The dreamteam recipe
Working in teams is a big part of our daily life. We work together in sport teams, project groups, clubs and of course with our colleagues at work. But not all teamwork is great teamwork. Can you remember being part of a team that drained all your energy and got close to nothing done? I guess we’ve all been there. While the very opposite of that hardly ever occurs. Only rarely, if not never, you get to be part of a dreamteam that works so well together that it feels like you have some instant magical out-of-this-world connection.
I went to Hyper Island in Stockholm, to learn all about this in the “Team performance and Collaboration” course. Hyper Island uses experienced-based learning, which basically means learning by doing. During the 3 day course, I worked together with 16 professionals from all over the world and experienced that forming a dreamteam is not a matter of magic but a matter of trust and openness.
Susan Wheelan designed the IMDG Model, defining the patterns in which groups develop. The model consists of five stages of team development. The stages display that cooperation and productivity are constantly increasing, until the last phase where the teamwork ends. The main factor that helps groups develop from one stage to another is the level of trust and openness in the group. Let me explain this to you by using famous on screen examples.
The first stage that a group goes through is called Dependency and Inclusion. The team starts working together. Relationships are fairly new and there is very little trust or structure, so team members are very dependent on the leader and are focused on feeling safe and included.
This stage can be recognized by endless discussions and inability to make decisions, politeness and acceptance. We’ve all been there. We’ve all seen the Lord of the Rings, right? Picture the scene in the beginning where the different characters are in a meeting and do not know each other that well yet. Everyone is being very polite and politically correct. No one dares to speak up or stand out which makes it difficult to make decisions.
To help a group move on to the next stage, pay attention and address the needs of the group. In this stage that can be done by:
- providing vision and structure
- being directive, confident and organized
- facilitating open discussion of goals, values and roles
- helping members feel included and safe.
When done correctly, you will see the team develop and gradually move to the second stage; Counter-dependency and Fight. During this stage, the group’s members will attempt to free themselves from their dependency on the leader. Team members know each other better now and start to feel secure enough to express their ideas and disagree with each other. This could lead to conflicts within the group. Signs of the group being in this stage are subgroups, gossip about other members or challenging the leader of the group. In Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s stone, Hermione and Ron are in a continuous cycle of disagreement and arguments. The lack of trust is holding them and Harry back from working together as a productive team.
Although this stage isn’t the most pleasant and the productivity is low, it is a necessary step to establish trust and move forward (think about the great teamwork between Harry, Ron and Hermione in the following Harry Potter movies). To establish that next stage:
- Help the team resolve conflicts about goals, roles and leadership.
- Keep calm and don’t take attacks or challenges personally. This is part of the process.
- Support and coach the team members to work together.
After some time, you will see a shift of focus. The team will start to produce more results. Great! This means the team has evolved into the third stage; Trust and Structure. The team has worked through friction and the differences in personality or perspective are being accepted. There is a high degree of trust and commitment. There is less need to mark territories and claim individual positions. Every team member plays a particular part in the team, structures start to develop and there is less need for directive leadership. Communication starts to become open and task-oriented. This stage is characterized by mature negotiation. The Netflix series La Casa de Papel clearly shows this shift, as the group gradually learns more about the big heist and all feel responsible for their tasks and the common goal.
What’s interesting, is that most groups never reach this stage because a lack of openness that is needed in this stage. This is a good place to be in with your team. There is mutual trust and they are performing. But there is still some room for improvement when it comes to productivity. This group will benefit from the following actions:
- Delegating tasks to give team members more responsibility and commitment
- Encouraging initiatives and efforts to change things that are getting in the way of productivity
- Challenging and coaching the team forward
The fourth stage is Performance and Productivity. The characteristics of this stage are intensive, effective cooperation within the group. The magic fairy dust, the dreamteam. This is a high-preforming team. The energy that was going in to critical factors in the earlier stages, can now all be focussed on the task. The team is able to take on more work, and do better at it. They use feedback as an instrument to develop the group. Everyone takes full responsibility for the tasks and shows devotion to the team. Members feel a sense of belonging and warmth, without demanding ownership. The work becomes more creative and also, a lot more fun! Think the Avengers — End Game, where everybody get’s together to fight the battle of their lives. The team knows what to do and experiences extremely high levels of trust. No time is wasted on struggles within the team which means the team can focus on kicking some ass.
You’ve got yourself a great team. Everyone is happy, trusts each other and results are great. Help this group to stay productive and performing accordingly by:
- Focusing on vision and further development of the team.
- Letting the most suitable person in the team lead the task.
- Encouraging and empowering self management in the team.
The fifth and final stage is the disbandment stage. Occurring when the dreamteamwork comes to an end. For example when a project comes to an end. It is sad to break up this dreamteam and you probably worry about the next project you’ll have to start up from the first stage. Build in time to reflect after a project is done. Celebrate the achievements and learn from the hurdles. Make time to move on.
Also, the development of teams should not be considered lineair, meaning that when group dynamics change because someone leaves or joins the team, the group can easily fall back one or two stages. That’s why it is important to keep encouraging openness and honesty, even when a team is in the fourth stage. And when you notice the team is shifting to a different stage? Use the tips mentioned above and keep calm, it’s all part of the process.
At Clockwork, we believe that the way how we work defines the quality of the product we deliver. We also think there is always room for improving and fine-tuning the way we work together. That’s why we experiment with different methods, tools and ideas. We call this Tweak!
We are currently experimenting with Team Canvas Sessions, devoting time to filling in the blancs on how we like to work together. All Clockwork teams discuss their values, needs and expectations and collectively redefine ground rules and actions for the upcoming period. In that way we can be more productive, deliver even better products to our clients and have fun whilst doing it.
Would you like to develop your team to a dreamteam? Or would you like to talk about team development, Canvas sessions or anything else? Contact me!
