{"id":285,"date":"2020-01-16T15:32:01","date_gmt":"2020-01-16T22:32:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/leeackerman\/?p=285"},"modified":"2020-01-25T09:25:45","modified_gmt":"2020-01-25T16:25:45","slug":"teams-ftw","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/leeackerman\/2020\/01\/16\/teams-ftw\/","title":{"rendered":"Teams FTW!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today\u2019s world moves so fast and is so complicated that we need to look beyond just the individual. Building good teams is a critical digital success factor. But, how can we build a \u201cgood<\/em>\u201d team? How do we learn to operate as a team? How do teams succeed in flatter organizations that focus on empowering the individual? There\u2019s more to success than just asking a group of people to work together.<\/p>\n

In Team-Based Analytics for Informal Learning (TAIL)<\/a>, I focused on social learning analytics, team competencies, team models (Agile \/ Scrum \/ Spotify), team maturity models (Tuckman), tooling (Slack \/ MS Teams, Github, Jenkins) and measures of success. The teamwork competencies are sourced from work by Vivian, Falkner, Falkner, & Tarmazdi (2016) and include: Team Orientation<\/strong>, Team Leadership<\/strong>, Communication<\/strong>, Monitoring<\/strong>, Feedback<\/strong>, Backup Behavior<\/strong> and Coordination<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

With this background in mind, I was excited to see that Microsoft has partnered with IDEO to introduce a new guide titled \u201cThe Art of Teamwork.\u201d To go along with the guide<\/a> itself, they\u2019ve also created a Guided Tour<\/a> (which includes exercises, facilitator guidance and thought starters).<\/p>\n

The guide opens with: \u201cThe secret behind successful teamwork lies in the ability to intentionally nurture and maintain healthy team dynamics.\u201d This is a great place to start \u2013 great teams don\u2019t happen by accident. There needs to be thoughtfulness, intent, and maintenance \u2013 to get value from teams, we need to invest. The core elements of the framework are: Team Purpose<\/strong>, Collective Identity<\/strong>, Awareness and Inclusion<\/strong>, Trust and Vulnerability<\/strong>, and Constructive Tension<\/strong>. These elements are then situated within the larger context of organizational culture and processes.<\/p>\n

The guide is well written, has some stories to support concepts, and is thoughtful about how to support adoption of the framework. I\u2019m looking forward to exploring and experimenting with the guide. I\u2019d also like to hear your thoughts on the toolkit and developing great teams:<\/p>\n