Teams are interesting creatures. I say ‘creatures’ because once a team is formed, it becomes its own entity, living and breathing as a distinct animal. And like any animal, teams must be nurtured from birth, they will mature and then they’ll die.
As leaders it’s important to note that as unique as we feel our teams are, their existence is always built from a predictable pattern of general behaviour. Each team is created, lives and dies in the same pattern; the same cycle.
This cycle is controllable however - good leaders will be able to mold it to maximize output and accomplish the goals that the team exists to achieve. (Importantly, “team survival” should never be one of those!) Poor leaders fall victim to it, and end up struggling to react.
The Cycle, Explained
The Team Lifecycle is a simple yet often overlooked reality. All teams, in every endeavor follow this exact same pattern:
Building - Bringing a team together, where members are still feeling each other out, and trying to merge their own personal style and habits with those of others. At this point, the team is very much a collection of individuals, and will remain so - effectively - until a leader guides them. The larger the team, the longer the building stage takes to complete.
Performance - Once built, the team achieves peak performance and produces high quality output. The team comes into its own, acting in unison. Team members start to anticipate each other’s actions and take pride in the fact that they are simply a part of something bigger than themselves. Leaders start to find that they can become more strategic than tactical, and focus more on the “bigger picture”.
Conversion - Conversion can occur instantly or over several weeks; from within or as a result of an external process. In certain, task oriented teams, it is an anticipated event. More often though, conversion catches leaders off guard. It’s this state that is the most taxing on leaders and teams alike, and the only certainty is that it occurs. The team will adapt, though sometimes through complete destruction. Conversion requires constant management and tough choices.
Nurture and Release - Molding Yourself to Your Team’s Cyclic Point
Ideally, a leader wants to live as long as possible in the performance stage. Each stage in the cycle is self sustaining, meaning that the longer you allow a team to spend in it, the harder it will be to break into the next stage.
It’s important to embrace each cyclic point however. Building a team takes time, and if it isn’t done correctly there can be lingering animosity that will undermine the team and cause unintended - and undesired - conversion events. At the building stage, the team as an entity is weak and relies on its leader for direction, purpose and support. At the same time, it needs to grow from within, each member establishing a natural hierarchy that will serve it in the next phase. Too much leading, and the team will be lost without you, too little, and the connections within the team will not form correctly.
Just as important is the leader’s ability to recognize and switch styles as the team begins to gel. You’ve been encouraging and developing your team - let them perform! With a team at peak performance, the leader’s job is to keep them there by properly distributing work, making decisions and generally staying out of the way.
Keeping out of the day-to-day events is the only way you’ll be able to start thinking strategically about situations. It’s up to the leader to anticipate the inevitable conversion stage.
Forecasting and Directing Conversion
Although all teams must go through a conversion event at some point, if it’s handled well it doesn’t need to be completely destructive. By definition, conversion will mean change, and the team will not be the same as it was prior. Remember, it’s a cycle. After every conversion, there will be a rebuilding process. If as a leader, you’re capable of recognizing - even anticipating - conversion events, you’ll be able to direct the outcomes and strengthen the team.
Take a look at the following sketches:
These graphs are overly simplistic, but they illustrate the principle properly. By recognizing and anticipating conversion events, the leader can cascade a successive series of changes into a positive direction for the team and it’s members. On the contrary, a leader that does not make himself aware of the natural cycle can at best find himself reacting to cascading negative events, and at worst, making decisions that serve to amplify them.
You can’t deny change, it’s going to happen and it’s going to cause your team to move into the conversion point of the cycle. How you handle it is what will make the difference.
Common Traps and Pitfalls
Many active leaders fail to grasp the natural cycle of the team. Others recognize stage transitions and attempt to stop them. Others still have problems conferring the right style for the applicable stage. Specifically, here are some of the main traps and pitfalls that can befall an ignorant leader:
- Seeing a natural stage adjustment as avoidable/undesirable
- Denying the state that the team is in
- Under managing during the building stage
- Keeping the team in the building stage too long
- Over managing during the performance stage
- Attempting to stop a conversion event (e.g. not allowing an earned promotion)
- Amplifying destructive conversion by failing to anticipate
- Not recovering using constructive conversion techniques
- Seeing conversion events as end points
The Leader is Key
As always, your ability as a leader will determine your ability to navigate the team life cycle. As a new leader, you should focus on building a team for high performance. As your team develops confidence, extend responsibility and allow team members to begin solving their own problems, while you keep your eye out for conversion events. You’ll probably find yourself reacting to the first one.
Understanding the cycle will put you ahead of most and get you back into the rebuilding mode. Go with the flow, accept the inevitability of the cycle and your choices will become much clearer.
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