High Trust Teams Training

Monday, November 14, 2011.  I attended Developing High-Trust Teams training with other team managers in the company.  It was facilitated by Ardy Abello of BusinessWorks.  It was from 9AM to 4PM and by the end of it, I had 7 pages of notes - a testament to how much notable content there was and my note-taking skills. =)  Seriously, I consider attending training as opportunities so I make sure I learn the most that I can, and remember them.  Thus, the notes.  And because notes on paper can be lost, here's the abbreviated version for (my) future reference.

Photo by LA Adriano

4 Stages of a Team. I know this already but I got new insights from the training.

Forming

• Adding members on the basis on competence, identify roles. Law of the Chain says weakest link determines the strength of the team.
• "If two people are exactly alike, there is no need for one of them."

Storming

• Development of goals and strategies, bring clarity.  Team conflicts have very little to do with competence.  Storms only test the strength of the team, it does not strengthen the team.
• Use Creative Thinking Process. (1) Info Gathering - ask questions, in-depth interview, observation. (2) Incubation - funnel information. (3) Ideation. (4) Implementation.  Application - send meeting agenda beforehand; park/bin other issues that come up that are not part of the agenda.

Norming

• Identify non-negotiables in conduct of affairs of the business, values as guideposts, norm + culture, core values can be ranked.
• Develop a culture
• Core values -> shared values
• Application: Values matrix. Ask the questions what values were compromised and what should have been used.

Performing

• Multiply efforts by competence and character.
• Train, trade/transfer, terminate.
• "When times are hard, equip people with training.."

Team Foundations.  This was presented as a triangle with five elements.  Bottom-up, the elements are Trust, Conflict, Accountability, Empowerment, Results.

Trust

• T - Being honest and open. "Use and management of information today will determine if you win/lose tomorrow."
• R - Reliable especially in the midst of diversity
• U - Unified/Unity. 
• S - Standard bearers/benchmark
• T - Time-bound, time-tested

Conflict

• Ideally should come after trust is established.
• Be careful to keep conflicts on the table and not with the person.
• A-to-F of Conflict and Feedback. Acquire and validate information.  Biases aside. Current issues only but patterns can be brought up. Deliver a balanced message (oreo).  Empathize.  Follow through.

Accountability

• Hold people accountable for solutions.
• Succession planning should produce output and action.

Empowerment

• Develop as many people as possible.
• "Only secure leaders give power to others." 
• "An obstacle to progress is not ignorance but assumption of knowledge."

Results

• Values -> behavior -> action -> results.

Building a high trust, high performing team is not easy!  It takes commitment and a lot of work but it also brings endless benefit to the team members and organization.