Team alignment and engagement Agile Cymru 2016

Beliminal

Team Alignment and Engagement

July 2016

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Team Alignment and Engagement - Outline

What is a team ?

Alignment, the basis of team engagement

Deepening team engagement through meaningful work

Relationships and connection

BeliminalConditions for High Performing Teams

Pub 2002, Based on 30 years research

Work teams perform poorly when leaders have focused on the wrong things in designing or supporting them

No leader can make a team perform well.

But all leaders can create conditions that increase the likelihood that it will.

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BeliminalConditions for increasing team success

Being a Real Team

Shared TaskBoundedStableInterdependent

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Source: Hackman – Leading Teams


Compelling Direction

Clear goals

Clearly state how the team contributes to the organization so that the team is aware of their own contribution to the overall mission.

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Enabling Structure

Collective work products

Task is meaningful to me

Autonomy is good - but the boundaries are clearly understood

Norms of conducts – standards of behaviours

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Supportive Context

Positive Rewards for excellent team performanceTraining and technical expertise when it is needed - Team fitnessInformation is readily available to provide data to plan and execute the workSufficient material resources

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Expert Coaching

Must be easily available and on demandType and timing is importantBeginning, Middle and End

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Alignment, the basis of team engagement

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BeliminalBiggest Causes of Disengagement

Staff cannot understand how they plug into the organisational strategy

When they don’t understand why what is happening at work has an effect on them.

Employees who don’t understand the roles they play in company success are more likely to become disengaged.

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BeliminalAlignment to Strategy & Direction

Metrus Group Survey 2012Only 14% of the organizations polled report that their employees have a good understanding of their company’s strategy and direction

Forbes July 2013 Survey of 20 Australian Companies

Even in high-performing companies with “clearly articulated public strategies,” only 29% of their employees can correctly identify their company’s strategy out of six choices.

Click icon to add picture

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BeliminalWhat can I do?

Derek Luckhurst ex (L&G) … The What, the Why, and the What Else

What were the other options?Why were they rejected?What else did you think of?

This lays the groundwork for trust, transparency and understanding …

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Deepening Team Engagement

Meaningful Work

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BeliminalMeaningful Work

Doesn’t have to be a profound importance to Society

Perceive your work as contributing value to something or someone who matters (team, self or family)

• Useful and high quality product • Provide a service for your

community• Focus on Customer Care

Make it personal …

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Source: HBR's 10 Must Reads on Teams - The Power of small wins

BeliminalWhat can I do?

Purpose Statement …

It says, “This is what we’re doing for someone else.”

ING (“Empowering people to stay a step ahead in life and in business”)

the Kellogg food company (“Nourishing families so they can flourish and thrive”)

Align & support personal goals

http://www.ing.com/About-us/Purpose-Strategy.htm

http://www.kelloggcompany.com/en_US/our-vision-purpose.html

BeliminalAligning Team to Organisational Strategy

Overall Product Purpose

ReachEngagementResources

Team Purpose …

We build a tool that enables high uptake of easy to make high quality formats

Uptake : Number of users, # of content items created

High Quality Formats : % of people finishing a quiz, quality of output

Easy : Design Time, Qualitative Feedback, low # of support requests

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BeliminalStripping work of its meaning ….

Dismiss the importance of employees work or ideas

Destroy sense of ownership, Frequent and abrupt reassignmentsSolutionising for teams

The work may never see the light of day

Neglect to inform team members of changes in customer priorities

Confusion of long or short term goals, Constrained of ownership, lacking resources, lack sufficient time to focus on meaningful work, “punish” failure

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Source: HBR's 10 Must Reads on Teams - The Power of small wins

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Relationships & Connection

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BeliminalQuality of Relationships

I asked you to think about your values at the beginning of the presentation …

If you were honouring those values how would you want to be with each other if you were a team ??

Agree a set of team values

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BeliminalQuality of Relationships

How would you teams feel if you worked like that every day?

How many experience those shared values on a daily basis?

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BeliminalLessons from the longest study on happiness

Robert Waldinger : Director of a the Harvard Study of Adult Development a 75 year old study

Started in 1938268 Harvard Sophomores456 12-16 yo boys from inner city

Boston

Good relationships keep us happier and healthier.

Close Relationships

Quality not Quantity of Relationships

Stable, supportive marriages

Society places a lot of emphasis on wealth and "leaning in" to our work

People who fared the best were the people who leaned in to relationships, with family, with friends, with community."

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BeliminalPoor quality relationships

John & Julie Gottman

40 Years of relationship research

69% of relationship issues are perpetual

Predicted with 91% accuracy if a relationship would last

Successful Relationships:

• 5:1 Ratio of positive to negative interactions

• Increasing positive interactions during conflict

• Reducing negative interactions during conflict

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Beliminal4 relationship toxins

Blame or CriticismDefensiveness

ContemptStonewalling

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BeliminalBlame or Criticism

A complaint addresses a specific failed action.

A criticism adds some negative words about your partner’s character or personality.

People are often critical if they have an unmet want or need

We often make up our own story about what is happening beyond what is true

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Source: Barbara Blumenthal, CRR Global & Gottman

BeliminalDefensiveness

Defending one’s position with no attempt to move to problem solving

We often defend ourselves when being criticised

We may not know how to move beyond our feelings of vulnerability to listen to what the other person is saying

We defend our actions in an attempt to be understood

It’s ineffectual because the other person doesn't feel heard

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BeliminalContempt

Includes sarcasm, belittling, mocking, cynicism, name calling, and hostile humor.

Contempt is often a direct put down of another person. It often happens when we are feeling powerless or inferior. It serves the purpose of making the person who is being contemptuous feel more in control or superior. Unfortunately, those feelings are often short-lived and contempt can do considerable damage to the relationship.

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BeliminalStonewalling

Includes cutting off communication, the silent treatment, refusing to engage and withdrawal.

The desire of the person who is stonewalling is to feel safe.

Trying to improve performance can feel unsafe. Stonewalling is toxic because there is no way for the relationship system to connect or move toward joint problem solving.

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BeliminalAntidotes to Team Toxins

Make Requests- Address the behaviour you don’t

like- Use “I “ Statements

2% Truth- Often we can’t identify with

criticism- What if 2% of what they say is true

Ventilate- Provide a safe container to clear

what they are feeling- As a coach be neutral

Take a time out- If emotion is too high to access

clear thinking

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BeliminalAntidotes to Team Toxins

Notice Rather than interpret- What are the facts- Distinguish between facts, thoughts and feelings

Curiosity - Inquisitive interest in other people's concerns

Find common ground- pay attention to shared interests

and common groundReach Out

- Repair Bids

Articulate Emotions- When feelings are shared openly

and honestly trust is built

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BeliminalNot Feeling Valued

Feeling spoken to with condescension and lack of respect Being treated unfairly Not feeling appreciated Not being listened to or feeling heard Someone else taking credit for my work Being kept waiting Someone else’s sloppy work on a project I’m overseeingFeeling criticized or blamed Unrealistic deadlines People who think they know it all

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Source : Schwartz, McCarthy, Gomes, - The Way We're Working Isn't Working

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What are your key take aways ?

What action are you going to take based on what you have learnt?

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Thank you

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Relationship Systems Work for Agile Coaches

http://crruk.arlo.co/schedule

Technology

Team alignment and engagement Agile Cymru 2016