By Ellen Barnes, Director

A team is an organization of individuals who cooperate for certain common ends, who share many common ideas and patterns of behavior, who have confidence and a degree of affection for each other, and who are aware of their similarities and bonds. Individuals on a team engage on a continuous process of acting, reacting and adapting to each other. The behavior of one person influences the others and emotional attachments are made. They perceive themselves as being part of a group. They develop a memory of past experiences together. They have the capacity to support each other as well as solve problems together. A team can achieve goals well beyond the capacity of a single individual.

What Makes an Effective Team?

• An Awareness of Member Styles
• Commitment to a Shared Philosophy
• Respect for All Members and Trust
• An On-going Forum for Communication and Problem-solving
• Clarification of Roles and Responsibilities
• A Balance of Focus on Tasks and Relationships

Assumptions

We act in line with our self-image, based on our childhood but modified by life experiences and the interpretations we attach to those experiences. For instance, we grow up with assumptions about order/messiness, making mistakes/being perfect, how we respond to authority/need to be in control, seeking the approval of others/ being liked. Our self-image is built and altered over time. We have an impact on each other.

• We need to create an environment of acceptance and support where positive self-esteem can develop.
• We need to lead team members to be self-aware, through opportunities for regular self-reflection.
• We have the possibility of intentionally structuring supportive nurturing climates for adults and children in our teams and in the school as a whole.
• Teams that function well are like dancers, trying to find a mutual rhythm in their lives together.
• Teams that function well are like a family, where each person is loved for who he/she is, where we look for the best in each person at the moment, and we want to be better and learn from our mistakes.
• A fundamental belief is that every human being has value; this cannot be “taught” but it can be “caught” from those who live along side of us.

“What matters is how we live this life with those around us,
that we treat others as we hope to be treated ourselves.” -Fred Rogers

Team Development

All groups have stages of development. We can expect and support our teams through these stages.

FORMING
*Getting oriented to its tasks
*Excitement and anxiety
*Get to know each other’s skills and style, look for individuals of similar background and experience
*Focus on inclusion
*Often dependent on authority figure

STORMING
*Negotiation of differentiated roles and division of labor
*Attempts to create order, establish operating rules, a decision-making process
*Push the limits to sort out power relationships, authority and status
*Inter-member connections and side-taking may occur (subgroups)
*Often a counter-dependent relationship with perceived authority
*Emotional response to task demands

NORMING
*Redefinition of expectations and group goals
*Renewed sense of shared purpose; values are systematized
*Implicit or explicit agreement about interpersonal behaviors
*Cohesive group process focuses task-directed energy
*Team is in interdependent relationship with each other
*An unspoken “teamness” emerges

PERFORMING
*Roles are flexible and functional
*Strategies in place to resolve conflicts and mobilize resources
*Affection for each other
*Tasks are completed and shared
*Focus on growth, insight and collaboration
*Strong positive identity as a group

TRANSFORMING
*Group members feel great cohesion
*Define efforts as success or failure
*When members leave there is great sadness/sense of loss
*Group is helped by thinking about the transference of their skills to a new group/role

Signs of Difficulty on a Team

You know it’s time to assess your relationships when:
• Team members aren’t happy coming to work
• Team members rarely acknowledge one another
• Words are mismatched with speaking tone and mannerisms
• Tension is evident among the group
• Team members cave in to others’ opinions rather than dialogue
• There’s a focus on blaming a person rather than solving a problem

You know it’s time to rethink your team process when:
• Attendance is falling off at meetings/ people are coming late
• Meetings seem too long and unproductive; there’s no agreed-upon agenda
• People are coming to work and to meetings unprepared
• A number of team members are silent and not participating
• Diverse ideas are not “bubbling up”
• Decisions are not being made
• Decisions are made by default; silence is interpreted as agreement
• One team member makes a decision despite lack of agreement
• Decisions made are not followed up
• All members are not sharing the work

Our Task

Our goal is to build a community within our team…a community with a shared philosophy, a web of diverse relationships, interdependence, and a context for the emergence of unpredictable potential. This begins by understanding ourselves, understanding others, and creating an environment of trust and shared participation.
• Understanding Ourselves. Clarifying our values and assumptions, realizing how our early experiences have formed our world-view, how our past shapes our present, be aware of our own impact on others. Practice and model self-reflection and accept feedback graciously.
• Understanding Others. Understand the perspective of the other person, rather than evaluating it from our own; be an “active listener”. Create a trusting atmosphere of safety and confidentiality. Check in frequently about how everyone is doing and offer help and support regarding work and personal issues.
• Creating an Environment of Trust, where everyone feels comfortable to participate, the diverse opinions of others are considered, ideas of all are valued and appreciated, capabilities of each group member are recognized, where it is safe to speak openly. Acknowledge each person’s strengths and contributions, give recognition and positive feedback. Create a climate where adult learning is valued and “mistakes” are seen as opportunities for growth. Use humor to create a connection and relieve tension.
• Creating an Environment of Shared Participation. We are motivated when we feel our work is important, valuable, worthwhile; when we see the impact on children’s lives; when we have control and responsibility; when we work on tasks together; when we get regular feedback about the results of our efforts. Together create a shared vision for the team and clear expectations of roles. Develop a process for effective team meetings and a consensus (“win-win”) approach to decision-making. When needed, seek support to facilitate positive team functioning. We strengthen the we by strengthening the me.

How Are You Seen?

“Change not the mass but change the fabric of your own soul and your own vision, and you change all.” ----Vachel Lindsay

Strategies for Building Community

• Check in with other regularly about how things are going
• Have “round robin” contributions to meetings so everyone is heard from
• Divide responsibilities in pairs so that planning and implementing projects is shared
• Share “the best things that happened this week” at meetings
• Compliment each other
• Celebrate successes
• Share food
• Keep everyone informed
• Leave notes with observations and feedback
• Use the hobbies and passionate interests of staff as part of the curriculum
• Have each person teach something/share something with the team
• Do informal research together (observe a child, literature search)
• Create collective traditions so that each person feels a part of a group identity
• Acknowledge/celebrate personal milestones: birthdays, school achievements, house purchase, baby, etc.
• Plan potluck gatherings
• Attend inservices, workshops, community events together
• Initiate/join in school social events, like movies, rafting, home parties, etc.

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