Teamwork - What and How?

How to increase collaboration and team work in my function? Was having a conversation on this topic at a client earlier this morning. And, obviously - it's not a new question.

Several organizations have "teamwork" or "collaboration" (or other synonyms) as their core value. But, in reality - we know, more often than it's not lived. People operate and work in silos. They compete with each other.

I showed the cartoon to the client stakeholder and we both laughed together. And, I think he got the message. While, it illustrated only one dimension of the teamwork equation - it's certainly a core element. Well, these days "psychological safety" is a more trendy word - THANKS GOOGLE :)

During the dialogue with the client stakeholder - I went to the very basics and the realities of teamwork. In my experience, most new teams / cross-functional groups pass through four stages (similar to four phase we often refer to) in the "community building" process; each stage is essential to the desired final outcome (s). 

1. Pseudo-community is the first stage. Similar to Forming phase. During this stage, the group is polite and not very authentic. In fact, some groups try to fake community at this stage by pointing out the similarities between members. Differences are ignored or glossed over. 
2. Chaos is the second stage. Similar to Storming phase. During this stage, differences are no longer ignored. Individuals try to heal or convert others to their ways of thinking. Frequently, group members do not listen to one another. The group acknowledges that there are differences among the members and then tries to obliterate them. There are only two ways out of chaos - organization or emptiness. One could argue, that it's not good to have chaos. But, for me - this is like friction. A necessary evil.
3. Emptiness is the third stage. This is what I call the dark side of the Norming phase and the overall team journey. During this stage, individuals in the group examine their barriers to authentic communication. These barriers include preconceived expectations, prejudices, cherished beliefs, the need to control, and the need to solve one another’s problems. Effective listening, authentic sharing and periods of deep, comfortable silence are characteristics of emptiness. One needs to kill and address this emptiness to move to the next phase, otherwise - be ready to step into the tornado and whirlpool of psuedo-community and chaos.
4. Community is the fourth stage. When this stage is reached the full range of emotions can be expressed. Even though community is the ideal, it is not a static state that once reached never changes. Community can be palpable to some and subtle to others.

Certainly, the conversation with the client stakeholder will continue as we proceed to peel the onion and find solutions to his question and opportunity. For the time being, I thought of sharing the story (and the cartoon :), and perspective here with linkedin colleagues.

And, a few questions to invite your views.

• Which stage is your team in?
• What challenges do / did you face?
• How have you been / are you addressing the challenges?
• What things have you done to move to the "community" stage?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I am passionate about enabling people and organizations unlock and go beyond their potential. Our company www.enabling-excellence.com partners with organisations towards building a sustainable competitive advantage through business model, process and people transformation work.