Managing Complex Teams

1. Managing Complex Teams Samantha Thomas MA Alison Krompf MA Montpelier, Vermont August 19th 2011

2. Agenda • Successful Teams • Family Voice • Facilitating Team Meetings • Decision Making • Constructive Feedback • Conflict • Taking Care of Yourself

3. Team work

4. Qualities of Successful Teams • Clearly defined team goals • Clearly defined roles • Clear communication • Well defined decision procedures • Balanced participation • Established ground rules • Understanding of the group process • Appropriate people with necessary knowledge/resources are at the table

5. Qualities of Successful Teams cont. • Diversity of opinions and ideas is encouraged • Respect, open-mindedness, and collaboration • Conflicts and differences of opinion are considered opportunities to explore new ideas; the emphasis is on finding common ground • Decisions are made by consensus and have the acceptance and support of members • People feel empowered • Cleary identified plan to move forward

6. Beneficial Team Behaviors • Initiate discussions • Seek info and opinions • Suggest procedures for reaching a goal • Clarify or elaborate on ideas • Summarize • Test for agreement • Keep discussion from digressing • Be creative in resolving differences • Try to ease tension in the group and work through difficult matters.

7. Family Voice • Families need to feel and be heard • Offer families to speak first, or check in regularly • Honor their knowledge of their child

8. Team Meeting Facilitation • “A skilled facilitator has the ability to ask just the right questions to open discussion and keep the team moving” • – Deborah Harrington-Mackin

9. Facilitation Skills • Set an agenda and end time • Encourage communication and involvement from all team members • Ask team members for opinions and feelings to encourage discussion • Paraphrase what someone has said to increase understanding and move discussion along • Ask for specific examples to improve understanding • Clarify assumptions • Ask for explanation in order to eliminate confusion and repetition

10. Facilitation Skills cont. • Probe an idea in greater depth • Suggest a break or rest • Move the team toward action • Poll members • Encourage open-mindedness • Recommend a process • Stop discussion to focus on team feelings • Reflect for the team what someone else is feeling

11. Facilitation Skills cont. • Surface differences of opinion • Get back on track • Check for team progress • Explore potential results • Test for consensus of the team • Handle consensus blockers • Move toward decision

12. Effective Discussions • Open the discussion • Listen • Ask for clarification • Manage participation • Summarize • Manage time • Contain digressions • Test for agreement • Close the discussion

13. Effective Decisions • Understand the context of the decision:clarify the decision to be made, know when the decision needs to be made by, learn how the decision will affect future plans, gather relevant info about past decisions. • Determine who should be involved:who is ultimately responsible for the results of the decision? Who is critically affected, both now and in the future? Who has vital information? • Decide how to decide:consensus, voting, assigning decision to a subgroup or one person.

14. Consensus It is a search for the best decision through the exploration of the best of everyone’s thinking. Not a compromise. • Does not mean: a unanimous vote, everyone getting everything they want, everyone finally coming around to the “right” opinion. • Does mean: everyone understands the decision and can explain why it is best, everyone can live with the decision • Requires: time, active participation of all team members, skills in communication, listening, conflict resolution and facilitation, creative thinking and open mindedness.

15. Tips for successful consensus • Listen carefully • Encourage all members to participate fully • Seek out differences of opinion • Search for alternatives that meet the goals of all members • Avoid changing your mind only to avoid conflict • Don’t just argue for your point of view • Check understanding

16. Small group Activity • Mock Team Meeting

17. Constructive Feedback Give feedback in a productive way that addresses the issue without demoralizing the person. • Understand the context • Give both positive and negative feedback • Ensure the timing is right • Be thoughtful of how to give feedback

19. When to give feedback Is the moment right? Inappropriate times for feedback are when: • The reason is “gotcha you’re wrong” • The feedback is about something the person has no power to change • Your or their emotions are running high • Too many people around • Not enough time to discuss

20. How to give feedback • Be descriptive • Don’t use labels • Don’t be judgmental • Speak for yourself • Use “I” statements • Phrase the issue as a statement, not a question • Restrict your feedback to things you know for certain

21. Receiving Feedback

22. How To Receive Feedback • Breathe • Listen carefully -Listen to hear, not to prepare your response -Listen harder when you disagree • Ask questions for clarity • Acknowledge feedback • Acknowledge valid points • Take time to sort out what you heard

23. Conflict “Whenever you're in conflict with someone, there is one factor that can make the difference between damaging your relationship and deepening it. That factor is attitude.” –William James

24. Conflict can be good • A source of energy and new ideas • Allows for differences in thinking to create breakthrough ideas • Challenges members to be clear and create understanding • Can add depth to discussion

25. Common responses to conflict • Avoiding – Belief that avoiding is better than to face • Smoothing over –belief that conflict will destroy vs. strengthen a relationship • Forcing –one person forces someone else to take their viewpoint • Compromising –lose/lose, everyone gives up a little because no one’s goal can be achieved, no ideal but sometimes is the best • Problem solving through the conflict –win/win, path forward that meets everyone’s goals and preserves group relationships

26. ABC’s of conflict intervention Agree Most conflicts consist of 5-10 percent of facts that people disagree on. Start with the area of agreement. If you agree say so and move on. Build If you agree with what has been said but the information is incomplete, build. Point out areas of agreement and then add elements that were left out of the discussion. Compare When you do differ significantly don’t suggest others are wrong. Compare your two views. Agree when you agree. Build when others leave out key pieces. Compare when you differ.

27. Key behaviors required for conflict resolution • Willingness to listen and to focus on the problem, rather than the person • Willingness to define the problem –be specific, avoid generalizations or vague statements • Willingness to allow some anger and hostility to surface during the discussion • Willingness to commit to decisions – focus on problem solving and future development, not past • Willingness to accept that one might be part of the problem • Willingness to try to change behavior

28. Return to Small Groups • Define a conflict that occurred during your small group scenario discussion and identify the ABC’s of that conflict. • How would you label your group’s response to conflict, in terms of the common responses? (Avoiding, Smoothing over, etc..) • How would you evaluate the feedback given in your original discussion? How was feedback received by group members? Identify areas for improvement.

29. Taking Care of Yourself “Burnout occurs when lofty idealism hits the harsh and brutal road of realism.” –Heath & Lyman.

30. Personal Characteristics That Make One Susceptible to Burn Out: • Hold high ideals about making a difference • Expect perfection of themselves • Focus on details rather than the big picture • Need and demand order and control • Rigid/inflexible • Difficulty setting appropriate boundaries in relationships • Overly sensitive to criticism • Overly desirous of pleasing others

31. Preventing Burnout • Realistically evaluate your strengths and weakness • Know your limitations • Know your triggers for stress • Listen to your body • Share and delegate responsibilities to coworkers

32. Preventing Burnout cont… • Maintain appropriate boundaries • Know when to say “no.” • Keep a healthy distance yourself from student issues • Guard your family time and weekends • Develop support networks • Take time for stress-reducing activities: exercise, hobbies, vacations, laughter

33. References • Scholtes, P.R., Joiner, B.L. & Streibel, B.J. (1996). The Team Handbook 2nd Edition. Oriel Inc. • Heath, M.A., Sheen, D. (2005). School-Based Crisis Intervention, Preparing All Personnel to Assist. The Guilford Press, New York. • Harrington-Mackin, D. (1994). The Team Building Toolkit. New Directions Management Services, Inc. • Quick, T. (1992). Successful Team Building. American Management Association, New York.