The role of the instructor is crucial; it is your job to create the thread that links up the skills, experiences and processes that help form a strong and well-functioning team. However, you do this by stepping back. It is critical that the team is able to feel unified throughout the process of forming and through ownership of tasks. You tread a fine line as an instructor, too much help and you negate the effectiveness of the activities, too little and you could risk the team falling apart. The key is to lead from the back. Introduce activities, processes, concepts, and ideas as things to think about rather than something that is right or wrong. Question all the time, question the motives behind decisions, question reasoning processes, question group roles, group involvement, successes, and failures, what the group has learnt and how they can improve. This method of questioning gives you an ability to steer the group without needing to have authority over the actions of the group whilst on task. It allows them the autonomy they need and gives you a method of steering the activities to conclusions that will benefit the team or your aim for the team.
You must be prepared for fall outs, arguments and other issues along the way; do not see these as distractions from the task but as a crucial part of the process of team bonding and allow the team time in reviews and planning to work these things out. Do not stop tasks for fear of group failure, there is a lot to learn from mistakes made.
This article will investigate more of the processes of team formation and some processes that help these occur. There are several processes that it is worth mentioning here as they are useful tools. As with all areas of this book, they are not prescriptive but designed to aid the formation and running of a team. Use them as tools, adapt them and fit them to your processes. Remember that the more you step back the more they will take the lead…eventually!
Although there is a separate section for reviews it is important to mention here that the review is the most powerful tool of the instructor. It allows them to comment on good and bad practice, offer insights into the way the team functioned and to introduce new concepts or processes to help the team progress.
Reflective Observation:
Let us start with Kolb’s learning cycle, translated loosely here into Plan, Do, Review, Improve. For the purposes of group formation this theory does not need to be in more depth. This is a process that is at the heart of the team activity process. It is useful for team members to be aware of this process to inform the larger framework of teambuilding, that of forming a cohesive unit from a group of individuals.
Another useful process that all teams go through and one that it is essential to understand is the concept of forming, storming, norming, performing (this has been adapted from the Tuckman model as in previous articles to swap the ‘storming’ and ‘norming’ phases around). It is worth going through each of these elements in turn so that the process is clearly understood.
Forming:
This is the process a team goes through when they first meet. It is the finding of common ground amongst the group members at a social level. Group members hide important parts of themselves and interact at a shallow level. This is natural and all of us do it. It is a protection mechanism and one that will only go with time. Do not expect this to happen overnight, a lot of people will need several weeks to get past this stage.
Storming:
This stage comes about when a team starts trying to function in a high-performance manner but is not equipped to do this as the interactions between members have been only superficial. This causes conflict, usually all members blame each other or the task for the failures encountered. At this stage it is important as an instructor to mediate and let all parties have their say. This will allow all team members to hear and speak more honestly and let each other know the true boundaries each team member has. This allows the group to move forward and function more smoothly. It is a key stage and one that can be hard work but worth doing in order to have a functioning team at the end.
Norming:
This is the point where the team start to work out new boundaries and new values for the group and each other, it is when they start to think in terms of team and task as well as individual. This is a stage that can still be hard work, but the team is more productive meaning that there is confidence in the group ability to succeed. At this stage there should be a good degree of honesty within the group and the beginnings of an understanding of the potential of the group.
Performing:
This is the stage where the team fully understand their potential. They collectively are aware of the skill sets of individuals and can delegate tasks accordingly. They listen to each other with respect and can receive honest criticism from other team members. They are starting to communicate effectively and are beginning to think inventively and creatively about problems they are presented with. They can ask for each other’s advice; they can all take on leadership roles within the group and will recognise each other’s ideas as serious concepts to be discussed. There will be no members feeling too shy or scared to speak up and no members of the team who dominate. There will be a true interdependence within the team.
This is a process of group formation along two axis; the tasks and the relationships of the group. The progress through the process shows the progression both of group formation and also the effectiveness of the group in completing tasks. It is important that the process is allowed to take place, even though there are points when it feels like you are going backwards. Have patience with this process and let the teamwork through it at their own pace. It is an area of group formation that cannot be rushed and will have a hugely positive impact when completed.
Another useful process to be aware of is the levels of competency and their impact on group formation. This is a concept seen in neurolinguistic programming and adapted here for the purposes of teambuilding. The concept is in four parts which are split like this;
Unconscious unconsciousness
Conscious unconsciousness
Conscious consciousness
Unconscious consciousness
Essentially this process looks at the way skills are learnt. How do you, for example, learn to walk? Firstly, you would look at the world around you and have no concept of what walking is. All movement is alien to you and you would have no idea how it was accomplished. This is the unconscious unconsciousness stage.
Gradually you would become aware of distinct movements, you would gain a concept of the differences between movements, different speeds, different points of contact with the ground, the variety of movement there is in the world. You would still not have any idea how to move in any of these distinct ways, the processes are still alien to you, beyond your current comprehension. You would realise that movement was possible to accomplish but not how to do it. This is the conscious unconsciousness, the knowledge of how little you know.
Next would come the first stages of walking, you would practice the motor skills necessary; you would sit up, crawl and eventually walk on your own. You would be shaky on your legs; you would trip often and be un co-ordinated in your movements. This is the conscious consciousness stage, you would know how to move, how to walk but you would need to think consciously about every step.
Lastly you would get to the stage where you could walk easily, trip rarely and never need to think about the process. You would have mastered the skill of walking and would not need to be conscious of your motor control. This is unconscious consciousness, the point where the skill is ingrained to the point where you no longer need to think about the processes.
This process in these four stages can be seen in many things we do on a daily basis, things like driving a car, or riding a bike. It is the same for the skills of teamwork and co-operation. The activities in the second part of this book are designed to help teams reach this level of skill as a group; the point where teams can effortlessly take on challenges in a variety of contexts with the knowledge that as a team, they are competent and skilful enough to complete the task.
The next main concept that is hugely important for teambuilding and problem solving is the idea of neuroplasticity. This is referring to the ability of the human brain to change as a result of one’s experience. Key to this is the concept of the framework; it is important to frame the experience of the activity in order to learn the most from each new experience you have. This is not a concept that needs to be explicit or explained to the team, but it is useful for you as an instructor to know the cortical effects of the activities on group members.
There are some more general processes as an instructor that will be of use when delivering sessions; I will list them here in bullet point form. Consider them pointers or tips in order to help you to get the most out of the teams you work with.
- Explanations of tasks are critical. Don’t give too much away but don’t make it confusing either. Remember that the process of working out what is and isn’t allowed by the rules is valuable in itself. Make instructions explicit and if students think their way around the problem praise them and rerun the task with more explicit instructions.
- Make processes implicit at reviews and you will start to move good reviews and good habits for team formation further up the scale towards the unconscious consciousness.
- Always make the outcome in reviews about the processes involved and the skills learnt not about success or failure.
- It is important to complete reviews even if they are difficult. They will get easier and team members will get used to the process, eventually running them themselves without the need for you to prompt them apart from when making key points.
- Ensure team members have a sense of personal responsibility by holding them accountable in front of the team. Do this through observation of critical events and through questioning; do not accuse or offer solutions as this removes responsibility and ownership of the problem.
Note: If you are interested in learning more about team building my book will give you a much deeper insight and lots of practical examples and activities as well.
Shevek Pring 