John
A first principle--different people participate differently, whether on
formal or informal teams. The first step is to understand this, and make
this clear, to all team members. You won't be able turn the lions in
lambs, or vice versa. Nor will you want to. A second principle is that
all forms of participation are valuable. The person who seems to be
impassively taking notes may be thinking 3-4 steps ahead of the person who
is brilliantly articulating the issues raised by the group over the past
2-3 hours. A third principle. Great teams (and/or great organisations)
have processes for integrating the contributions of all types of
participants. If you are sports minded, think of the Boston Celtics of
the 50s and 60s. If you are military minded, think of the varying and
valuable contributions of Marshall, Eisenhower, Montgomery and Patton in
the European Theater of the Second World War. If you are arts minded, be
thankful for the fact that our appreciation of the human expression is
enriched by Pollock, Picasso, Cimabue and Vermeer; Brahms, Pachelbel, Ives
and Dylan; Yeats, Austen, Swift and Neruda, etc. And these are only
examples from the Western European traditions--expand your horizons to
India, China, Africa, etc. and the possibilities become geometrically
greater. A fourth principle. Great teams have participants who
understand the third principle. On great teams, the lions will lie down
with the lambs. The fifth principle is that on most teams some team
members are not participants. They may be lions without claws, or lambs
without a cooperative instinct, or whatever. They should be strongly
encourage to participate, but if they cannot or will not, they should not
be kept on the team.
So, what do you do?
1. Make sure that everybody on the team is a participant.
2.. Either weed out or try to change the behavior of those who are not
(don't spend ages on this latter tactic).
3. Find ways to encourage the "lambs" to be more actively involved
4. Find ways to get the "lions" to appreciate the value of the lambs.
5. Get back to business
How do you do it?
No easy answer. In my experience of similar situations, the lambs will be
as contemptuous of the lions ("bullshitters," "wastes of space,"
"political animals," "boors") as the lions will be of the lambs ("wimps,"
"wastes of space," "bureaucrats," "wonks"). Meet everyone on the team
individuallly. Share your thoughts and concerns--in complete openness.
Confront the stereotypes. Identify the depth and breadth of their ability
and willingness to constructively participate. Then, drop the "no-hopers"
from the team. Coach the "some-hopers" on the need to constructively
participate. Get the re-constituted team back together. Talk your
problems out over a day or two, outside of the office, no holds barred.
Agree on common values, common goals and a high-level strategy to get
there. Do it.
Good luck
Richard Goodale
Manging Partner
The Dornoch Partnership
Participants in the Progress of Change
> Our company has been developing cross functional teams on the Innovation
> Associates model. As a coach for one of the teams, I am struggling with
> how to encourage greater participation from the less verbal, less skilled,
> less forceful members of the team. There is a small group that dominates
> team meetings. They have become self-congratulatory while a majority of
> the team has tuned them out. I'd like a way to intervene that tempers the
> lions without removing their claws. Any suggestions?
>
> JOHNH <JOHNH@rmfmsmgw.harvard.edu>
--"Richard GOODALE" <fc45@dial.pipex.com>
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>