager.

We often assume that people know what management is about because of what they have seen around them. If you have been around it, can't be so difficult to do the same, the thinking goes.

In my experience, the same happens with teams in organizations. Second to leadership, teams are probably one of the most talked about/written about concepts of personal and organizational development. Everybody knows what a team is, often starting from a young age with sports teams. And when we start to work, we are part of teams. Or at least they tell us we are part of teams. Some teams are working well, others are not. So just as with the management itself, we assume that people know what teams are and what to do or not to do when working on a team. But often, and in my experience this happens even more frequently than the case of the individual managers, teams do not live up to the expectations or the potential. Open conflict is probably (hopefully !) rare, but what we call a team is most of the time a group of individuals coming together once in a while to share information.

A team can be so much more. But for that to happen, you cannot expect to get there without some effort. Teams require work. Where do you rate your team in 2016 on a scale from 1 to 10, and what is your plan to improve on that in 2017 ?

Why working in a team is the best leadership development ...

Bringing a diverse group of people together and asking them to find solutions for a complex company-wide problem will push participants slightly out of their comfort zone. How they deal with this challenge will demonstrate their capability to learn and survive in the VUCA world in the future.

A recent experience with a services firm confirmed this. I worked with 11 high potentials during a couple of months. The organization's focus was to validate who from them were really high-potentials, ready for further development or promotion. At the end of the series of sessions, the team presented their conclusions and recommendations on the challenge they had worked on, and each team member presented separately to the top management team what they had learned, the insights they had discovered and how they evaluated the experience over all.

And it was during the individual presentations that things got interesting. Some of the people who were thought of as high-potentials confirmed or even exceeded their potential. Others who had in fact been a bit under the radar jumped out from the crowd and positively surprised the management team. And a few who were considered as top guns strongly disappointed.

As the country manager said (at the end of the session): "We now know where people really stand ... and in some cases that is not where we thought they were standing !".

We could have decided on some leadership training. And I am sure the participants would have liked it. And learned a lot. But working in a team, not being in their area of expertise and having to progress together really highlighted the strengths some had, and brought to the fore the gaps others were struggling with.

It is tempting to identify HIPOs and future leaders by looking at each of your team members individually. But it is by having them work in a team that you really will see how they stack up !

When the cat's away ...

What happens to your team when you are not around ? My experience with different teams in Asia is not so much that people will start to play or muck around. In fact, it is quite the opposite. Rather than getting together and doing all the stuff you maybe do not allow when you are around, most of the time, when the cat is away, the mice will go in hibernation !

That "team" that you often think of as the group of your direct reports will more or less fall back to its components. The HR manager will go and focus on the HR stuff and the marketing person will quietly keep on working on the marketing assignment you handed out. The team ceases to exist.

When an issue comes up where collaboration or joint action is needed, and when you are not around, does your team huddle together, come up with solutions and decide on the best way forward ? Or do they get lost in arguments and turf wars ? Or - and I think this is what happens most often - is the issue put on the 'pending' list until your return. Whichever of these two extremes, it seems that anything but routine work gets done when you are not around.

What is the solution ? You cannot expect a team to grow by itself if you are involved in every decision. Step back ... even when you are around, and refrain from intervening while at the same time asking for progress to be made. In fact, if the mice start playing when you are not around, that would be a pretty good sign. If however they go into a comatose state, you need to reflect on how you can change the way you work to start building a real team !

Using Action Learning to accelerate the development of team psychological safety

Click on the link here or below the picture to read my blog post published online in the CLO Chief Learning Officer magazine !

http://www.clomedia.com/2016/06/09/action-learning-can-accelerate-team-psychological-safety/