to behavioural norms. This section also sets out the foundational structure for team building and then considers how the tools work in establishing the right behaviours.
GROUP DYNAMICS
Humans use many forms of communication that do not require the interpretation of words to send or receive messages. Our eyes, facial muscles, voice tone, posture and arm movements all provide clues as to how we are feeling when we are part of a group. When such body movements are extreme, the messages can be quite obvious. Angry eyes or a sulky posture are easy to detect, but most of the activities that we call body language are often only detected at a subconscious level. This is just one aspect of the many behavioural clues that are there to be seen if you choose to look for them.
The word dynamics as applied to a group can be defined as the ‘forces which stimulate growth, development or change within a system or process’. When we talk about group dynamics we are frequently thinking about the tensions that are sensed as being present in the room without being able to articulate exactly what those tensions are. These forces can be positive or negative, but will usually be a mixture of both. The dynamics of the group are integral to the way that its members interact. Positive group dynamics well help create a discussion that is energized and open. Negative dynamics are usually driven by fear and will cause people to be cautious and withhold information. Learning to read the room and sense the sources of support or disruption can make a significant difference to your ability to influence the team’s effectiveness.
As mentioned in the previous chapter, unless you take active steps to build a positive attitude in the team, the default tendency of groups is to move towards dysfunctional relationships. It is helpful to recognize the primary factors that will lead to a breakdown in communication. We casually talk about dysfunctional families or dysfunctional groups without having a clear sense as to just what the phrase actually means. When applied to a team, the word dysfunctional could be associated with a group who are no longer connecting or communicating according to the behavioural norms of that particular group.
IT IS ALL ABOUT THE NORMS
Dysfunctional is nevertheless a relative term. Positive group norms are the result of the often subconscious acknowledgement of what behaviours each member of a team is prepared to accept if they are going to be emotionally and intellectually engaged in the team’s activities. The team stops functioning effectively when one or more members are no longer prepared to commit emotionally to the rest of the team. To avoid the tendency towards dysfunction, a team may need help to actively work out what norms must be established to achieve the required collective output.
A norm is ‘a standard or pattern, especially of social behaviour, that is typical or expected’. So norms are less about what we do and more about the way that we do them. When a group of individuals come together to work on an initiative or project, each will arrive with their own behavioural baggage. The fascinating thing about groups and teams, however, is that the norms acquired from working in other groups do not necessarily transfer to the new team.
Behavioural norms will vary from group to group. For some groups, low levels of communication are seen as perfectly adequate for their needs. For example, a team of introverts may be very successful, working together with a limited amount of interaction. Their personal need for communication may be focused solely around the completion of the task, and so other forms of social exchange are less important to them. Other teams thrive on high volume face-to-face interaction, where vigorous debate and disagreement are a part of the team’s way of doing their work.
It is important to understand that norms are not simply about manners. Manners are a form of social construct. They are usually cultural and are often implicit. Whenever a group of relative strangers meet for the first time you will observe a tendency for most people to hold back and observe what is happening in the group. This is a natural mechanism for self-preservation as we assess the group and work out how we are likely to fit. So new groups start off behaving in a way that might be described as polite. However, just because you observe someone being calm and polite when you first encounter them does not mean they will automatically share the same cultural norms. A common mistake made by many team leaders is to assume that the polite and attentive behaviours they observe in the group when it first meets will be sustained throughout the project. Consequently, they spend insufficient time setting the right norms only to find that difficult behaviours quickly emerge once the team moves into action. As the leader/coach you have the opportunity to establish a new set of norms that may be quite different. Each group has their own set of unwritten rules as to ‘how things are done here’. The coaching skill is to make those rules explicit rather than assumed. This leads us to the concept of team building.
BUILDING THE EMOTIONAL FOUNDATIONS
The term team building is a familiar phrase. It may conjure up a range of emotions. For some, the words may imply time spent out of the office being paid to have fun with your co-workers. For others, the image may be distinctly different, recalling memories of being coerced into carrying out irrelevant exercises whilst risking the disdain and ridicule of one’s colleagues. Building a real team has relatively little to do with outdoor pursuits or time spent eating and drinking at the firm’s expense. Whilst such activities may help teammates learn more about each other’s social existence outside of work they are a poor substitute for a structured team development process. Process can be described as ‘a series of actions or steps taken in order to achieve a particular end’. Team process has two distinct strands: i. Task accomplishment processes that are used by the team to carry out their day-to-day work involving such things as the allocation of resources, programming and reporting; and ii. People engagement processes designed to create awareness, build trust and set behavioural norms.
Task accomplishment tends to be specific to the proposed objective. This is where most managers and leaders devote the majority of their energy in the early days of the team’s existence. It is vital to recognize that ‘people engagement’ requires that same level of priority as it provides the foundations for the transition from a workgroup to a real team. Spending too little time on engagement in the early phases of a team’s life will almost certainly require more energy taking remedial measures later on. In fact, the reverse is true in that time invested in setting the right behavioural norms early in the project cycle will save time later as the team build up speed. (See Technique 3 – ‘Slow down to speed up’.)
Figure 1 – The foundation layers of an effective team
Figure 1 identifies many of the features of an effective team. The people engagement processes can be grouped into metaphorical blocks which can then be used to build the team’s commitment and accountability. These blocks form the foundation stones upon which strong teamwork is built. Like the foundations of a building, they are out of sight and therefore invisible to the uneducated eye. We know that it may be possible to assemble a wooden shed upon some hardened ground, but if we want to build something bigger that needs to survive unstable ground conditions then good foundations are essential.
| Layer | Function |
| Environment | Early assessment of a range of systemic factors enabling a leader to understand the influences imposed on the team by the cultural and social conditions in which the team will operate. |
| Set-up | Setting up the team to establish the desired behavioural norms. Includes the activities and
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