The Extraordinary Groups Blog

Extraordinary E-Groups, Part II

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!
 

More and more people come together to get things done in virtual groups: teams of people who communicate with each other via technology at least 75% of the time. Members of these groups are in different locations that can cross regions, time zones, countries or continents. Given the challenges that we humans have in collaborating with one another when we are face-to-face, it makes sense to wonder, "Is it possible for an e-group to be extraordinary?"

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.

Myth: In groups where people come together to get something done, strong emotions equal messy, difficult group dynamics. These "irrational" elements lead to disagreements and conflicts that disrupt an orderly flow of work, damage relationships, and generally cause "things to get out of hand."

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?

One of the strongest messages that came from our Extraordinary Groups field study was the importance of a Compelling Purpose. We humans have a need to join with others in a common Purpose, to unite our energies to accomplish something important, something that we cannot achieve alone.

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.

Today's organizations face tremendous challenges and opportunities that:

1. Cannot be effectively addressed in silos or through hierarchical dictates
2. Require relevant and diverse perspectives, skills, knowledge, and experiences of people, who are typically organized into groups of two to twenty
3. Need those group members to be highly motivated to make the work of their group a top priority

Increasingly, the first two points are commonly understood and pursued. Unfortunately, many organizations fail at the third: taking the action that will inspire group members to fully commit themselves to the task at hand.

Without such engagement, members who juggle multiple priorities—at work and in their personal lives—will do enough to satisfy basic expectations of their performance. They are unlikely to put in the extra energy needed to bring their very best capability to the work of the group. With only partial engagement, tackling today's complex problems and opportunities becomes much more difficult.

Question: What can be done intentionally to secure the full engagement of any group's members?

Answer: Pay attention to a set of basic, and mostly unarticulated, needs that people bring with them when they join a group.

Within the peak group experiences that comprised the field study for Extraordinary Groups, six instinctive needs were revealed and made their way into what we call the Group Needs Model. The six can be divided into two familiar categories: Results and People, or Head and Heart.

When those involved in a group sense that some or all of these six needs are met, the result is, well... extraordinary. A strong commitment to a Purpose that makes a difference in the world encourages people to get to know each other and the Reality they face in pursuing the group's desired outcomes. Members willingly offer what they know and are respected and valued for their different expertise and perspective. Passionate debate and exploration of a wide range of ideas and possibilities replace conflict avoidance and doing-the-obvious. Through it all, people stretch themselves by learning lots: about new subjects, about each other, about themselves. They find new levels of confidence and pride in what they are able to accomplish together. When involved in such a group, there is no question members are highly motivated. They show up ready to work and bring their best selves and best capabilities to the task at hand.

All of our field study interviewees reported that at least three of these Group Needs were satisfied in their amazing experiences. In 90% of the cases, five or more were met. And as a result, libraries were built, software was developed, lives were saved, elections were won, military missions were accomplished, market share was gained, and millions of dollars were saved. People grew skills, build relationships, gained confidence, and increased their loyalty to the organizations that supported their group's amazing accomplishment. They were completely and fully engaged.

If you are an organizational leader and you utilize teams to get work done, pay attention to the six Group Needs outlined above. Support those in your organization who lead and facilitate groups. Give them the time and resources to understand new ways of focusing and interacting so that this set of instinctive human needs can be met as groups in your organization do their work. For a strategy that can accomplish so much, it is a relatively small investment to make.

During the last three+ years that Geoff Bellman and I have been working on Extraordinary Groups, the news has often been a source of examples of groups that are amazing. An initial clue to the example is the word-choice within printed headlines or a broadcaster's lead-in: words such as inspiring, amazing, fantastic, or unexpected describe an experience or results.

I can recall stories about a group of migrant high school students who formed study teams that resulted in surprising and significant numbers of college placements; a group of women friends who have been meeting regularly for over forty years; pairs of theatre professionals who travel to rural areas to create unforgettable children's theatre experiences; innumerable teams of volunteers that show up to assist in disasters situations. And, of course, sports stories.

As the baseball season wraps up, it's easy to see the connection between this year's Seattle Mariners and key elements of an extraordinary group. Depending on where you live, you might find a similar illustration. Essentially in 2008, the Ms lost 101 out of 162 games and had the second worst record in all of major league baseball. This year, with a new and untested manager, they finished third in their division, won 85 games, and excited fans for two reasons—the improved number of wins and the infectious good humor, bond, and joy that players exhibited from spring training to the closing game on October 4. If you read Shannon Drayer's popular blog about her observations of the clubhouse dynamics this year you'll see the connection she makes between what goes on among members and the results achieved. You'll also see many of the patterns that show up in exceptional groups. Beginning with the 5th paragraph in her October 5th blog, look for the following:

• Members commitment to one another's success
• The right people who bring the right knowledge and skills
• Trust among members, trust of designated leaders
• Quiet, steady leadership that focuses on the members and the goal
• Members providing strong, constructive leadership
• Members sharing experience and insight to help other members grow and succeed
• Great spontaneous humor and fun
• Passion and joy, the willingness to express emotions
• Commitment to common purpose and the willingness to sacrifice personal agendas for the greater good

The point here is to encourage you to look for examples of amazing achievement within groups that are reported in the news. As you look between the lines of these stories, you'll see both tangible success and the intangible human glue that group members find in their Bond with each other as they pursue a common and compelling Purpose. The more we all see such examples, the more we understand that extraordinary groups are not so uncommon. In this recognition, it becomes clear that such experiences can be intentionally encouraged by creating the conditions or applying the elements that time and time again help amazing things to happen. If you are interested, check out this YouTube video of the team immediately after the conclusion of their last game of the season. Remember, they placed third—not first—in their division.

—Kathleen

We humans need to group. We've been grouping for thousands of years. By applying the Group Needs Model described in Extraordinary Groups, you can better understand the dynamics of your groups and see ways of behaving that will increase both the effectiveness of the group and, as a result, the quality of your experience.

Before considering action you might take—whether you are a group leader, member, or facilitator, it's useful to think about the groups in your life. As you increase your awareness, you will gain clarity about the relative importance of some groups over others. You will better understand your motivation for being in these groups.

On a piece of paper, draw a continuum with five points. From left to right, label the points as follows: bad, okay, good, great, and extraordinary. Give some thought to how you might define each position on the continuum, when it comes to two elements: 1) the group's effectiveness at achieving its purpose and 2) how you feel about the group experience. For example, "bad" might translate into group accomplishes little or nothing of importance and the experience is boring or filled with unnecessary conflict.

Next, consider the groups in your life: at work, in your community life, within your friendship circles, and within your family. Here's a definition of a group: a collection of two to twenty people who join together for some reason. Perhaps for a day, perhaps for a much longer period of time. Make a list and briefly describe the purpose of each. This will help you to assess the first consideration—the group's effectiveness at achieving its desired results. Now assign each group a location on your continuum.

What does this exercise suggest about the groups in your life? How many are there? Where do they sit on the continuum? Do you see any trends or patterns—perhaps related to the part of your life where the groups fit—at work, your family, your volunteer commitments, your hobbies, your neighborhood, your religious affiliations. Perhaps related to other factors such as the others involved, the purpose, of the role you play. What is it that motivates you in each of these groups? How important are these groups to you? Why are they important? And for each of your answers about importance, go one level deeper: why is that importance so important to you? In other words, at a more fundamental level, what do you hope will happen for you or for others as a result of being involved with any of these groups?

With all of this in mind, which groups might you want to invest some time and energy in, for the sake of improving either its effectiveness or the experience? For future reference, you might want to put a date on your notes and tuck them away in a folder that is easy to find. This exercise can begin a conversation with yourself that you might want to continue at a later date—to add more groups, to refine your definitions, to think more deeply about your motivations.

Please consider sending a note about any insights or thoughts that come to you as a result of this exercise. For what it's worth, reflections such as these have caused me to think more broadly in my life about groups—especially the ones in my personal life. It's been revealing to consider the purpose of my groups that are less structured or ones that I typically don't use the word group to describe. For example my relationship with my brother—we are a group of two siblings, or with my work-out buddy at the gym, or for a group of friends who come for dinner on a given evening. I have realized that I can be much more mindful about the importance of these 'groups' in my life and how I show-up in them. I know that I behave in much more constructive and encouraging ways when I think about the 'effectiveness' and 'satisfaction' elements in these more personal (and very important) groups in my life.

—Kathleen

It seems appropriate that for the first blog entry on our Extraordinary Groups website that I should introduce myself, Kathleen Ryan, and tell a bit about the hopes that I have for this blog.

You should know that Geoff Bellman and I have been colleagues and friends for over twenty-five years. We each live in the Seattle area, have separate national practices as organization development consultants, and have written several books—but never one together until now. We are both among the founders of a wonderful and inspiring volunteer effort, the Community Consulting Partnership.

Geoff and I are very excited about the potential for our site and this blog to connect us with new colleagues, encourage new thinking and ideas, and share perspectives on a variety of topics that relate to groups. As I write these words, I'm keeping my ear tuned for the arrival of the UPS truck, bearing two boxes of books—containing our just-published, not-yet-seen-by-us, creation—Extraordinary Groups. Three and a half years in the making, this "new baby" has been a primary focus for Geoff's and my professional life for quite some time.

With the arrival of the book in tangible form and the launch of this website in electronic form, we begin a new phase of our mutual exploration of all things related to groups. Groups at work, groups in the community, groups within our families and personal lives. We plan to blog weekly, posting on Mondays, offering ruminations and suggestions that we hope will be intriguing to you and useful in your lives as group members, leaders, or facilitators. We'd love for you to comment on what you read, sharing your experiences and thoughts. When you do, we promise to respond in some way. Our postings will draw from our experiences as organization development consultants and authors, and certainly from our many years as members and leaders of groups. If you've not read our bios, you might want to check them to gain a sense of what we've been up to in our professional lives.

Here's a line from the book that I've found myself saying a lot lately: Life is too short to spend time in groups that do not fulfill their promise. The question is, when you find yourself in such a group, what do you do? Quit? Put up with it and grumble? Take action to nudge, pull, or yank the group into a more effective way of being? If you are inclined toward the third choice, here's a set of assumptions you might find interesting, ones that have become very compelling for us:

• As human beings, we have a set of instinctive needs or longings that we unconsciously hope will be satisfied when we join a group
• It is possible for each of us to choose certain behaviors that can intentionally encourage amazing group experiences. We don't have to wait for "the stars to line up" or the "chemistry to be just right" to have a wonderful group experience.
• Using the Group Needs Model that sits at the center of Extraordinary Groups, any one of us will find ways to help meet the Group Needs of others in the group—or take action that will help us to meet our own needs. In doing so, we significantly increase the likelihood that a group will start performing at a higher, more effective and satisfying level.

In the next blog, I'll pick up on this theme and suggest an exercise that might offer some insight about your current group experiences.

—Kathleen