Bottom Up Change Tool

Appreciative

Teambuilding

It is inevitable that effective teams will have to deal with disagreements at some point. Different styles of working, different values and visions of what's important, different ideas and different priorities are common. What's important is that these conversations do not become defensive or trust will disappear and performance will be affected.

The trick is to get high performance teams to thrive on differences, to align multiple perspectives and needs to achieve a shared purpose.

But how is it done ?

I run Empowerment Labs to help teams transform their performance.

I do this by applying the principles of Appreciative Inquiry to:

DISCOVER - by inquiring into what is the best you have done

DREAM - by envisioning how the team could be even better

DESIGN - by unpacking the dream into a sequence of practical actions

DELIVER - by putting in place new roles, procedures and processes

The appreciative team process is useful in almost any kind of team initiative:

Newly formed teams that want to establish clear roles, responsibilities and norms
Teams aiming for more effective collaboration
Ongoing project teams facing special challenges
Teams needing renewal or a clearer focus

Whatever the agenda for achieving real change through teamworking the approach is always collaborative, affirmative and solution focused - rather than delving into causes of problems or sources of conflict. It's about recognising people for contributing their best.

This process is embedded in Empowerment Labs so that the team can focus on what it takes to enhance team engagement in learning how sources of positive energy, personal motivation and shared values can be aligned to a shared purpose.

My experience is that when this positive bias is embedded in team relationships, a climate of self-confidence and collective pride develops. This leads to fuller engagement, empowerment, learning and breakthrough results.

The same principles are applied to an approach I call Solutions in Focus where the CLEAR method is used to improve communication and performance in and between teams.

Underpinning the success of Appreciative Teambuilding are two approaches to improve the quality of the conversations that tale place. Applying the principles of Clean Language and Compassionate Communication. Both focus on techniques designed to foster more open dialogue about what people want in the present to overcome defensiveness, resistance and counter attack.

Appreciative teamworking is powerful because it teaches team members that the cause of their feelings is not others, but rather their our own thoughts, wants and wishes. Where conflict is a major issue I use the Sedona Method to help people tune-in to the real source of their anger and frustration, which is often unmet expectations. They learn how to acknowledge emotions for what they are, appreciate the wants that are driving them and let them go.