Figure 10 – An example of a collaboration canvas
Figure 11 – Illustration of behavioural gravity
Figure 12 – ‘No blame’ protocol
Figure 13 – Enquiring versus controlling language styles
Figure 14 – Constructive challenge cycle
Figure 15 – Kübler-Ross change curve
Figure 16 – Fault free conflict resolution process
Figure 17 – Hedges and potholes
TABLES
Table 1 – The foundation layers of the team building process
Table 3 – A changing approach to project management
Table 4 – Complicated or complex
Table 5 – Alternative approaches to gaining feedback
Table 6 – Meeting strategy guide
Table 7 – Examples of Key Performance Indicators found to have an impact on team behaviour
HOW TO USE THIS BOOK
This book is a toolkit to help you build better teams. It is therefore designed to be a quick reference guide for team leaders and team coaches to find a tool or technique that will be useful in a particular situation.
The book is structured around 10 team coaching techniques, and 45 team coaching tools. I have also provided three preliminary chapters which will give you some background to the art and science of team coaching.
Creating something new, or fixing something that is broken, usually requires finding the best tool to do the job. In the same way that it would usually be better not to try and open a tin of paint with a sharp chisel, it is worth taking some time to understand what each tool is intended to achieve. You can then decide how you might adapt it to suit your current needs.
The toolkit is set out according to a model of coaching teams engaged in some form of project or initiative. The model provides a progression through five phases of a team’s life cycle.
Team Coaching Model
This model is explained in chapter 3, but you will quickly be able to recognize which tools fit within which stage of the model as each is referenced to the above image.
There is a companion website teamcoachingtoolkit.com where you can download some of the charts and tables used in some of the tools.
These tools have a degree of flexibility in their application. Experiment and adapt them to fit your situation and your style of working. Good luck and if you have any questions or comments, contact me at [email protected]. I would love to hear how they work for you.
Tony Llewellyn
Hertfordshire
England
May 2017
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
This is a book about team building. It doesn’t have much to say about white water rafting, building temporary structures from wood or string, or the merits of taking everyone to the pub. Instead the focus is on how to engage with a group of individuals and form them into a collaborative and productive unit. The tools and techniques set out in the following pages may provide less instant gratification, but are more likely to be successful in building an engaged, committed and resilient team.
Team building is a scientific process, involving the methodical application of a series of steps. You are, however, dealing with human beings rather than machines, and so the process requires a more subtle approach. In a situation where people are needed for their spirit and ingenuity, then attention must be paid to the psychological forces that shape relationships.
WHO SHOULD READ THIS BOOK?
The book is written for anyone whose role is to support and sustain a productive and functioning team. You may be a project manager, pulling together a collection of technical specialists to create a piece of software or to construct a new building. Alternatively you may be in a management role in a large organization and have been tasked with leading a cross-functional team to deliver an important initiative. The toolkit is also likely to be of interest to team coaches and facilitators who are brought in to provide support that will enable the team to establish the process and behavioural norms associated with team effectiveness. Whatever your role, the toolkit is designed to prove a number of activities that have been found to get your team thinking, talking and working together as a single unit rather than a collection of individuals.
The book is structured in three parts.
Section One sets out some useful background information into team dynamics and the processes that have been necessary to build a group of disparate individuals into a real team. The first chapter covers some of the primary elements of group interaction and gives the reader an understanding of the framework around which a leader needs to build his/her team. The second chapter looks at the growing development of team coaching and sets out some of the theoretical and practical ideas that underpin team coaching either as an activity in its own right or as a style of leadership.
Section Two introduces 10 techniques upon which to build your team coaching practice. A technique can be defined as a skilful way of doing or achieving something. I have stretched the definition to include a way of approaching the challenges of team coaching which are as much about your philosophy or mindset as they are about physical action.
Section Three moves into the toolkit, setting out 45 different ‘tools’ or activities you may find useful in working with your team. These tools are set out in a structure that follows the sequential logic of team building that is explained in chapter 3.
Much research has been done on team development and some of this thinking is included in the following chapter. There are some great books and articles available, a selection of which I have listed in the closing chapter. These publications will help you learn why teams are important
