1 - Building a Self-organizing Team

Time: Two days retreat. First day 9:00-19:00, second day 9:00-15:00.
Place: Close to Helsinki (probably)
Price: about 1000 EUR (+ALV 22%). Includes lodging.
Max 12 participants.
Inquiries

Group Dynamics?

A team/group is expected to succeed in it's principal task. And it is expected to be self-organizing, to lead itself in a responsible way, and to utilize the full potential of it's members.

It is possible, when both conscious and unconscious patterns support the principal task and the needs of the members. The complexity theory has contributed a new perspective, which is very powerful when combined with the 60 years experience of group dynamics.

There is research and ideal models fo the team development, for example "forming, storming, norming, performing." They do not necessarily help in situational leadership. This training answers the questions:

What do I do just now, in this situation?

What is going on? How could I help the team's performance? What is the question that the team is really working with now? Principal task, commitment, competition or dependency? We will also study necessary boundary conditions and well established principles of team building

Who benefits?

The training is beneficial for anyone who wishes to deepen one's skills in team building, observation and situational leadership:

• Scrum Masters and other internal coaches
• Nominal team leaders and influential specialists
• Line managers and other who implement reorganizations
• Project managers, product owners and product managers

The learnings are relevant both for the members and nominal leaders of teams. It is beneficial for the sponsors for several reasons; it helps to support the teams in a functional way. Secondly, the understanding of the team dynamics is applicable to the wider organization too. And the leadership team is a team too...

The goals, themes and ways of working

The training emphasizes robust starting of a team. This is needed in order to continue building a high performing team. The vast majority of teams struggle with this. Even mature teams repeat the starting phase frequently.

When leading a team, you apply conceptually simple models to a complex and unique reality. This training supports the skills to apply by:

• Giving knowledge about team building: common phenomena, principles, boundary conditions, checklists.
• Understanding about the development of a team, especially from the perspectives of complexity theory, group dynamics and situational leadership.
• Practicing the above mentioned tools, by reflecting own and others' experiences, analyzing one's team at work, and reflecting the training group's dynamics.

Themes:

• Orientation, getting to know
• Resistance, defense and coping
• The phases of team development, emphasizing the preconditions and forming the team. What are the questions that tend to take time and energy at different phases. What the leadership needs to do, what to beware.
• Analyzing one's team back at work: challenges and/or development plan.
• Typical questions in groups, chosen as appropriate or based on participants' interest. For example principal task, working environment, trust, dependency, competition and envy, hurting of an abandoned group, commitment, anxiety management, free riders or measuring.

The training is based on experiential learning. Theory inserts are shortish. The aim is to see the phenomena in one's own environment and experience history, and to understand their significance.

The first working day will continue until 19:00. Because the training is based on experiential learning and the reflection of the training group, it is necessary to participate to the full program.

There will be a brief telephone interview before the training. The main reason is to check that we share the same understanding of the ways of working.

You may continue the practice in the training Mature Self-organizing Seam."

Trainer

Ari Tikka has developed the content and working methods of the training since 1997 in a few long training programs. the participants have been leaders, change agents and program managers. The training is based on several traditions including psychodynamic (Tavistock), group therapy, Nonviolent Communication, compelxity theory, Lean/Agile and long experience of leadership in large organizations.

Lisätietoja www.aritikka.com