Teaming is a verb - a ‘doing word’ as I used to call them at school.
It is dynamic - very different to well-established, static teams with clear boundaries, expectations and roles.
Think of your favourite music ensemble, sports team, dance troupe or orchestra – people get to know each other and their talents and different strengths. They build trust over time, and they practice performing together. They approach collaboration and team development as an intentional group, whilst also recognising individual contribution.
Building high performing teams can be really powerful. However, in our increasingly complex and dynamic working lives, teaming and collaboration offers a long-awaited antidote to silo’ed working life.
Think back to that same favourite ensemble in whatever field, and imagine a group of strangers forming a spontaneous group and how they would need to come together at pace to perform, and how that could be achieved.
‘Teamwork on the fly’ is Prof Amy Edmondson’s description of the work she observed in diverse groups of people who came together with no prior plan, to collaborate, often across disciplinary boundaries, and learn together, to achieve a mutually agreed goal. And, importantly, they will take their learning with them to the next challenge.
To build effective collaboration at pace, individuals need to be comfortable bringing their contribution to any group immediately, as well as skilled in seeking out and being open to the ideas of others.
And leaders need to be skilled at creating the conditions for collaboration to emerge.
How does it help performance?
In essence, you are intentionally creating psychological safety that established teams can celebrate, at pace!
By fast-tracking trust, being curious, sharing and enabling others to be heard, we believe the group will enhance one another’s contributions, learn and deliver together.
Building a workplace where teaming is expected and begins to feel natural, enables everyone to become more curious, empathic and focused on the meaning and purpose of the work.
We support organisations in fostering Psychological Safety. With experience in multiple sectors including Sport, Manufacturing, FMCG, Charities, Healthcare and Fintech we know it can shift performance.
Dee’s 3 practical tips for successful teaming:
- Lean into your curiosity – value learning over knowing. Show humility, beware the lure of ‘expert’, you can’t know everything so far better to encourage others to generate diverse options.
- Show up as if you trust everyone – be empathetic, get to know your teaming colleagues, what they bring and how they can contribute, let them surprise you! Encourage learning as the norm here, ‘what are we missing?’
- Ensure the group understand and buy-in to the purpose and meaning of the work – check you are all on the same page, expectations and motivations.
