4. Recognise this ?
- Doing your own thing
- not feeling heard
- micromanaging
- bulldozers
- talking about others
- silos and exclusion
- guarding areas
...
other examples?
37. The Johari Window: examples
Public Arena
Organised
Helpful
Facade
Idealistic
Creative
Arena
Unknown area
Freeze up in an
emergency
Blind spot
Seem like an
extrovert
49. Case #1 "Good product, bad team handling"
7. Eventually the project was
delivered, but during the project two
people ended with work leave due to
stress, and the client expectations
were still not handled properly, ending
the project on a bit of a sour note.
1. The team was set
up well, good kickoff,
nice team feeling
2. Work started, fun together
3. After some working it turned out that the
client and the team did not communicate
clearly with each other, the team
communicated with different voices and not
always with each other
4. Handling the expectations from the
client were not anyone's responsibility,
which created frustrations on client side
- "'THEY' were unreasonable."
5. Holidays kicked in, so the client and
several team members were no longer
available.
6. After the holidays things needed to
be picked up again, but there was no
central person to do this.
50. Case #1 "Good product, bad team handling"
There were no-one with the
mandate to make decisions
handling the discussions with the
client, resulting in stress spreading
in the team.
The communication within the
agency team was not transparent,
nor was it a priority for all members.
The project was initially positive
and we could have built on that,
since we did have the structure for
it.
As a team that had not worked
together before, the trust had not
yet been built, however with effort it
could have been.
51. Case #2: "Difficult product, good team"
6. At the end, the project went through
difficulties, little time, large scope &
personal challenges, but because the team
had maintained good communication
throughout, the stress levels were
managable, and continued to set an
example
1. The team was already set up as I joined
including clear responsibilities, and was
renowned as a great example of teamwork
In general the team feeling was excellent due
regurlar retros/ feedback loops + a good
relationship with the client.
2. The product had after a while become
something that didn't motivate the team
members any longer, it felt like the product was
on the wrong path.
Instead of having daily standups it had been
replaced by digital ones, which didn't really
engage anyone
3. We started having daily
standups, which turned into
vital parts of the team
communication.
4. Another thing was to
engage all team members in
what was ongoing no matter
if it was design or backend
work. This did not mean
endless meetings, but short
chats together, feeling
included and listened to.
5. Finally we insisted on total
(almost) transparency towards
the client, creating a lot of trust.
52. Case #2: "Difficult product, good team"
As the team setup was already
clarified, there was a high resiliance
in handling stressful situations.
By increasing the face-to-face
communication and including the
team in all ongoing work, it created
an efficient and proactive team
The times there were problems, it
was due to communication issues,
not being 100% transparent or
asking for help.
When the shit hit the fan, the team
had so much positive surpluss that
it prevented a large part of the
stress.
55. Set up norms for the team
Single point of interest for communication
Shared, regular, communication
Team activities: social and work
Give feedback regularly
Celebrate your successeses together
56. For example 3 things you can do today:
1. Common slack channels + trello
2. Share what you do daily (standup)
3. Take a break together (lunch, fika)
- include the client :)
57. The next step is working more with group
dynamics ...
- here are 2 examples of situations where
you can set up norms
58. Meetings & workshops
Structure discussions to hear all
Deliberately lift other's points
Add time to think
Chance to prepare
Designated facilitators
Brainwriting
59. Push back on work
Tackle it in the team, find solutions
Be open/honest with the client
Lift it early in the syncs
Support with perspectives
Facilitate the discussion in team
Estimate as a team
71. SUMMARY
By deliberately facilitating team dynamics,
Through improved communication
In the extended team including the client
Trust and resilience is increased
- often creating improved results
Notes de l'éditeur
Today I will be talking about building trust - as part of building teams
Often when we talk about team we focus on who does what, WHAT the common GOAL is, i.e. the frame of the work.
I am focusing today on the team building side of things, not the content of the work.
The aim for a good team is To surpass the basic team, where you 'play next to each other'
And start creating synergies, where 1+1=3
- things that don't create trust in teams
First there is the team framework, who does what, and a basic understanding of WHAT the common GOAL is. I am focusing today on the team building side of things, not the goal.
To surpass the basic team, where you 'play next to each other'
And start creating synergies, where 1+1=3
We need to understand HOW you work TOGETHER - this normally also trigger people going from REACTIVE to PROACTIVE. Making the ball roll!
Prerequisities for great team collaboration : the 'soft' elements,
This is the most important part of a team - acknowledging ALL members in a team, no-one is invisible!
Every team member must be seen & heard! There are a number of techniques for this, facilitating the conversations throughout the project, which can help many issues
This in turn has a tendency to produce more open and considerate communication, which allows people to be more honest about what they really think. AND A TEAM's SUCCESS AS a TEAM RESTS ON THIS -
Because it creates:
TRUST - RESPECT - through understanding the team members competence and personalities (differences/likheter)
Homo ludens - humans like to play as a way of tightening the social bonds - so playfullness is an essential element of team building. By that I mean the daily joke, having fun with your team members ...
Both as icebreaker, creating a safe space or as a way of building YOUR team culture
Making the effort will create trust. This is the goal - you don't have to be best friends - to trust another team member. But you will need TRUST to BECOME friends :)
https://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/how-to-build-customer-trust-9-rules.html
1. Be yourself.
2. Value the relationship.
3. Be curious about people.
4. Be consistent.
5. Seek the truth.
6. Keep an open mind.
7. Have a real dialog.
8. Be a professional.
9. Show real integrity.
INCLUDE your team members in your work and thought processes -
It doesn't mean endless meetings, in fact it optimises the work!
Include each other in short syncs & share thoughts, others almost always have thoughts you don't.
This may be obvious - but simply helping each other out in times of need, even with the smallest things, clean up, pick up coffee, get paper
It can help towards people feeling threatened by others
So to make sure these things happen, it needs to be set up.
Like "helping out"
Otherwise a team will fall back into the common struggles with badly balanced, badly communicating teams, pulling in different directions
And one of the important reasons OTHER than efficiency - is the human COST of a malfunctioning team
A well functioning team Has Your Back - and can soften the blow in dealing with stress or problems.
Grant & Glueck Study/ Harvard
http://www.adultdevelopmentstudy.org/grantandglueckstudy
First we need to determine who the team IS - to clearly define "WE"
Where do the borders go of who is IN the team and NOT ?
If we start with the agency view: the WE are normally counted as the ones working
In the same project - is this true ?
For the same client - is this true ?
Anyone else?
We can set up a team any way we want pr team - as long as we agree on the goal and the team :)
Beyond our own coworkers in our company - the client is also part of the team,
They work towards the same goal for the project, right ?
What are the pros and cons with this ?
It can feel intimidating or like feel like the client doesn't trust our competence
There can be a feeling of misbalance of power (they order you)
Clients can feel the same way!
Just as important as understanding who IS in the team - is it to understand who is NOT
anyone who doesn't have a day-to-day connection + has practical say in the project
stakeholders, who will
This can easily create a feeling of WE vs THEM:
Thinking this way is built in to our systems from an early age, even as toddlers,
We have a strong preference for 'people who are like me'
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/inspired-life/wp/2015/06/23/wired-for-kindness-science-shows-we-prefer-compassion-and-our-capacity-grows-with-practice/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.0330e3842d3b
if there is a culture of talking ABOUT the client rather than WITH them, this will be felt -
and results in lowered trust levels on both sides
Just as we have an inkling for feeling connected to people 'like me'
we ALSO
have an incling to feel compassion and empathy for strangers, if they are in trouble:
Both inklings can manipulated - to increase GAPS between people OR to increase the sense of WE
I think the focus should be here :)
That we are people, not products or roles.
The project goal is the same for the whole team, including the client!
When we understand each other as people
and give space to hearing / seeing one another
- it will create another level of trust, which both creates better products, potential for more assignments and people feeling motivated on both sides.
This is my challenge to myself - and to you. Dare to share your opinions, your honest opinions of the value of what we do
- and the potentials.
Be human.
One very famous team theory that is very useful to understand the stages a team moves through
Is the Tuckman Model,
This is based on countless interviews with teams & was done in 1965 by Bruce Tuckman
It was modified further by Susan Wheelan in the early 90s, this is the version we used mostly in ustwo
A short stage, where the main focus is to understand what we are going to do and what our role in it is.
If not managed the period will contain
The stage where the differences between team members show up, and conflicts often emerge. Conflict is necessary to establish trust and a climate in which members feel free to disagree with each other.
The team moves forward by communication and working through the conflicts
An efficient stage where the norms are agreed on and the team knows/respects each others competences
A certain amount of trust, and many teams don't move beyond this.
The stage where the team not only work efficiently together, but moves from REACTIVE to PROACTIVE
Building on each others' strengths + supporting when the shit hits the fan
Team dynamics are - dynamic, a work in progress, not all teams will move beyond the storming or the forming.
By conscious facilitation the team can develop and move forward
Invented by Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingham in the 1950s
A model for personality awareness
Helps train in eg interpersonal relationships and communication
- The Arena/Open consists of what I know about myself and what others know about me. This includes characteristics of our personality that we more likely choose to be open about.
The Blind area represents what I don’t know about myself but others know about me. Something that others see in us that we’re not aware of.
The Hidden area represents what I know about myself but others don’t know. Things that we choose to hide from others or to communicate when we feel safe enough.
- The Unknown area contains things that nobody knows about me not even myself. This may be because we’ve never exposed those aspects of our personality, or because they’re concealed in the subconscious.
By TELLING your team members about what is hidden to them about yourself, you expand the Johari window
By ASKING questions others find out areas that are blind to yourself
Positive feedback - not only 'That's great!', but elaborate & listen
Negative feedback or bad results :
"What can we learn? Or Where did it go wrong?" NOT Who's fault is it ?
It's a skill, it takes training
It's public! Create a safe place, where everyone has a chance to say how things are for them, giving feedback to each other:
Focus on mostly positive things, certainly don't give negative, personal feedback as it can be very sensitive in front of peers
Structure your feedback and be objective, mix the sweet with the sour.
Take it when it is fresh, not 3 months later
Listen & look for understanding.
Train!
Finally we have the element of behaviours - how people behave and interact with each other based on personal differences
introvert/extrovert
green/blue/yellow/red
Myers-Briggs
But - we don't need to measure intimate details .... Because
What is important is -
to acknowledge all people have different preferences,
and how we work together supports/facilitates the core behaviours,
That there are options to do the same things in different ways, because most people feel best by communicating in their way
Typical communication differences - classic
Ask yourself, when working in your teams
how do YOU prefer to work and communicate
My experience with different team setups over the past 12 years
both working on the client side and the agency side,
Have been interested in the subject as well (I am a Uxer, interested in human behavior)
Interested in personal development
The following cases are both from the agency side at ustwo, where there has been a focus the past years on building collaborative teams
Some general pointers - and they won't come all at once, so take it step by step
Structure to ensure all are heard and not let one or two voices only be heard
Help each other - have a strategy to lift each other's points
Have time to think
Give people time to prepare - but not compulsory
If the client comes with more work than you have time for, affecting scope
Or
If the client keeps wanting to change design, affecting time
Or
If the client has assumed more will be included, affecting scope and time
Consider for a moment - what teams are YOU in ?
If you have several teams, think of the one you spend most time on / want to optimise
If you don't have a project, pick your discipline team (UX, AD/VD, FE, STRAT...)
Try get team feedback:
Put yourself in groups of 3
Introduce yourself : name - role in your current team - product you work on - what team
If you have several teams, pick the one you spend most time on
If you don't have a project, pick your discipline team (UX, AD/VD, FE, STRAT...)
5 mins intro