I had a problem. An important element of my newly invented facilitation tool Shift/POV was not being received as well as I had hoped. And no matter how I tried to rework the marketing language, the instructions, the methodology, somehow, the Random Factor insight prompts were not being perceived as particularly useful to facilitators in working with their groups. Were they interesting? Yes. Insightful? Definitely! But I needed them to be Useful. And so does my target market.
We did an informal survey with my network of facilitators, trainers and group leaders on the “personality” of the groups they work with: the over-riding characteristics, response patterns, communication styles that give each group its particular chemistry, especially as they relate to dealing with interpersonal conflict and decision making.
The Questions……
You might have a group that you find challenging to manage. These seven questions could reveal some insight about the personality of your particular group:
- What 5 words would describe the overall consistent dynamic in your group? (ex: tense, social, competitive, polite, etc.)
- Is the overall communication style of this group Direct or Indirect?
- On a scale of 1-5, 5 being excellent – how would you rate your group’s ability to listen to each other?
- On a scale of 1-5, 5 being excellent – how would you rate your group’s ability to incorporate new information?
- On a scale of 1-5, 5 being excellent – how would you rate your group’s ability to elicit diversity in perspectives?
- In a perfect world, what 5 qualities do you wish were more present in the group? (ex: better listening, mutual respect, trust, focus, authenticity etc.)
- What dynamics occur, in your observation, in the surrounding culture that reduce frequency of the above qualities? (ex: micromanaging by upper rungs of the company, silos, toxic communication patterns, etc.)
Three Chemical “Imbalances”…..
From the responses I received, I discerned three different general categories of group chemistry that many managers find problematic when asking a group to work through conflict or make an important decision. Again, these are aggregate group personality assessments and NOT a description of all members of the group. If only two or three people in your group of ten participants display these qualities – and they are the right two or three people, they can significantly impact the quality of engagement for the entire group. It became clear that the Random Factors had to be numbered and organized into groupings that would address and help lessen these particular “imbalances”.
So let’s put you in charge of a hypothetical accounting team in a new organization that needs to make a decision about temporary cover for Janice, a productive accountant who has recently been forced, for medical reasons, to take an early maternity leave. She will be gone for 12 weeks, and the group must decide how to cover Janice’s work within that time. The group has been tasked with helping to create policy on this issue for the company as a whole, as well as solving the immediate problem of Janice’s absence. It’s now January, close to tax time, and the stakes are high.
You have decided to use a new structure for your team to help them work through to a solution. Shift/POV is designed to move groups from conflict to collaboration in an hour, and from your assessment of your team’s chemistry, you would like to make sure they have what they need to get the best possible outcome. Shift/POV is structured in three tightly timed discussion rounds, intersected by two Random Factor sessions timed at one minute apiece. Random Factor cards come in three “ suits” – Actions, Observations, and Questions, and are designed to provide insights, introduce risk, and spark creativity. In the first round, participants argue in support of the point of view (POV) they walk in the room with, but in the second round, participants are required to engage the topic from the POV opposite to their starting position.
1. If your team is largely Tentative, they have a strong tendency towards polite, careful communication. Very status-conscious, and largely aligned with the status quo, they can make it hard to elicit authentic input from members. “What do you think of going with a temp agency to cover Janice’s position Mary?” “Oh, I’m fine with whatever the group decides”. When dealing with an issue that can’t be addressed through the usual channels, this group can find itself largely in denial of the problem. “We can cover the work ourselves”. It can also be prone to passive-aggressive behaviors, triangulation, and gossip (out of your hearing, of course) “I can’t believe Janice had the nerve to get pregnant when she did. She knew this would mess things up for us!”
Characteristics of Tentative Groups: Polite, respectful of authority, good with clear rules and instructions, difficult to get authentic response, might be prone to passive-aggressive actions.
Needs: Safe space to be authentic, more experience of themselves as capable of producing innovative solutions. Random Factor cards 1 – 5 in each of the suits will assist in creating this experience for a Tentative group.
2. Stuck on the Surface: These people HATE meetings! You would think they were having a root canal instead of trying to make a decision about coverage. Their attention is clearly somewhere else: the priority task they were working on that this meeting interrupts, all the fires they need to put out…. or just the latest text on their cellphone. The overriding quality here is impatience and the need for speed. What happens when this team encounters a problem with dimension, and a need for thoughtful, nuanced decisions? “Why do we have to decide this? Isn’t there just some policy we can follow? “Why can’t HR do its job and just tell us what to do?” Teams like these want their decision-making quick and clear. Mostly they just want to get out of the room and go back to whatever they were doing before.
Characteristics of Stuck on the Surface Groups: Impatient, distracted, irritable, abrupt, possibly bored.
Needs: Engagement strategies that respect their time, engage their focus, and provide a means to deepen the discussion quickly and effectively. Random Factor cards 6 – 10 in each of the suits will assist in addressing the needs of a Stuck on the Surface group.
3. If you find yourself fighting for control with your team meeting: trying to hear someone’s input, (or just hear yourself think) – your group could be in the Competitive category. It’s always a verbal mosh pit with this team – and sometimes, it’s actually fun! This is not one of those times. Tom is trying to out shout Hank, “Are you crazy?!” – who is trying to best Patricia, “We can’t just hire a temp to cover Janice’s load!” – who is using this meeting to angle for Hank’s position – “You mean that pricy management training you went through last year isn’t helping you solve this issue?” and on it goes. Those faces around the table who are tuned out and looking at their phones? They gave up a long time ago and good luck getting anything authentic out of them because this group only knows how to top each other. You need them to listen and engage. They need you to grab the reins.
Characteristics of Competitive Groups: Loud! Opinionated! Competitive, verbal, and often off-topic. The tone can turn hostile, the language can get rough, and egos can get beaten up. Many meetings with this group can dissolve into battles for status and control.
Needs: An interesting means for the group to focus and engage with an issue that actively encourages deeper listening and mutual respect between members. Random Factor cards 11 – 15 in each of the suits will help create a more balanced experience for a Competitive group.
So, as Facilitator of this group, you have the option of pre-screening and strategically selecting any of the RF’s that will help create the most beneficial decision-making context by “balancing” the overall chemistry of the group.
And back in the real world, Instead of decisions derailed and progress stymied because of malfunctioning communication – your team can begin to streamline the decision making process with deeper engagement, authenticity and mutual respect. The quality of group decisions has to improve with all that in the mix!