2. 1. Why we are focusing on feedback and
teams
2. What feedback is and what a team is
3. How we can improve communication
and well-being by improving teams :)
Today's focus
3. We had a great seminar about Stress Intelligence
• What stress is & how to assess it
• How to stay in the 'green' bubble
• Creating 'safe' spaces at work
• Connecting with others
4. This talk is about moving
from learning to building
5. .. so why ?
Building better teams and
feedback could:
6. • Improve work continuously
and help you learn from
your team.
• Support you to not to feel
alone in a project or as a
resource, improving
collaboration.
• Push goals together
• Share work in other
contexts than the project,
improving learning.
• Create a safe space for
'soft values' and emotions,
helping greater well-being.
• Empower each other
through synergies.
25. What is a team?
"A team is a group of individuals
working together to achieve a goal"
26. What do you need for a team
to work well?
Creating a CULTURE for your
collaboration
27. #1 All are seen and heard
#2 Open, considerate communication
#3 Humour and playfulness
#4 Inclusion: Sharing IS caring
#5 Help out - focus on collaboration
41. Where do we start?
• Communication happens
between humans in a context
• We are part of different groups
within inUse ->'teams'
42. What types of teams do we have?
= type of team => type of communication need!
Project Client Discipline OffProject inUse
One or more
consultants in a
team with the
client.
One or more
project teams for
the same client
Similar disciplines
eg AD or UX across
several projects
Non-project
consultants for short
or long periods
Both local inUse
office and the whole
of inUse
46. Types of structured communication 'spaces'
Group Personal
• Project Checkin/Checkout
• Daily morning meetings
• Sharing work-in-progress ('demos')
• Client syncs
• Retros + actions
• Team reflection
• Sharing projects
• Socials (team - discipline)
• Stop/start/continue
• Feedback on work
• Personal development
• Mentor (project or personal)
• Talks across projects
48. Core activities to start with:
Checkin/Checkout
Daily syncs
Small socials
Transparent communication
49. Try it out, compare and
evaluate after enough time
50. Time is an issue:
Teams run over a certain TIME
Some are short 4 week projects
Some are medium 4 month projects
Some are long 4 year projects.
51. For a short period of time: not too much!
Client teams
• Daily morning meetings (standups)
• Slack channel
• Team facilitator (availability, location)
Project team
• Weekly or bi weekly (size) project syncs
Client team
52. Longer period of time: Measure change!
• Daily/very regular morning meetings (standups)
• Weekly or bi weekly (size) demos
• Weekly or bi weekly retros (mini)
• Project 'mentor' (availability?)
• Team facilitator (availability, location)
• Training?
53. What teams are you in?
What are the communication
spaces you have in your teams?
Could they be improved?
54. Write down the first thing you can start doing in
your team from now on, eg:
Checkin/Checkout
Daily syncs
Small socials
Transparent communication
...
5 mins
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
There are roughly two types of feedback: positive & negative - both can be more or less constructive:
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 ?
There are typically two types of social contexts in which we provide feedback :
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!
When people hear the word 'Feedback' there is often a negative connotation associated with it.
When people hear the word 'Feedback' there is often a negative connotation associated with it.
Sympathetic nervous system : fight of flight
Parasympathetic: calming, safety
The need to be confirmed in our goodness and value to the company (or others) is a deep driving force. If we don't get that confirmation and receive negative feedback, we will not take in the feedback and will seek out other people who will give us the confirmation.
The nurture effect!
Space for vulnerability: Brené brown
.. which can include clients and stakeholders for long-term projects
What are the Prerequisities for great team collaboration?
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
Confirm your beliefs
Conform to a group thinking 'what everyone else says is the truth' Survival
Authority/airtime: listening more to the one that has authority/speaks up
Eg changing decisions/work already done/going against the direction
Do anything, even something not thought-through
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
Myer-Briggs
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 - inspired by DISC
Ask yourself, when working in your teams
how do YOU prefer to work and communicate