APPROACH
The 4 phases of team development according to Bruce Tuckman are very well known: Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing. However, these phases do not “just happen“ – they require facilitation. This can be done by the team itself if it is highly motivated and responsible. Often, however, the manager and, if necessary, external support are needed to actively initiate and accompany this process.
The following 6 topic areas are building blocks that have proven effective for a leadership team development process:
Team Purpose
Clarify why this leadership team exists, what purpose it serves in terms of the overall purpose of the entire organization. This is also where we jointly define how the desired progress will be measured. How do individual team members notice that collaboration is improving?
Team processes
Agree on method of collective decision making. Establishment of a coordinated and jointly supported meeting structure to inform each other and make decisions. This is also about living togetherness on the relationship level. How are psychological security and trust established?
Team Effectiveness
Assess individual and collective effectiveness and clarify the means to measure growth – individually and as a team.
Team Playing Rules
Establishing common rules of the game and behaviors that individual team members can use to hold each other accountable. These include the way in which they communicate with each other and how they deal with feedback and conflicts.
Team growth
Clarification of the areas in which the team and the individuals may have resistance or difficulties in tackling the jointly defined development direction. And how does the team deal with this?
Passing on team leadership
Developing an approach to pass on the type of teamwork developed and practiced to the next level of leadership.
This deep dives take place in an individualized mix of team workshops and one-on-one or group coaching sessions.
As part of this process, it also becomes transparent whether the individual team members are willing to share the collective leadership with a view to the development of the entire company and to tackle their own areas of growth.
„Once we accept our limits, we go beyond them.”
(Albert Einstein)