Be Sure You've Made the Team Before You Try to Make Change Self-managed teams can be more powerful and more capable than other types of teams, but only after special efforts have been made to strongly connect the people on the team to each other and to its mission. This is especially true of Change Teams, which are made up of a diverse group of strangers and only have a short period of time to complete their work. Each Change Team is unique. Its capabilities are unique. People on Change Teams are not easily interchangeable. Because Change Teams are self-managed, every member must be given the time and opportunity to get to know the strengths and weaknesses of every other member. We have found it takes a team about two full days of intense focus on itself, on its members and on the plans for its initiative before the team is mature enough to move forward to do the work of change. Even after this intense teambuilding, surprises still await the teams. Change Team work generates a lot of stress in its members and in the team itself. We expect that someplace along the way, the team will experience a breakdown. For example, if commitments are not met or if promises are broken, team members will become disappointed and discouraged about each other and about the work of change. Some will be angry. Others will withdraw into themselves. Others will charge ahead alone working on the initiative. Team progress will stop. Is breakdown a terrible prospect? Not at all. Difficult? You bet! Your Change Team blends lots of different ingredients (types of people). Until the ingredients are "cooked" together, the team lacks true power. Breakdown "cooks" the team. By enduring and learning from the pain of this "cooking," the team melds together and forms strong relationships. After the breakdown, you'll notice differences in the team. Members will know each other far better and trust each other far more. Having survived a breakdown, the team has more confidence in itself and its members. The Team Coach is essential during breakdown. Team Coaches are trained to help your team survive the breakdown and grow stronger from it. In fact, good Team Coaches don't wait for a breakdown to happen, they pressure the team early on to create a breakdown. Team Coaches who do this are doing the Change Team a huge favor. Teams are vulnerable during breakdown. A Team Coach who pushes teams to "cook" during its early stages increases the odds that the team will survive the pressures its work generates. Team Coaches are concerned with the health and growth of the team. Members of teams also experience personal breakdown and transformation. This is facilitated through the personal development goals of each team member. The experience of personal breakdown and transformation will help the team survive its breakdown. Written by Heidi Jeanne Hess (Veronica Boaz and Doug Wesley contributed) Check Point (Please complete and submit the Form below) When
you are finished Updated: July 5, 1998 |
