Thanks to the results of the field study that helped to shape Extraordinary Groups (Jossey-Bass, 2009), I now know that groups need Just-Enough Structure—and that this quality varies from group to group. Depending on that group’s purpose and depending on the members of that group.

Just-Enough Structure is the third of eight indicators of extraordinary groups (see March 4 and March 8 posts for the first two).  It is the just-right balance between boundaries and freedom. Enough structure to define the territory, focus members, and help them feel grounded in their participation. And then lots of room for creativity, breakthrough thinking, spontaneity, and passionate expression. In essence, members develop only the plans, systems, roles and agreements necessary to help them move forward—but not so much as to become bureaucratic or burdensome. Specifically, these elements of structure …

• Support the achievement of the group’s purpose, outcomes, and any larger organizational expectations
• Enhance the ability of members to be collaborative, flexible, creative, and adaptive
• Create an environment that is both respectful and tolerant of a wide range of strongly-felt opinions and positions

To help you recognize Just-Enough Structure when you see it, here are some questions that can guide your group observations.

To what degree do group structures (plans, systems, roles, and agreements)…

• Create a clear focus so that group members understand the work of the group and their basic responsibilities as a group member?
• Encourage collaboration and creative thinking?
• Help members be adaptive to changes in their environment?
• Fit with both the group’s purpose but also the values and style of group members?
• Encourage passionate expression, spontaneity, and good humor?

How frequently do group members…

• Use unique interests and potential of members as a way to determine how their work will be organized?
• Shift roles as necessary to move the work forward?
• Change plans or strategies to best serve their purpose?
• Say things such as “I love the way we work together” or “These meetings are great—I’ve never gotten so much done and laughed so much before!”

One of the particular challenges of Just-Enough Structure for any group leader or facilitator is the need to lighten up on issues of control. For what it’s worth, here are some shifts I’ve made in order to encourage Just-Enough Structure. When I’m facilitating or leading a group, I…

• Focus on outcomes and pay less attention to the timing or sequence of my agenda.
• Have fewer items on any agenda to make sure there is enough time for in-depth discussion and the wandering-around conversations that are so important for creative thinking.
• Am much more tolerant than I used to be of behavior and expressions that are spontaneous, appear to be off-point, or seem insensitive to me—as long as the group members stay attentive and engaged and are headed toward our agreed upon outcomes. I constantly monitor my own judgmental streak around political correctness.

For further thought…What might you do as a group leader or facilitator to open up more space in your meetings for spontaneity and passionate expression? Of all the elements of structure, which are the vital-few elements that must be present for a focused and respectful group environment? How do you behave in a group you lead when it feels “like things are getting out of control?” Are there other strategies you could employ that would raise the issue of focus and member respect without sacrificing the room for creativity and true collaboration?
 

Shared Leadership is the second of eight indicators of extraordinary groups. (See my March 4th post for thoughts about Compelling Purpose and the beginning of this series of posts.) When leadership is shared members lead the group together, taking mutual responsibility for outcomes and the way in which the group works. This is usually the case if the group is self-organizing.

But it can also true if the group has a designated leader. In this case, the team leader leads in a way that assures that the group is led, rather than being the one constant leader. In essence, the appointed leader performs certain important leadership functions, but only ones that cannot be done effectively by others in the group. (For more on this, see Chapter 9 of Extraordinary Groups.) By taking a minimalist approach, such a leader creates room for others to step in and lead as well.  This sharing of leadership is a powerful catalyst for building a sense of shared accountability for the group's work among all members.

Below you’ll find examples of Shared Leadership, what it looks like when it’s flourishing in a group. Think about any of your groups. As you review this list, do you see items that are familiar? How do you, as a member, step in to share in fulfilling leadership roles? In groups that you lead, what do you do to encourage others to also take accountability for leading? Do any of your groups exemplify these behaviors?

Members share in leading a group when they:

• Volunteer to lead projects, based upon their expertise, interest, or available time
• Volunteer to research an issue or bring a draft proposal to the group in order to advance the group’s work
• Offer content expertise related to the group’s purpose, serving as a guide or thought-leader to help other members learn more about critical subject matter
• Take responsibility for facilitating group meetings or preparing the notes with decisions and next steps
• Encourage others to take a leadership role and support them when they do
• Get a meeting started when the leader or facilitator does not show up or is late
• Ask critical questions to focus a discussion
• Attend to effective group process: summarize conversation points related to a particular decision; suggest next steps; make sure that all members have been heard from when reaching a decision; model effective communication and deep listening, especially when differences arise
• When group conversation or becomes tangential or divisive, invite the group to talk about the dynamics in order to encourage group learning and refocus the meeting
• Propose shared leadership to the group, leading a discussion about who might do what to share the responsibility; once underway, encourage the group to reflect, at some point, about what has been learned and how members might become even more effective together

For further thought: What do you see as the benefits of Shared Leadership? When have you experienced in your group-life? What can you do to encourage it at work, in your community life, or at home?
 

Today, I’d like to begin a series of blog posts that will make our lens metaphor much more concrete. Over the next few weeks, I’ll share lists of behavioral statements, tied to the eight indicators of extraordinary groups, that you can use to scan and better understand the groups you lead, facilitate, or participate in as a member. 

By way of background, one of the reasons why I’ve not blogged since early January is that I’ve been quite occupied with the development of what will become a reliable and valid survey tool based on our extraordinary group concepts. I have the good fortune to be working with Kevin Coray of Coray Gurnitz Consulting and Keiko Ozeki who is enrolled in both a Master’s and Doctoral program at Seattle University. The three of us have been working diligently (and, by the way, as a virtual team) to identify behavioral statements that would demonstrate elements of an extraordinary group. We’re close to producing our first draft, which we will start testing in late March. If you are interested in learning more about this project, please send a note and I’ll get back to you with more information. 

Here we go. For each of the items on this list, use either one of these question sets as a frame for your lens:

• On a scale of 1-5, with 5 being very frequently, how often do you observe members of your group behaving in this way? OR
• Which of these behaviors represent strengths of your group? Which ones, if paid more attention to, would greatly enhance your group’s ability to be high performing?

Compelling Purpose is the first on our list of indicators of exceptional groups.  It is an inspiring and shared understanding of why group members come together.  In an extraordinary group, you’ll know that the group’s Compelling Purpose is alive and well when members frequently behave in these ways. Members…

• Talk about the importance of their common purpose and why it is personally meaningful
• Regularly remind themselves of their purpose when making decisions, focusing agendas, or developing plans 
• Set aside personal preferences in order help the group move ahead with its work
• Do what’s necessary to help the group be successful, even when that is outside a person’s normal role
• Come to meetings prepared, on time, and stay til the end
• Do what they say they will do because they are inspired by the group’s purpose
• Let each other know when they cannot meet deadlines for commitments
• Take action that supports the work of others in the group when they need help
• Change their opinions because of something said by another member
• Express appreciation for what the group is accomplishing

For further thought:  What other behaviors could you add to this list, that would be signs that one of your groups was truly outstanding? What themes do you see in this list?  What could you do or say in your role as a group member, leader, or facilitator to encourage any of these behaviors?
 

Given the recent publication of Extraordinary Groups (Jossey-Bass, 2009), I personally found it difficult not to pay attention to what went on in the holiday groupings that unfolded for me. With no task to accomplish—except to gather at the close of 2009—I watched what happened in various groups of friends, family, and close colleagues. I couldn’t help but observe how conversations evolved, and the feelings that I had as a result of such lunches, dinner parties, phone calls, cups of coffee, or chance encounters. While I enjoyed them all, some were clearly more fulfilling than others. What was it that enabled certain events to have a quality of special closeness or a strong sense of community?

These reflections led me back to the subject of Meaning that I referenced in my December 21st post about the importance of meaning in workplace groups. Meaning is equally important when it comes to the groups in our personal lives.  When I thought about my holiday events, I saw three types of conversations, each with a different level of meaning.

I wonder how you might describe some of your holiday groups. In which settings did you find particular meaning, connection, and fulfillment?

Of course, seldom would any one conversation--let alone a holiday gathering--fit neatly into only one row of a grid such as the one I've offered here.  However, I know that when I walk away from certain events where friends and family have come together, there's sometimes a predominant feeling about what just occured--and the way in which it was fulfilling or not. 

And sometimes, after such events, I know that I'm different because of a "profound shift" in how I see the world, thanks to the conversations that took place.  And when this shift causes me to feel more energized, connected, or hopeful, I'm likely to use words like amazing, wonderful, or extraordinary to describe what just occurred. For me, this has been much more likely to take place in a setting where conversations of deeper meaning have happened.

How about you? 

For more on such transformative shifts, check out Chapter Seven in Extraordinary Groups.

I hope 2010 gets off to a great start for each of you. My next post will be on January 11.

Between us, Geoff and I have presented the core concepts of our book to at least 20 groups since early September. As we compare notes on what we are learning about what we’ve written, one theme shows up over and over again: If you want to encourage a group to become extraordinary, focus on creating meaning. Meaning is about the significance, the importance of the work done by a group. Meaning, when understood, enables group members to know that their time, effort, and commitment count for something larger than themselves. This recognition can be hugely important in any group, regardless of sector. But in this post, I find myself thinking especially about the world of paid work.

In the fast paced, over-committed, and worried-about-the-economy lives most working people lead, there is a real hunger for true engagement around important issues and honest connection with one another. This high-quality interaction sets a group a part and tells members they’ve got something special going on. Too often, however, especially in white-collar worlds (does anyone have a better phrase???), people race from one meeting to the next to the next. They find little time to think and even less time to connect with co-workers on topics other than tasks. In this swirl, conversations about meaning or significance are rare. Groups plow through agenda item after agenda item, slide deck after slide deck without slowing down to consider how any of this work connects to a larger view or the greater good.

These days, there is no end to tools and methods available to team leaders and facilitators—all designed to insure a more productive meeting. In our volunteer lives and with our clients, Geoff and I use many of those tools. But here’s what we’ve learned: The tools and techniques may help group members to get through an agenda, make a decision, set priorities, or sort out a difference of opinion. But without an intentional effort to discover or discuss the significance of any of those accomplishments, the group misses out on an experience that will help it to become extraordinary.

But how to initiate that level of discussion? The Group Needs model is a good place to start. As I’ve mentioned in other posts, these needs are:

• Accepting our selves while moving toward our Potential
• Bonding with others while pursuing a common Purpose
• Understanding Reality while we making an Impact together

Once you’ve used your favorite group method to produce a “What”—such as a decision, a plan, a schedule, or a set of working agreements, move on to the “So what?” conversation. Do so by asking group members to connect what they’ve accomplished to any of the six Group Needs. In that way, you will give meaning a chance to surface.

Here’s a list of meaning-seeking questions you can ask. For each example, I’ve indicated the relevant Group Need in italics.

• What difference will this decision make to our ability to meet our customer’s needs? What impact will it really have in their daily lives? (Impact)
• As we worked our way through to this decision, what did we learn about each other? What did we do that helped us to be effective? (Bond) Did anyone here change an opinion or gain some kind of insight? (Acceptance) If so, what was that?
• How does this new strategy connect with our mission? As we think about it, is there any new twist on why we come together? (Purpose)
• What patterns do you find in this list of barriers-to-success? What are the implications of those patterns? (Reality)
• Who here learned something today, something that you can use outside of this meeting? What are you taking away from this discussion? How do you plan to use it? (Potential)
• If we had this discussion to do over, would we do it any differently? Why would those changes be important? (Bond, Potential, Acceptance)
• What are the implications of what we’ve accomplished here today—on what we do or how we do it? (Bond, Purpose, Reality, Impact)

I find that people who lead or facilitate a group of busy people often avoid such questions because of worries that the discussion will take too much time or “get out of hand.” While it’s clear that some of these sample questions could trigger longer conversations, if time is limited they can also be effective. It’s remarkable how such questions can be asked with a light touch, with “Before we move on, let’s take five minutes to reflect on the significance of what we’ve just done. What brief thoughts do you have about….” In a few minutes, an observation or view can be offered that makes a big difference in how people feel connected to the larger meaning of the work they do together. Even if not everyone has a chance to speak, when someone articulates why the group’s work is important, all present have a chance to register that connection. 
 

What is this derisive, dismissive, cringe-inspiring phrase really about? Where does it come from? And more importantly, what can be done to prevent the experiences that give rise to the use of such a term?

I most often hear the term, touchy-feely, when I’m talking up-front with members of a group who are about to have some type of team-development—facilitated by me. Prior such events, I always have conversations with participants to get to know their thinking about a variety of issues. A typical question I ask is What will make this event a great use of your time? That’s when touchy-feely shows up in responses such as: “Well, I just don’t want it to be touchy-feely.”

Okay. No touchy-feely. Yet in response to the same question I will hear that people want to get to know each other better or to come away feeling “more like a team.” They want to trust each other more. They want to learn to work together more effectively so that they can achieve their common purpose and make their time and effort count for something. Clearly, people want a group experience that is about more than data, analysis, and results. Yet, such requests head us into the territory they might label touchy-feely.

Here’s my take on this paradox. Touchy-feely comes from unfortunate team or personal development experiences that did not meet the core needs brought to the event by participants. Perhaps it was the setting, the issues, the facilitation, the leader, the group dynamics, the time of year, the external world, or the worries or fears brought into the group. For whatever reasons, the team development failed. And participants walked away believing that the day (or week!) had been a waste of time, that they had been “techniqued” by the facilitator and, perhaps, by their leader. And sometimes—worse--they sense that relationships have been damaged or they have lost personal confidence or credibility in the group. Enter, the now understandable damning phrase, touchy-feely.

And soon, those who have not had such negative experiences have learned the phrase, have a guess about what it means, and do not want any part of such encounters. And so it is that building the critical connection between group members and helping them to become more self-aware is dismissed as insignificant fluff.

What’s to be done? If you lead or facilitate groups, imagine that below any self awareness or team development activity rests a set of Group Needs (see Chapter 3, Extraordinary Groups: How Ordinary Teams Achieve Amazing Results, Jossey-Bass, 2009):

• Accepting our selves while moving toward our Potential
• Bonding with others while pursuing a common Purpose
• Understanding Reality while we make an Impact together

Here are a set of principles that enable me to confidently say, I don’t do touchy-feely but I certainly do effective team development.

1. Make sure that you create time for group members to connect your team development activities with why the group comes together and its ability to effectively achieve its goals.
2. Design your event and select activities that align with and support the six Group Needs outlined above. See the methods you choose as standing on the foundation of these Group Needs. As the team development unfolds, ask questions about the implications of what people are experiencing and how that experience connects to any of the Group Needs.
3. Employ strategies that emphasize learning from what’s already working well. Remember that analyzing what’s wrong won’t necessarily get you what you want.
4. Consider differences a strength and a powerful source of individual and group learning. Intentionally explore them in the spirit of learning and discovery.
5. Open up controversial or undiscussable topics with a light structure that creates a sense of safety. About any one issue, ask… What do we know? What do we believe? What do we want moving ahead? What do we commit to doing differently? Why is all this important to us?

Team and personal development activities can be transformative for groups when, as they unfold, they meet the Group Needs of Bonding with others, enhancing one’s own self-Acceptance, discovering or growing into one’s own Potential, or increasing the group’s ability to fulfill its Purpose and desired Impact. When such activities, methods, or techniques free float, with no connection to these instinctive human needs, they backfire. In doing so, they make it more difficult for people to willingly engage in team and personal development in the future. And they justify the use of a term I would just as soon forget.

I’d love to hear what you think about all this.
 

Let me tell you a bit about this group. This team leads a staff function within a major division of a global corporation. People work in two locations, two time zones a part. They meet regularly through the use of technology, but are infrequently together in one room. Additionally, because of the demanding nature of their jobs, members seldom have time for collective reflection on how they are doing together as a leadership team. As a whole, they represent a relatively new team: the newest members having joined three months ago while others have been in their roles for a number of years. My client leads this group; he has been in his role for almost one year. Do any of these characteristics sound familiar to you?

The hoped-for outcomes are not unusual for a team development session, however, if you are familiar with Extraordinary Groups, you will see its influence on the design for the day.

• Draft statement of an inspiring team purpose
• Agreements about our meetings, communications, and collaborations
• Clear next steps for:  A) Gathering input on and finalizing purpose statement; B) Increasing our collective capacity as leaders
• Know each other better

As an ice-breaker, I plan to employ an engagement strategy that Geoff and I have been using to open our presentations on Extraordinary Groups. Wednesday will be the first time I’ve used this in a team-building, non-book event. This activity is simple to use, always gets people enthusiastically engaged, and beautifully sets the context for accomplishing the outcomes I’ve outlined above. In this way, I heartily recommend it!

Here are the steps to follow. As it is described here it takes about an hour. If you need to tighten up the time allow only 10 minutes in step 4 and eliminate steps 6 and 8.  In step 7 simply ask people to share the factors they had in common and have a short group discussion about those points.  Make sure you pay attention to points made during this discussion that you might want to refer to later in the day. 

Begin this ice-breaker after you have reviewed the outcomes and agenda for your meeting.

1. Say that the purpose of this ice-breaker is to help people get to know each other better and to set the context for the team development topics you’ll address throughout the day. (2 minutes)
2. Ask people to think of a time when they were involved with a group that they would describe with words such as amazing, wonderful, surpassing expectations, or even magical. This can be a group from any part of their lives—school, sports teams, work, community involvement, family. Encourage each person to jot a few notes to about this group. In particular, ask What helped this group to be so outstanding? You might want to write this question on a flip chart or white board. Note: if people have a hard time identifying such a group, ask them to think of the very best group experience they can recall. (5 minutes)
3. Next, ask people to find a partner, ideally the person in the group they know least-well. Once seated, give them these directions:   A) Briefly tell your partner the situation of the story: limit yourself to three sentences.  B) Discuss the factors that enabled the group experience to be so memorable.  C) Identify any factors that you have in common.   Note, if you have an uneven number of participants, pair up yourself with the person who doesn’t have a partner. In such a case, you will have to watch the time carefully. (3 minutes).
4. Sit back and enjoy watching the pairs take off! Call time half way through, allowing 7 minutes for each person in the pair. (15 minutes)
5. Ask people to bring their conversations to a close. This may take a few minutes, depending on how involved people have become in their conversations. (4 minutes)
6. Ask: What was it like for you to share these stories with one another? Take a few comments or observations, encouraging people to play off each others’ thoughts. (5-7 minutes)
7. Then say you’d like to build a list of the factors that enabled such wonderful experiences. On flip charts or a white board, ask people: What helped your experiences to be so wonderful? Go from pair to pair, collecting one new item from each pair and recording it. Continue until there are no more to add or you’ve made two swings around the group. (10 minutes)
8. Then ask, What are the implications for us in this list? What do we particularly want to remember from this exercise as we move through our agenda today? Simply listen to the responses. Pay attention to points you might want to raise later in the day. (5-7 minutes).

If you put this exercise to use, send me a comment.  I’d love to know how it goes! It’s lots of fun and brings great energy into the room.  Good luck!

If you'd like to see us in action together, there are two videos you can watch from the PlusDelta blog--a 5 minute segment about the Group Needs Model and the full 40 minute interview that covers several topics related to Extraordinary Groups.  At the end of the discussion, we offer thoughts about the future of the field of Organization Development. If you are not an OD practitioner, be prepared to tolerate a bit of jargon--since we were speaking to an audience of people in our field.  That said, we hope any organizational leader or group member will find some value in our comments.

While you're at the PlusDelta site, take the time to become familiar with the array of services this consulting firm offers.  If you are unfamilar with Organization Development as a field, you'll gain an understanding of what can be included in this type of consultation--simply by looking around their website.  Additionally, you'll find several blog entries related to the OD Network Conference, including two video interviews with Juliette Powell, author of 33 Million people in the Room, on social networking.  If you are in the field and couldn't make it to Seattle, these entries will connect you to some of the content and the experience of the conference.

At this reflective time of year, Geoff and I are both thankful for the enthusiastic support Extraordinary Groups has received since it was published in September.  During this time we've become even more committed to helping group members, leaders, and facilitators understand how a few simple shifts can have profound impact on what a group is able to accomplish and the experience people have in that group.  Moving ahead our blog will continue to highlight relevant ideas and strategies so that you can do your part in helping your groups fulfill their promise. Thanks to all of you who have been so encouraging to us.

If you are unfamiliar with this strategy, here is an overview of how you might utilize a check-in within a task-oriented group that meets regularly.

Purpose: Checking-in gives members a chance to learn things about each other as people and build respect for each other’s interests, talents, and circumstances. It also helps members shift their attention away from the pressures of other responsibilities and become more fully present in a meeting.

When to use: At the beginning of a meeting; for groups that meet regularly you might want to start each meeting with a check-in.

Type of group: Groups of 2-12 people.

Time involved: 10-20 minutes.

What to do: If group members are not familiar with a check-in, explain its purpose. Make sure to state that the idea of a check-in is a brief statement by each member of the group in response to a question. Say that the idea is to hear from everyone without getting into discussions about what anyone might say. Encourage everyone to check-in, but if someone can’t find the words or seems otherwise unable to know what to say, an “I pass” response is perfectly acceptable. Suggest that if someone is really curious about something someone says, then that would be a reason to follow up later, outside of the meeting. With these guidelines in place, propose a framing question. Give a minute for people to reflect on what you’ve asked, then ask someone to start. Go from one person to the next as they are seated. Or people can respond in a random manner, however this typically takes a bit more time. Once everyone, including yourself, has checked-in, thank the group for what’s been said and move on to the second item on your agenda.

Framing questions: There are hundreds of possibilities. Some have to do with the purpose of the group or the focus of a particular meeting. Some have more to do with who people are as people. I usually like to write the question on a flip chart or white board; this seems to help people who are more visually oriented reflect on the question. Here are some possibilities.

• What’s one thing you hope to get accomplished at today’s meeting?
• What is one interest of yours that others in this group might not know about?
• What task or concern would you like to set aside so that you can fully concentrate on our work today?
• What’s up for you, in your life? What’s one new and interesting thing you’ve been thinking about lately?
• What’s one thing that brings you energy and joy?
• What kind of a day have you had so far today?
• What’s one thing that you’re really proud of that you’d like to share with the group?
• What aspect of your job brings you the most satisfaction? Given our work so far, what do you feel best about?
• What do you like best about ____________ (weekends, vacation, the current season, etc.)

These examples illustrate the nature of the framing question—a positive question that asks for a small amount of self-disclosure. The focus of the question encourages people to be brief in their responses. As the group gets more used to the check-in, questions can become a bit more personal or initiate some small level of risk taking. Consider rotating the responsibility for proposing a framing question among members.

Cautions. Watch your time carefully. If check-ins go on too long they can take valuable time away from important agenda items and can seem “touchy-feely.”

Know that depending on what’s going on in someone’s life, a simple question such as, “What kind of a day have you had so far today?” can trigger a longer and more complex or emotional response. When that happens, recognize that it is a sign that someone feels safe enough in the group to communicate in a very real and authentic way. In these cases, follow the general guidelines noted above.

If several members offer similarly serious or emotional statements, at the end of the check-in you might want to ask the group if it would be useful to shift some of your agenda items so you can talk more about people’s worries, fears, or frustrations. In these situations, there is probably some kind of important organizational change or decision that is affecting group members in a personal way. Acknowledging this reality can lead to a very fruitful conversation that can help group members release distracting concerns, so that when you return to your meeting’s agenda they will be more able to pay attention.

I’d like to continue with the theme of c. If you missed last week’s post, you might give it a quick read in order to have the context of what follows here and learn about Natanya’s story.

Of the eight indicators of an extraordinary group, five stand out in Natanya’s experience.

• Compelling Purpose: Building cultural competence among graduates that “puts everything into a global perspective. This is so critical to the future of our country. Knowing that everyone cares so much about the program enables us to grapple with our differences. It’s what keeps us going.”
• Embracing Differences: “We want to avoid group-think and so we hire people who are different. This difference pushes us in new directions.”
• Shared Leadership: Group members work as colleagues, each directing one portion of the program’s placements; decisions are made by consensus.
• Full Engagement: “We know we will have to revisit decisions later if we don’t hear why people are hesitating. This is one of our ground rules—to get things out in the open early on without worrying that people might be against your position.”
• Great Results: The obvious and tangible growth of the program, including contributing to the increasing acceptance of project based learning as worthy of earning academic credits. Natanya is also aware of a huge intangible result of being on this team--her ability to be a more self-aware and effective member of a team. Collaboration is “more than cut-to-the-chase. Nothing can replace the phone call, the personal touch. We all want to be heard and to know that the other person is actually listening and responding to what we say. This goes well beyond the office—to my friendships and to how I am raising my daughter.”

As she reflected on the elements that have enabled this group to be such a peak experience, she identifies four factors.

1. Bring in people with different personalities and backgrounds to expand the diversity and capability of the group.
2. Establish a culture of respecting differences, so that the group’s diversity can translate into breakthrough thinking and innovation.
3. Pay attention to people and who they are in the whole of their lives.
4. Maintain your sense of humor as a way of taking the edge off conflicts and being adaptable to what individuals need.

If you lead or are a member of an e-team, Natanya’s suggestions are well worth consideration. There’s an interesting connection between them. Let’s dive into them a bit more deeply.

To benefit from the diversity brought to a group, members must appreciate and respect those differences. One way to do that is by paying attention to group members as people—not just as co-workers. When group members learn more about each other as whole people, they begin to understand and respect each other’s values, backgrounds, interests, and life circumstances. This understanding creates the context for seeing someone’s passionately expressed perspective or opinion. Opinions that in other situations might sound confrontational are heard as a differing point of view worth exploring. Because the person offering that perspective is understood and appreciated. Openness to new ideas encourages good humor and a lightness of spirit that enable a group laugh together and not take themselves or their dynamics too seriously.

Question: What’s one simple way that a virtual group begin to build what Natanya calls “a culture of respecting differences?”

Answer: A personal check-in at the beginning of most, if not every, meeting.

Natanya told us that her group realized that their weekly phone meetings were too “tasky,” that there was no time for connecting as people. Since they were seldom in the same physical location, they missed the easy opportunities for finding out about each other and each others’ lives. So, they instituted a quick verbal check-in at the beginning of each meeting. Members would offer a brief statement about how they were doing on that day or what was going on in the rest of their lives. They found that this ten-minute start enabled them to learn more about each other and gain a sense of the factors that might influence how any member participated in the call. Overtime, through this simple and short method of starting a meeting, members gained an increased sense of one another and came to appreciate and respect each other in new ways.

Next week, I’ll write more about check-ins and how they can be a powerful connector in any group, whether it is virtual, like Natanya’s team, or face-to-face. I’d love to know if you have experiences with check-ins that have worked really well for one of your groups. If yes, please send a comment!
 

The answer is a resounding Yes!

When Geoff Bellman and I conducted our field study that led to Extraordinary Groups, 17% of our collected stories were about virtual groups. After examining the patterns in our interview data, we found no discernable differences between virtual and face-to-face groups in the larger patterns that we discovered. Consider Natanya's story.

A core team of seven higher education professionals place graduate students from fourteen universities in international internship positions in 40 countries around the globe. Students earn academic credit for these intense 3-month solo immersion experiences. When Natanya, our interviewee, joined the program, it was facing the "imminent doom" of a grant running out. Thanks to the effort of her team of colleagues, "We have been completely self-funded since 2001." Even while sitting within a bureaucratic university, "We had to be very entrepreneurial—being virtual is a part of this." Now thriving, she reports that the program doubled in size in the last four years prior to our interview. Student numbers are growing such that "we are putting money into a reserve and we have a vibrant, dynamic team." A self-organizing group with no designated leader, seven members live in six different states. Members rely primarily on email streams, Go To Meeting, Skype, and screen sharing technology to do its work. The group has weekly phone meetings and meets, in person, for only 8 days per year.

Listen to how Natanya's words fit with our Group Needs Model. (If you're not familiar with our model, see the visual image on the Home page. In Extraordinary Groups, you'll find an overview in Chapter Three.)

1. Group Purpose and Bond: "I enjoy my team so much and am inspired by the student's experiences. The team and the mission have kept me here much longer than what I ever would have imagined."
2. Self Acceptance and Potential: This experience "has made me more cognizant of where and how I need to work on personal relationships and nuances. I'm trying to overcome my own culture training of being task-oriented and to understand that just because something is okay with me doesn't mean it will be okay with others. I want to understand how to work better with others and get them on board."
3. World Reality and Impact: "Each of us on the team has a slightly different understanding of reality. We all understand different pieces of it. This gives us the ability to stay balanced, remain focused, and choose an effective strategy that works!"

Of the eight indicators of an extraordinary group, five stand out in Natanya's experience. In my next blog post, I'll continue this exploration and offer thoughts about specific actions you can take to increase the likelihood that your next e-group will be extraordinary—based on what worked in Natanya's group.

Reality: In every group, emotions are always present. And in extraordinary groups, strong emotions are especially present because of the passionate commitment members bring to a group's compelling Purpose. This emotional commitment is what inspires the hard work, full engagement, and intense focus that lead to amazing results.

Challenge for Leaders: How to appreciate and use these positive and motivating emotions and build upon them, rather than attempting to bottle them up, manage or control them so that "things stay on an even keel." For a group to be extraordinary, an even keel won't do you any good!

If you lead a task-focused group at work or in the community and you want to encourage outstanding results and an equally wonderful group experience, pay attention to these two points.

• Remember that everyone in your group (yourself included) operates simultaneously on at least two tracks: the Head (task-focused, logic, information, facts) and the Heart (emotion-focused, intuition, relationships, and meaning). Picture a lake and imagine that the Head elements sit above the water-line and that the Heart aspects rest underneath and are less visible from the surface of the water. Know that at any moment a results-focused conversation can trigger emotions and values. They will pop up above the water to demand attention. You'll recognize these heart-based elements by the energetic words that people say or the tone of voice they use when they speak.
• Know that an essential leadership skill is the ability to move easily between the dynamics of the Head and the Heart. In fact, the more you are able to connect and integrate elements from these two tracks , the more effectively you will lead your group. If you have difficulty in this leadership aspect, you are far from alone! Many who lead groups feel challenged in this way, especially when it comes to working with strong emotions that surface. To help you become more comfortable with this aspect of group leadership or facilitation, here are some things you can do in a group meeting to recognize, encourage, and utilize the presence of such strong and positive emotions.

  When …	Do or Say…
  Someone makes an emphatic and challenging point	What did you hear in what _______ just said? What was her point? And what was her feeling? What did that feeling trigger in you? After several have responded, What do these feelings suggest for how we move ahead?
  The tension in the room goes up significantly as a result of a disagreement	I’d like to use this disagreement as a way for us to clarify some important points and help us to collaborate effectively. Ask each person involved in the disagreement to paraphrase what the other person said. Go back and forth between the two parties until they have successfully restated the other’s point of view. Then, ask a few group members, not involved in the disagreement to describe the feeling in the room triggered by their disagreement. What do these feelings say about how we, in this group, handle differences of opinion?
  Group discussion becomes confused, has no center, feels lifeless or tangential	Let’s stop for a minute to figure out where we are. What observations do you have about this discussion? What are you feeling right now? What suggestions do you have for getting things back to a more productive spot?
  The group arrives as a point of clarity or reaches a important consensus decision after lots of participation	Before we go on, what just happened here? What did we accomplish? How did we do that? How does this feel?
  Someone shares a particularly poignant and relevant illustration or story	Encourage a few moments of silence in the group so that people can take in what was said. If no one else says so, thank the person for his illustration. What’s the meaning in what _______ has shared? What feelings does this story trigger? Why is this important?

When that Purpose excites and inspires us, we are much more inclined to be fully engaged (the subject of last week's blog) and to do two specific things:

• Make the work of that group a high priority within our busy lives
• Enthusiastically bring our full and best selves to the group—meaning our energy, talent, experience, skills, and knowledge along with our care for and respect of other group members

We do these two things because the group's Purpose is compelling in a very personal way. It touches our values and brings forth passionate commitment because we see greater meaning in our individual and collective effort. In this way, a Compelling Purpose is a hugely important contributor that helps any group to become extraordinary.

Understandably, such an inspiring Purpose is much easier to find in circumstances that are special or out of the ordinary: where there is an urgent and obvious need or an important challenge with a clear and short-term deadline. But what about creating a compelling Purpose in a group that meets regularly, a group that comes together for more routine reasons? For example a standing committee, a weekly staff meeting, or a cross-functional team that works steadily toward a goal that seems attainable only at a hard-to-define future date. I'm guessing that these more every-day, less glamorous groups are far more numerous than those that are especially created.

For such a group, where the Purpose can seem as mundane as the work, here's a suggestion that many have seemed to appreciate. Use it if you find the energy in your group flagging or if attendance is falling off. It's a group action you can initiate from any position: group member, leader, or facilitator. For this discussion, you will probably want to set aside one to two hours—or up to a full day, depending on the degree of alignment within the group. The goal of this exercise to revitalize the group by affirming commitment to the group's important Purpose. As such, it's a simple and very effective team building activity. Here are the steps to follow.

1. Explain the goal of the exercise.
2. Ask each person to write down his or her view of the group's Purpose. Then, moving from one person to the next, ask each to read his or her statement. Discourage any discussion until all have spoken.
3. Encourage group discussion by asking such questions as: What observations or reactions do you have about our different versions of our group's Purpose? What was similar? What was different? Regardless of how the Purpose statements were expressed, are they in alignment with each other? If not, what questions do we need to talk about, so that we can be in alignment? If there is a high degree of alignment, go on to step #5.
4. Once the alignment questions have been explored and addressed, ask: How would we now state our Purpose? Using a flip chart or white board, capture language that effectively states the consensus view of group members and the designated leader (if there is one).
5. Then, draw a 5-point continuum, along with this question: On a scale of 1-5 (with 5 being high), how compelling is this Purpose statement to you? To what degree does it inspire you? Then ask each person to mark the continuum, indicating his or her answer. Once this is done, ask group members to tell why they placed their marks where they did. Make sure you hear from everyone. Follow up questions can be similar to those suggested in step #3.
6. If the continuum indicates that the Purpose needs to be more compelling, shift the subject to the group's Impact by asking questions such as: What difference do we want to make in the world? Two years from now, what will we be proud to hear others say about our work? What is the larger meaning of what we are really doing here together?
7. When this discussion is complete, ask: In light of this discussion, how do we want to reframe our Purpose statement? Make changes as appropriate.
8. And finally, Given how we have reframed (or affirmed) our Purpose, what implications are there for how we go about doing our work? When we meet? Outside of our meetings? What changes should we make so that our experience working together matches the importance of what we are here to do?
9. Reach agreement about those changes and follow through as planned.