Are you a high school student, university student, or working professional? Do you have tutorials, case studies, presentations, workshops, and projects to complete in teams, either as a participant or facilitator? Do you struggle to find your place among other participants, to make yourself heard, and to contribute effectively? Do you find it difficult to lead your team without stress, and do you sense unspoken issues or underlying conflicts that are hindering the group's work? Are you unsure how to create an inspiring and motivating team dynamic?
If that's the case, then I invite you to read the rest of this article. It will give you the keys to learning how to work together and cooperate better, in an atmosphere of greater trust and goodwill, and also one that is more constructive and efficient.
1. What is a team?
First, let's define what a team actually is. According to Katzenbach and Smith, «"A team is a small number of people with complementary skills, common interests and goals, who share a way of working for which they are mutually responsible. They exchange ideas, have collective objectives, and diverse skills."»
Unlike a working group, which is «"A group for which there is no performance imperative or opportunity that would require it to become a team. Members interact primarily to share information, best practices, or visions, and to make decisions that enable each individual to perform well within their own area of responsibility."»
Understand the difference clearly: in one group we preach for our own parish, in the other we are united in order to achieve a common goal, like a basketball team for example.
2. The phases of maturity and development of a team
When you join a team, whether by choice or necessity, it can help to understand that all teams, regardless of which one—be it at school, at work, or on your football or handball team—go through different stages. And some of these stages aren't necessarily comfortable. To achieve good understanding and perform well together, we can't ignore our human nature, its needs and automatic responses, and we must go through several stages, even regressing a little to move forward. Bruce Tuckman talks about the stages of maturity of a team. He argues that All teams go through 5 stages, The duration of these stages varies depending on the context, knowledge of the concept, support provided, and the personalities of the team members. These stages are as follows:
- Forming / The constitution The team members meet. Their only common point at this stage is the shared project/objective.
- Storming / The Confrontation : After a while, the personalities of the different members clash as they get to know each other and try to find their place.
- Standardization Members get to know and accept each other better, and understand that they can establish a way of working based on their qualities and skills.
- Performing / Performance The members collaborate effectively to implement the project and achieve the common goal. They are at the peak of their performance at this stage.
- Adjourning / Dissolution This step occurs when the project has a set end date. The team is dissolved after the desired outcome has been achieved and their experience has been reviewed. The grieving process must then be managed.
Once you understand this, you can rest assured. It's perfectly normal to feel a little isolated at first, and it's completely logical to go through a period of friction with your teammates. This is precisely the proof that you're progressing together and that the situation will improve.
Does this give you a bit of perspective and help you to better accept the situation?
3. Getting to know each other better to work better together
Do you now have a clearer understanding of why and what the purpose of team cohesion is? Whether at school, in training, or in a company, all teams go through these stages. Working on cohesion helps to shorten the initial stages that can jeopardize the achievement of expected results, and therefore the team's performance in fulfilling the objectives for which it was tasked.
In my 20-year career, primarily in project and team management, I wouldn't be far off the mark if I said that in 951,000 cases, a project's failure or delay stemmed from human factors and their interactions with other team members. In coaching sessions, when I ask leaders, managers, and team members how their current project is progressing, most of them tell me: «The topic is very interesting and inspiring. But we have little time to implement it. Every time we meet, the friction between some members and the endless debates between them slow us down in making decisions, and we make little progress…».
Aren't these people stuck in the "storming" phase mentioned above?
It sounds very simple, and yet the positive outcomes are not necessarily easy to imagine: it is crucial to learn to know each other better in order to work better together and reach the optimal level of team performance!
The author of’ «"Optimize your team," Patrick Lencioni writing : «Working on team cohesion is not a waste of time at the expense of productivity: a strong and united team is more effective and efficient.».
Indeed, at the start of a project, teams often feel that spending time meeting to build team cohesion is a waste of time. This time spent will be more than compensated for later when decisions are better agreed upon and more effective. And finally, working on cohesion gives a competitive advantage over competitors because, as P. Lencioni explains: «"If you could get all the employees of a company to row in the same direction, you could dominate any industry, any market, outmaneuver any competitor, anytime."»
In conclusion, spend time together. If needed, seek help from a coach who can implement a process and tools that provide a safe and supportive environment where you feel confident and free to open up and express yourself.
There are many team psychometric tools that allow you to better understand your own functioning and that of others, such as MBTI®, DISC®, Processcom®, Comcolors® etc.
4. Lencioni's pyramid: an example of a comprehensive tool for team cohesion and performance.
There are several methods, processes, and tools, both academic and non-academic, for team building. Here, I choose to discuss... the pyramid of P. Lencioni, which, for me, is one of the most comprehensive concepts. It allows for a better cohesion between individuals, gives sense to their project, vision, values and common objectives. It also allows them to establish a frame work accepted and understood by all, and it is also a tool of regulation effective team.
Here is a video that clearly explains how it works:
What did you think of it? I'm sure some of the situations must have resonated with you!
Lencioni talks about 5 malfunctions something to consider in a team.
Let me explain the principle and its advantages:
Working on better team cohesion is a competitive advantage and differentiator Powerful compared to competitors: it's not simple, and it's not easily measurable or verifiable, but the results are significant. Getting rid of political games, confusion, internal competition, and endless debates on the same subjects allows for faster and therefore less costly action, in an atmosphere that fosters good understanding, motivation, and loyalty.
- TRUST According to P. Lencioni, the foundation of any team that aspires to perform well and achieve or exceed its objectives is trust. Members of strong teams freely allow themselves to be vulnerable with one another without restraint or fear of the repercussions on their weaknesses, mistakes, anxieties, or behaviors, and they ask for help from others. The team's energy is focused on the work to be done, not on controlling its behavior and political interactions with others. People say what they think and do not use words or actions that would allow them to manipulate others into reacting as they wish.
- CONSTRUCTIVE CONFRONTATION / CONFLICT Trust is essential for engaging in passionate dialogue about the issues and decisions concerning the project or the company. We're talking about constructive debate, where members don't hesitate to express their ideas and disagreements, questioning and challenging each other with kindness and freedom. It's not about trying to be right or personal attacks; it's about productive confrontation for the company, aimed at deciding on the best solution after considering all possibilities. Teams that don't dare to debate find themselves in a state of artificial harmony where members wear a mask, may harbor underlying tensions leading to malicious remarks, and may ignore real problems for fear of repercussions. Meetings become boring. A meeting should be as interesting as a good movie!
- THE COMMITMENT Having considered all questions and opinions allows the team to make clear decisions, accepted by everyone, even if some members disagree. The fact that everyone has been able to express themselves and be genuinely listened to and taken into account allows the team to support an important decision because nothing will have been omitted from the discussion. Absolutely seeking consensus and postponing the decision until sufficient data is collected risks missing opportunities and creating ambiguity. Indeed, failing to decide prevents clear guidelines and priorities and leaves the door open to interpretation for the entire organization. A decision is better than no decision. "If everything is important, nothing is!""
- ACCOUNTABILITY When decisions are made collectively, it's easier for team members to take ownership of the outcome and ensure it's achieved together with high performance standards. It's not about micromanaging colleagues, but about empowering each other, fostering growth, and sharing and addressing issues quickly and respectfully, autonomously, without needing the manager's intervention.
- RESULTS A team that trusts itself, engages in constructive debates, accepts decisions made, and shares responsibility for results will tend to prioritize the team's collective goals over its individual interests and personal career. "In a team sport, as in a management team, no matter how satisfied a member is with their own results, if the team loses, everyone loses, even the one who scored the most goals.""
You should now better understand why I appreciate this concept. All the phases are interdependent, and as you will have understood, it all starts with the human being.
Trust is the foundation!
To get down to specifics, I've prepared a table outlining the different actions to take for each level of the pyramid. This highlights once again the importance of team cohesion, purpose, structure, and regulation, all of which contribute to achieving results in a positive, harmonious, and high-performing environment. I hope this will be helpful to your teams!
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