Collaboration

3 Ways You Are Unintentionally Stalling Collaboration In Your Company

Team Collaboration at Its Best, and Worst

Are you unintentionally stalling collaboration, in your team or your company?

Collaboration is a word that leaders use often. They know that when their team collaborates, everyone wins. As leaders they look good, their team members are happy and content, and their C-suite, well, they are thrilled with any and all tangible results!

The definition of collaboration as found in the Oxford dictionary defines it as ‘working with someone to produce or create something’. Reason follows that teams who produce results are winning teams.

What happens though, when leaders unintentionally stall or ruin the collaboration in their own team? What happens when they create a mess of their own doing? Often, nothing! Nothing happens. Sometimes the blame isn’t easily found and even when it is, it’s not easily attached to any one thing or person.

If your team is struggling to collaborate, may we suggest you look inward first. Look to see if you might be the cause of stalled or even ruined team collaboration.

3 Ways You Are Unintentionally Stalling Collaboration In Your Company

When your team fails, do you also? Many believe this is the case.

Here are 3 ways you might be (unintentionally) ruining team collaboration.

1 Undermining the team

If you are not present in a meeting, why should your team be?

If you micromanage, why should your team come forward with ideas?

If you don’t communicate clearly and often, why should your team know how to communicate with you?

Team collaboration starts with you. The leader:

sets the tone and behavior for meetings
reads the room and creates space for ideas and input
communicates with the team and encourages two-way communication

Are you guilty of undermining the team?

Now that you know, can you ask yourself to do better?

2 Not listening with intent

Listening is a skill. As a leader, you need to listen with intent.

The intent of listening does not lie in the response, but the understanding of what is being said.

When anyone chooses to listen with intent, the result is hugely beneficial. Team collaboration, team morale, and team cohesiveness start to solidify and ultimately these become standard practice.

To quote Ernest Hemingway (Across the River and Into the Trees)

“When people talk, listen completely. Don’t be thinking what you’re going to say.

Most people never listen. Nor do they observe.

You should be able to go into a room and when you come out know everything that you saw there and not only that. If that room gave you any feeling you should know exactly what it was that gave you that feeling.”

Try that for practice.

3 Not remaining neutral

Conflict arises whether you expect it or not. It is human nature. Conflict arises when there are multiple people in a shared setting for an extended period, aka in a team setting.

Yes. Teams experience conflict. As a team lead, you are wise to expect (and welcome) conflict.

Conflict can come from:

Unclear team roles
Internal power struggles
Insufficient training
Differing ideals
Challenges with communication
Poor work environment
Harassment and bullying

and many other contributing factors.

In How To Navigate Team Conflict and Stand Steadfast in the Storm we learn that standing in the storm is about staying with conflict and difference instead of avoiding it. Because conflict is inevitable the leader in you needs to recognize that different points of view generates conflict. But did you know conflict can provide clarity, discernment, deeper understanding, and energy? For those reasons, we encourage the gift of opposition.

Three tips to help you stand in the storm include:

Cultivate self-awareness and management to stay in the situation
Learn to press “Pause”
Deepen your understanding of Group Dynamics

Exploring Tip #3, we find that models and frameworks are helpful for understanding group dynamics and for making sense of what we’re experiencing in the room.

Structural dynamics is a theory of face-to-face communications developed by David Kantor.

It provides a way to name the structure of communication as it’s taking place in the moment.

These are called

Move
Follow
Oppose
Bystand

Learn more about structural dynamics here.

The Agile Team Facilitation Stance

If you think you’re unintentionally stalling collaboration in your company, in your teams, this is a great time to learn more about the Agile Team Facilitation Stance.

I recommend you start here.

Then read my book ‘Art and Science of Facilitation’ and learn how to lead effective collaboration with Agile teams!

Remote Employees Are Falling Behind. Here’s How to Help Them.

One of the biggest challenges right now facing remote work is remote employees feeling isolated and disconnected from other human beings, outside of those they live with. When a feeling of ‘being on my own’ sets in it can manifest in lots of ways.

Interpersonal work relationships become more stressed, it becomes harder to give people feedback and harder for someone to receive feedback. Small points of disagreement that might normally be handled with ease become bigger and derailing for a team. The language people use can shift from ‘we’ to ‘us versus them’, making conversation more divisive.

How Can We Help Remote Employees Feel Like They Are Part of the Team

One of the best ways around this is to create more space for connection and relationship building. Relationships are the lifeline to fostering trust and psychological safety and when those qualities are strong the less disconnected we will feel and the easier it will be to navigate differing points of view and conflict.

Schedule One-On-Ones With Your Remote Employees

Schedule individual time with people on your team and go beyond the surface level conversation of ‘How are you?’ Ask questions with genuine curiosity and be ready to just listen, without the need to solve or fix anything and be real and vulnerable yourself.

What’s difficult right now?
What do you miss most?
What’s one thing that would make it better?

Normalize the New Normal

Working remotely can be very productive, many people have done it for years but what’s different is that this is a pandemic and for those with kids or multi-generational households there are lots more people in their work space each day who also need their attention. Make it okay that other people might walk through your video during a meeting or that more frequent breaks might be needed during the day to check on others.

Help Your Remote Employees Set Boundaries

The line of work and home does not exist anymore, it all blurs into one. Failure to define and agree on boundaries can leave people feeling frustrated and worn down. Help your team members define boundaries for themselves and then communicate those with other team members. Questions to consider:

What are my working hours?
What are my non-working hours?
How often will I take breaks? How can I schedule those into my calendar?
How do I want to handle emails that come in after working hours?
How can I close out my work space at the end of the day? (i.e. put the computer in the closet, change where I sit, etc.)

How To Create More Connection in a Team Setting

When getting together as a team, even remotely, use these following tips to create connection/

Make it a Ground Rule for Team Meetings to Have Video On

People may push back on this. Make space to hear their objections and concerns and ask if they would be willing to give it a try for a small period of time. Most people find it so very helpful for everyone to be on video that they wonder why they didn’t try it earlier.

Create Space for Connection

At the beginning of each meeting have a check-in question and ask everyone to respond. It can be about the meeting topic or something more personal. This warms people up to the meeting, gets everyone’s voice in the conversation and gives the team an opportunity to learn something about each other.

Example questions include:

My state of mind as I come to our call today is…
One thing I want to celebrate is…
What’s one question you have about our topic today?

Your Turn

How have you been able to help remote employees feel like they are (still) part of the team? We’d love to hear your thoughts!

Speaking Truth to Power: How to Talk to Your Boss in a Way That Works

A common question among managers and agile coaches learning the skills of coaching others is, “How do I coach up”? In other words, “how do I coach my boss to be a better boss and tell them that I think they are the problem?”

There are two common reasons this question arises: the first is that there has been a specific interaction that has left someone feeling deflated or demoralized. Perhaps they were not heard and understood, or they didn’t like the way they were spoken to. The second reason is that they feel unsupported in their work, or maybe feel like they are being told to lead change while their boss’s behavior keeps rewarding old patterns instead.

This second scenario is part of a bigger issue—and one where it seems like the boss is the “problem.” Instead of creating change, it feels like you’re just slogging through the mud and getting your foot stuck with each step.

But chances are, what’s going on is not something that can be solved as simply as the concept of “coaching up.” In fact, there’s no such thing as “coaching up.” If what you’re actually looking for is the opportunity to give feedback about a specific incident, this is a feedback conversation. But when you’re addressing a bigger, systemic issue, it’s time for something more. Instead of trying to “coach up” or give feedback, try inviting your boss to a Thinking Together Conversation.

Speaking Truth to Power: How to Talk to Your Boss in a Way That Works

The Dark Side of Feedback

What’s missing most from feedback conversations in organizations today is the notion of inquiry. So many of us come into a conversation locked and loaded with our own perspective and the desire to just put our idea out on the table and have it heard. We expect the other person to make sense of what we’ve said and then take the action we desire.

While direct and candid feedback has a place and purpose, the common one-way delivery of one person’s experience can be unbalanced. It assumes that one person has the complete picture, that one person’s ideas are more “right” than the other’s, and that spending time asking someone else for their perspective or input is a waste of time.

This quick, get-in-and-get-out feedback style is what I call “driveby feedback.” It’s not really a conversation at all—it’s a one-way “download.”

No one wants to be told that they’re “doing it wrong,” and if you start from a place of assuming you know what the problem is—and only focus on telling your boss what they are doing wrong and what they need to do more of—it’s a monologic approach that makes you right and them wrong. You’ve invited them into a debate and set them up to either defend the actions they’ve taken or worse yet, just check out within the first few seconds of your conversation.

A Thinking Together Conversation: Speaking Truth!

So, what’s a Thinking Together Conversation and why does it matter? You’re thinking together with your boss in a way that can create real change.

Thinking Together Conversations require

all parties to come to the conversation with genuine curiosity
the assumption that solving the current problem or dilemma cannot be done by just one person
a broader, shared understanding of what’s happening

In a Thinking Together Conversation we

bring questions instead of solutions
invite others into a dialogue instead of a monologue
support the purpose of learning together to craft a better solution
engage in inquiry
engage in a real, meaningful conversation that can shift something important to the dynamic

3 Steps to a Thinking Together Conversation with your Leader: Speaking Truth

Here are some action steps you can take to invite a Thinking Together Conversation:

Step 1: Be clear about your intention.

Why do you want to have this conversation? How do you want to show up in it?

If your answer to either of these questions comes from a place of wanting to reprimand, punish, or blame your boss, then do some work on your own thinking before asking to have a conversation. Coming from that place will not serve anyone, and it definitely does not promote curiosity.

If, however, you’re coming from a place of genuine curiosity and seeking to understand—with a belief that there is more than one side to what’s going on—you’ll be in a much better position to start a real conversation. If you are willing to engage in a way that’s open to hearing different perspectives, both you and your boss will likely learn new information. From there, you will be far more likely to be able to create a new solution together.

Step 2: Create an invitation.

Invite your boss into a conversation for learning and exploration.

Behind every dilemma are multiple truths and perspectives about what’s creating the current situation. So make it inviting for you and your boss to want to come to the table.

Imagine that you’d received the results of a 12-month engagement survey suggesting that your boss’ lack of engagement was impeding progress. You could give driveby feedback that would get you nowhere, or you could create an invitation:

“We just got the survey results back. I would love to have a conversation with you about it and get your thoughts.”
“I notice that the engagement survey shows a ‘lack of engagement by senior management’ as the greatest barrier to our performance. I’m curious what you make of that?”

Understand that when managers are invited to a conversation, they are often expected to solve a problem or have some solution immediately. Instead of replicating that dynamic, try inviting them to a conversation for learning and understanding. Together, you might co-create a solution.

Step 3: Be prepared to offer your observations.

This can be one of the most challenging aspects of a Thinking Together Conversation. It requires you to both be curious about your boss’s experience and perspective and candid about your own observations. David Kantor calls this the speech act of Bystand—a morally neutral observation about what’s happening. To pull it off, you need to be prepared to share what you notice. Pulling from the scenario described above, here’s an example of how you might offer a morally neutral observation about what you see happening while remaining curious about what’s happening for your boss:

“Would it be helpful if I shared what I’ve observed? You asked that we schedule more collaborative planning meetings and include you. We now have these meetings booked every two weeks. However, you have attended 2 of 12 meetings in the past 6 months, and it’s left the team feeling confused and unmotivated. What’s happening on your end that’s pulling you away from these meetings?

Thinking Together Conversations move us away from looking for someone to blame and hold us accountable to the kind of inquiry that supports meaningful dialogue. When we seek to understand multiple perspectives and learn more about what’s happening in the current situation, it’s much easier to discover a new solution that might not exist yet. It’s an effective way of speaking truth to power while creating space for real results.

Speaking Truth: How to Talk to Your Boss in a Way That Works

Need leadership advice, help, or support?

Come join our online community of leaders!

Defining Moments of Leadership is waiting for you to join.

Real leaders. Great questions. Thoughtful answers!

If this topic resonated with you, we encourage you to listen to this podcast with Aaron Smith!

How Leadership Mastery Follows Consistency and Confidence

It seems so simple.

To become a “master” leader you need to work on both consistency and confidence skills. Right?

But what happens if you are stuck on either the consistency part or the confidence part? How do you move forward to gain a level of masterful leadership? How can you have a transformative, empowered leadership experience?

It’s about the people you are surrounded by! Therefore, choose wisely.

Mastery is gained when you take the time to learn from and interact with leaders, when you practice your skills over and over with peers, when you listen to mentors, when you put into action new ideas and concepts.

Here are five (groups of) people in your life who can help you achieve mastery in leadership.

1 Peers

Those who are in the trenches with you have lots to offer. Together, you can collaborate on methods and put into practice what you learn.

Other ways to learn from peers include:

Bounce ideas off of each other
Collaborate on projects
Ask for peer advice (What would you do…)
Mastermind meetings

2 Team

Whether you are leading a team, part of an executive team, or both, don’t think for a minute you aren’t learning anything! Being part of a team allows you to practice leadership skills such as conflict resolution, coaching and yes, how to effectively lead meetings.

Being an active participant in a team, or leading a team is one of the best ways to gain mastery in leadership.

3 Group

Group activities, and online communities with peers, are great ways to gain mastery in leadership. Starting conversations, leading discussions, resolving conflict and practicing the art of listening are all ways to gain mastery in leadership.

Group activities can be centered around a specific industry, learning unit, career move, competency, leadership skill or even a favorite podcast!

Being part of a group of like-minded leaders will assist you in becoming a better leader.

4 Mentor

Where would you be without a mentor?

If you think back about how you got started in your industry, who encouraged you? Who challenged you? Who supported you… that’s your mentor.

What would you do without a mentor?

When you think ahead of where you want to go, who is already there in that space and who is willing to talk to you about career moves, your next challenge and encourage you to forge ahead… that’s your mentor.

Finding and working with a mentor is rewarding and can be life changing.

5 Coach

While a mentor takes you under their wing and doles out advice when it’s needed, a coach gives you a plan to work, a plan to implement on a consistent basis.

Without a coach, getting to the next level of leadership and mastering the most difficult of situations can feel…an impossible level to attain.

Partnering with the right coach as you develop leadership skills will save you time and effort, and potentially give you a more direct path to mastery.

Mastery in Leadership Comes from Working with a Variety of People

In order to lead people, you need to interact with your teams, and when leading people, you need to learn from peers, mentors and coaches.

In short, to lead people you need to listen to people!

How can you gain mastery of agile team coaching in the shortest amount of time?

You can gain leadership mastery by doing the work, of course.

TeamCatapult has developed a journey to masterful coaching for leaders just like you.

A Cohort Journey to Masterful Agile Team Coaching

The Coaching Agility From Within Cohort, our in-depth, 9-month program emphasizes rigorous practice and rich feedback opportunities including skill drills, peer coaching, team coaching, ongoing group work, professional one-on-one coaching, and one-on-one supervision of actual Agile coaching sessions in your own work environment.

You’ll touch on all aspects of coaching, including

skill drills
peer coaching
team coaching
ongoing group work
professional one-on-one coaching
one-on-one supervision of actual Agile coaching sessions in your own work environment

Our cohort program has two starting dates each calendar year; one in the Spring, one in the Fall.

We understand the commitment it requires to be dedicated to a 9-month leadership cohort. Questions may bubble up like, “Is this right for me. Is this the right time?” Therefore we invite you to a conversation about our cohort, whether you are ready to join now, this Fall, or in the next year or two!

The Best Ways to Facilitate Collaborative Conversation With Your Team

How does your team communicate?

How does their conversation flow?

How effective is your leadership in facilitating the conversation?

In this article, we will explore the previously recorded conversation between facilitators and coaching experts who lead their teams to collaborative conversations, followed by a series of questions and answers that flowed from that conversation.

The Art & Science of Facilitation: The Book Tour

During the months of January and February 2021, TeamCatapult hosted a 5-part series Virtual Book Tour to celebrate the publishing of The Art & Science of Facilitation.

We invited industry leaders, agile coaches, expert facilitators and TeamCatapult faculty to have conversations about facilitation.

One of the Virtual Book Tour stops happened on January 28, 2021 with guests Ahmed Sidky, Deborah Grayson Riegel, Lyssa Adkins & Tricia Broderick.

The title for that conversation was Leadership is a conversation: “The Importance of Facilitating Collaborative Conversations.”

The replay of their conversation can be played right here!

Wasn’t that a great and insightful conversation about facilitation?

This Collaborative Conversation Sparked Questions!

While the conversation flowed between these experts and a great many topics were discussed, there were some questions that came into the chat! Our guest expert panel attempted to answer as many questions as possible, however, they were limited by time.

We’ve gathered the unanswered questions and asked the panel participants to help us answer them for you, our readers.

Conversations That Connect: What’s In A Name?

Question: There is such a huge difference between ‘conversation’ (as in making conversation) and this type of conversation, where we make actual connections and create some sort of magic… I’m looking for a good word that signifies the second type. Is conversation ‘enough’?

Answer: I call it skillful or generative (by Otto Shrumer) reenacting the same thing versus where new ideas are emerging.

Answer: I don’t have a single word. For me, I summarize this as a space where connection, trust, collaboration, and engagement produces new possibilities (i.e. magic).

How To Have a Conversation About Bias in the Workplace

Question: Sometimes, it is not just about the color of your skin. Traditional management is autocratic. The top management does not even want to hear the insights coming from subordinates. As a subordinate, how will you handle this?

Answer: There are many factors that can create bias in the workplace. In addition, there are many legacy “best practices” that impede high performing teams focused on knowledge work. Personally, I try to never view anything I’m doing as “managing up”. The minute I have the mindset of this, chances are high that the results will not be favorable to anyone involved. I try to focus on being transparent and vulnerable with the leadership experiments/insights. With this approach, I’m reaching out for partners in feedback and participation with my experiments/insights.

How Should Leaders Learn to Facilitate?

Question: Traditional Leaders often experienced that they had to be strong, know it best and decide at the end. To facilitate it like you suggest Marsha, a different stance would be needed, right? How and where do you advise this should come from? Inner work maybe? Economic pressure from competitors? Joy and the will to move on, vastly…maybe breaking things?

Answer: It does take inner work and the doorway will be varied. A different perspective for people around that leader to give space to learn it. We have to give them space to grow and to change habits. Leaders will be transparent. People give leaders permission to not have the answer, which can lead to leaders allowing the folks to find the answer as well. It’s okay to say “I don’t know.”

What is the Value of Facilitation?

Question: Please share an example of an idea or story that you have found useful to introduce the value of facilitation to a skeptical decision maker.

Answer: Talk about what the leader wants to achieve. How’s it look? How to set it up? What’s the best that could possibly occur? The more we expose and look for approval, the more we invite skepticism. “Our focus today is to trust what’s happening…” Give the right to pass (let adults be adults): choice and freedom.

Answer: One time, I highlighted the various challenges the team was facing in making a decision that was collective and lasting. For example, the person who didn’t participate but vetoed later, the person who consumed most of the time talking, or the person who felt completely ignored. All of these challenges (and many more), hinder the ability to become a high performing team to deliver the best results. As this is the shared goal and people can observe the challenges, I offered to try a different approach…facilitation, to engage all the voices effectively. In this example, facilitation training was brought in quickly after.

How Can You Learn or Enhance Your Facilitation Skills?

If you are intrigued, excited or eager to get started to learn or enhance your facilitation skills, you’ve come to the perfect place!

TeamCatapult has been training facilitators for years!

Here are several upcoming opportunities for you:

Virtual Facilitation Masterclass March 18-19, 2021
Agile Team Facilitation Workshop March 22-26, 2021
Advanced Facilitation Workshop April 28-May 5, 2021

Join us for one, or all, Virtual Workshops!

These workshops are a great stepping stone to our cohort!

Learn more about our Coaching Agility from Within ‘A Cohort Journey to Masterful Agile Team Coaching’ and apply to join in May 2021.