A value chain from psychological safety to implementation

A practitioners perspective:

2. MethodologyWe designed the team development program in cooperation with the organisation to facilitate psychological safety, openness and trust within and between different teams and management.

We make it clear who the customers are and see how different elements of the company need to come together for excellent performance. We use action learning to facilitate experimentation, reflection and learning from work experiences. To ensure learning transfer and implementation of new ideas we make use of action plans both for individuals and teams.

1. Background

The team development program described here is run in a medium sized company within a larger conglomerate. The company runs one of the most sophisticated logistic operations in Norway.

The program draws on Positive Psychology, Attachment theory, Gestalt, Action Learning and action plans to facilitate closer communication within and in-between teams for a more efficient operation and satisfactory workplace. These are the key elements we seek to implement in dialog with our customer.

A. Safety, openness and trust

The quality of cooperation, dialog and work will depend on the experienced level of openness and trust. Workers faced with a complex task in an unsafe environment are likely to revert to repetitions, selfish concerns, symptoms treatment or denial and simplifications. We facilitate safe environments for communication where openness and trust can reinforce each other. Complex tasks can then be performed in a culture where people seek feedback, learn from mistakes and try new solutions

© Anders Wendelheim

B. Involving managers and participants

We involve both top-management, line managers and those involved in change processes at an early stage, to build rapport and identify the real needs of the assignment.

We start where the participants are and focus on what is working well. It is interesting to see how such positive focus draws out the intrinsic motivation of the participants to improve their performance further.

C. Customers in focus

© 2014 Marc Steinorth

We focus on both the immediate, and end-customers. In the value-chain, the immediate customer of one department may be those who re-package items to be sent to the shops. The end customer may be the merchants who has ordered a number of gods and want them delivered quickly, sensibly and without surprises. This focus helps resolve many tensions between departments.

D. The integrating iGo house

The iGo-house shows the various aspects of the business working together: Vision, strategy, structures, relationships and values.

E. Action learning

Our aim is to make ourselves redundant because the organisation has integrated the team development process. This takes time. We draw on basic Experience learning by Lewin, and Action Learning by Revans to focus on specific experiences at work. The participants reflect individually and collectively, and we introduce simple models to help make sense of their reflections. When there is a company-training department, we coordinate our teaching material with theirs. We assume that learning new behaviour comes roughly 70% from work-experience, 20% from the training we provide, and 10% from new knowledge.

A challenge or issue

Questioning and listening

Open to new solutions

Coming to new solution

Learning from the new solution

Reflecting on the process

Action learning

F. Implementation through action plans

Implementing lessons from training and new behaviour in the workplace is the most crucial and difficult part of our work. To facilitate this we have the participants make action plans both individually to foster ownership, and collectively to foster commitment. We then follow the managers up, to ensure they follow the action plans through to completion.

3. EffectsWe evaluate the training: 1) immediately afterwards, 2) With regards to changes in skills and attitudes, and 3) what are the effects for the organisation. We are also well aware that It is difficult to measure the outcomes of training initiatives accurately in complex organisations.

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4. Discussion

5. Limitations

•Change and learning to change happens slowly and in somewhat unpredictable ways. Our key has been to stay close to the participants through this process, fostering good relations and commitment to the change process – on all levels. •Participants set goals for themselves and for the group,

and follow those up over time. Taking the workers seriously in this way fosters attachment and a desire to improve. We support this desire with plans for action learning to ensure implementation.•Openness and trust is required to foster acceptance that

different individuals and departments develop at different paces, with different needs. Managers may need access to coaching or supervision to address such situations and promote learning agility.

•When different units are at different levels of development, tensions can arise between expectations from those who are “further on” and performance of the rest. The interest and capacity of the people involved to engage in the change process vary. This can be difficult for a line manager to handle.•There is great variety in the learning agility of managers

and team-leaders regarding the action learning of this model. The management team needs to recognise this. We pair those who excel in this model with others who struggle. Sometimes external consultants will need to offer support in the absence of skill or time to develop the required skills.•Managers are often not as patient as the CEO of this firm

was in staying with the process until it yields results and become integrated. This needs to be an explicit concern from the start.•An ongoing challenge is to document the effect of this

training in suitable and academically robust ways to learn for the future and adjust to turbulent times.

Presenter: Bjørn Gunaketu Kjønstad who works as a consultant with an Master in Organisational change and and Business Ethics. He is also trained as gestalt therapist and accredited supervisor: bjorn@igo.as, mob: 977 15 657. www.igo.as

The iGo program

- an open training program where managers, coaches, consultants, HR-workers meet to learn from, and inspire.

Feedback from participants. Questions marked on a scale from 1-10 (10 is best) ScoreTo what extend are you pleased that you participated in this training? 8.9To what extent have you acquired new competencies during this training? 7,8To what extent is this training useful in your work? 9,1To what extent will the training be of use to the whole organisation? 8,7How pleased are you with the manner in which the training was conducted? 8.9

Session 1: Individual development (4 days)

• Your strengths, allergies, pitfalls and potentials

• Clarify your own values, attitudes and habits, and see how they are perceived by others.

• Confidence to balance anxiety and safety.

The conversations and your contributions were incredible inspiring, and without you we would not be where we are today – so THANKS.(Manager in Avinor)

Next program starts Autumn 2015

Four sessions. 11,5 days in total (4+3+3+1,5)Dates: 1) 29.Sep – 2. Okt. 2) 25 – 27. Nov. 3) 17 – 19. feb. 4) 14 –15. Apr.Location: Beautiful hotel in the Oslo region.

Early bird registration by 1. July

Contact: post@igo.as www.igo.as

Mobil: 906 89 773 (Erik Eggen)

Session 4: Continued learning (1 ½ days)

• Lessons learned throughout the program

• Next steps• Celebrating the results!

Session 3: Organisational level – change management, organisational culture and structure (3 days)

• Value-based leadership• Ownership, attachment and

commitment in change-management

• The art of implementing• Resistance to change• Learning in organisations

Session 2: Openness and trust in high performing teams (3 days)

• Getting the best from each other

• Growth through conflicts and difficult conversations

• Complex situations call for good relations

• Change through coaching leadership

• Balancing opposites

Our keys to success• Developing openness

and trust and showing how to do it back at work.

• Foster creativity through cooperation between participants.

• Feedback both on how you solve tasks and participation in the group.

• Training in communication to bring out differences without causing conflicts.

• Tasks for the interim period for individuals and the group.

The program

leaders, Anders

Wendelheim and

Erik Eggen are senior consultants with a wealth of successful international experience as managers, supervisors, coaches and teachers, in both Privat and Public Sector, at Universities & Technical Colleges.