who’s here?

EXTRAORDINARY GROUPS:How Ordinary Teams Achieve Amazing Results

A Workshop for Managers

withKathleen Ryan

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Who’s Here?

Name Organization, Role Why are you here?

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Outcomes for Today Awareness of your own experience with an

extraordinary group Understanding of the:

Core concepts of EGsThe role of designated group leaders

Ability to recognize the signs of an EG Plans for what you can do to increase the

‘extraordinary-ness’ of one particular group Ideas for your continuing development

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Flow of the Day Your own experience with an EG Core concepts from field study Putting the core concepts to work Lunch More putting the concepts to work Your continuing development Close by 4:30

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Today’s agenda is designed to meet the Group Needs that you’ll learn about—as a way to create a great group experience for you!

Meet Geoff

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Starting Questions

Why do some groups achieve amazing results while most others do not?

What do extraordinary groups have in common that sorts them from the rest?

How might we create these terrific results more often?

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What’s Your Experience?

1. When you join or are assigned to a group, what do you hope for?

2. Think of an amazing group experience you have had. Identify three things that enabled that experience to be so memorable.

3. What feelings do you associate with that experience?

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Our Field Study

Sixty groups of 2-20, incl. virtual Work, volunteer, personal life Self-identified as “amazing” Interviews with 1-3 members 1.5 to 2 hour phone interviews Open ended questions and stories

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The Core Concepts of Extraordinary Groups

Definition of an Extraordinary Group8 Indicators of Extraordinary GroupsThe Group Needs ModelTransformation in groups

An Extraordinary Group…

Achieves outstanding results while members, individually or collectively experience a profound shift in how they see their world.

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Exercise

Find a partner Briefly describe the essence of your

experience (2-3 sentences) Discuss, What factors enabled your

experiences to be so outstanding?

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Eight Performance Indicators

1. Compelling Purpose

2. Shared Leadership

3. Just-Enough Structure

4. Full Engagement

5. Embracing Difference

6. Unexpected Learning

7. Strengthened Relationships

8. Great Results

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Impact of Amazing Group Experiences

70% had great tangible results Of the groups that sought tangible results,

39% saved or made significant amounts of money

All but two declared great intangible results and being positively changed

Ten people declared the experience “life changing”

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Tangible Results 200 lives saved through

reduction of medical errors

Award winning library built

Breakthrough software developed

Micro-credit extended to 100M of the world’s poorest families

Millions $$$ saved Market share

dominated Championships won by

teams of “not brilliant” players

WMD facilities dismantled and equipment safely moved across continents

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Intangible Results

Learned about one’s self Gained or deepened knowledge/skills Applied to other parts of life Built new or strengthened relationships Increased pride of accomplishment Heightened self confidence Greater sense of community

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Groups in Human History

Thousands of years of living in groups Survive together, perish alone Genetically, instinctively informed to

group It’s easy to relate to a group; it’s hard to

relate to a large organization Groups are the way to get things done

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Variables that Shape a Group

Purpose…task or support Size…typically 2 to 20 Leadership…designated leader or facilitator or

self-organized Meeting…face to face or virtual Sector…paid w ork, volunteer, personal life

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Getting Below the Surface

• Why do we human beings group?• What is it that motivates us to join

with others?

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Six ‘Group Needs’…What We Humans Need from Groups

Accept one’s selfwhile

moving toward own Potential Bond with others while

pursuing common Purpose Understand Reality of the world

while making an Impact

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ACCEPTANCE: Knowing and appreciating myself for who I am.

POTENTIAL:Sensing and growing into my fuller and better self.

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BOND: Connections among us that create a shared sense of identity and belonging.

PURPOSE:The reason why we come together.

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REALITY:Understanding and accepting the world as it is and how it affects us.

IMPACT:Our intention to make a difference and our readiness to act.

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Exercise

With your partner… Do you see the Group Needs reflected in your

outstanding group experience? Talk about the connection between the Group

Needs with your answers to question #1.

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We Need to Achieve and Grow

ACHIEVEMENT GROWTHMaking an IMPACT Self ACCEPTANCE

Accepting REALITY Growing into POTENTIAL

Joining in Common PURPOSE

Creating a BOND with others

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Four Feelings at the Heart of Transformation

Energized !

Connected !

Hopeful !

Changed !

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Transformation

A fundamental shift in individual perceptions

that accelerates behavior change and personal

vitality.

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EnergizedConnectedHopefulChanged

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Back with your Partner…

Discuss you answers to question #3. What connection do you see in your own

experiences and in the four feelings of transformation?

As you look back at your outstanding group experience, were you changed for the better because of it…in some large or small way?

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Getting Below the Surface

Eight Performance Indicators

Four Feelings of Transformation

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Sometimes They Work…and… Sometimes They Don’t!

Staff Meetings • Reviews of Work ProgressGroup Problem Solving • Visioning

Planning Sessions • Information Sharing and Updates Group Discussions • Employee Engagement • Team

Development • Collaborative Decision Making Conflict Management • Brainstorming

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Discussion

What organizational benefits would you anticipate from intentionally investing in the creation of more extraordinary groups at work?

Meeting Group Needs, or Not…Group Needs Results The Group

ExperienceMeet Group Needs (intentionally or not)

•Increases likelihood for great tangible and intangible results and personal transformation

Amazing!

Don’t meet Group Needs •Group does the best it can when it comes to both task achievement and relationship development•Some groups better than others•Less-than-effective dynamics

Ordinary

Contradict Group Needs •Individuals feel directly ‘dissed’: disrupted, disliked, disconnected, disrespected•Destructive conflicts

Ineffective to Awful

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A group’s designated leader has the most power to influence the group’s ability to meet members Group Needs.

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Putting the Core Concepts to Work

Seeing Group NeedsPick a group to improveThe role of leadersPlanning what you will doHow you can continue your development

Exercise:Seeing Through the Lens

of the Group Needs

1. By yourself, look through the behaviors that might indicate that Group Needs are being met; see how many of these you can visualize from your EG experience.

2. Form a trio. Together identify at least additional behavior signs for Group Needs pair you’ve been assigned

3. What occurs to you as a result of talking through this list?

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Picking a Group

Questions

1. Do you care about this group and the members in it?

2. Is this group’s effectiveness important to your success?

3. Is this group achieving its Purpose or desired Impact?

4. Do members seem energized at group meetings?

5. Do members seem connected at group meetings?

6. Do members seem hopeful at group meetings?

7. Are you energized by your group meetings?

8. Do you sense members would like the group experience to move toward extraordinary?

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Think of two groups you lead, that you would like to help improve. For each group using a 1-5 scale (with 5 being high), to what degree…

Assess Your Group through the Group Needs

1. Think about the group you want to improve. Return to “Seeing Through the Lens of the Group Needs” handout.

2. In the column labeled “Assess,” indicate the degree to which each behavioral sign of an extraordinary group is present

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LUNCH

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Who’s at the Center of an Extraordinary Group? Why?

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The Leader The Group Members

The Group MembersThe Leader

OR

What Could You Do to Help Meet the Group Needs of

Others in Your Group?

1. Return to ‘Seeing Through the Lens of the Group Needs’

2. In the ‘Notes’ column, for items that you rated an L or an M, make a note about what you could do to encourage or support others behaving in this way.

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7 Strategies for Leaders(See Chapter 9)

1. Practice ‘facilitative leadership’2. Frame an inspiring Purpose3. Lead with a light touch4. Keep issues discussable5. Manage the world around your group6. Put the right team together7. Design and facilitate meetings with the

Group Needs in mind

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Leadership Self Assessment

1. Think about your normal ways of leading the group you want to help improve.

2. Assess your comfort level with the 7 leadership strategies.

3. Take notes about why you see yourself in this way.

4. Among the 7 strategies, where do you want to grow?

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Growing Into EG Leadership 1. Personal reflection: What specifically do you want to be able

to do better? Why is that important to you? 2. Share your statements3. Find and read the section of Chapter 9 that addresses the

strategy you want to grow toward4. Discuss generally5. For each person, other group members ask

clarifying/probing questions and offer ideas about how to grow in the desired direction

6. Rotate note-taking role7. At the end: What did we experience with one another in this

conversation?

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Where Did the Group Needs Show Up in

Today’s Design?

1. Think through today’s agenda and the activities connected to each topic

2. What happened here that addressed elements of Acceptance, Potential, Bond, Purpose, Reality, and/or Impact?

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Designing a Meeting with the Group Needs in Mind

Time What (topic/activity) How Group Needs

Who Leads

Notes to Self

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Group: Meeting Date/Time:

Meeting Outcomes (think nouns, not verbs): Group Needs to Address:

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Life is too short to spend time in groups that do not fulfill their promise.

EnergizedConnected

HopefulChanged

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www.extraordinarygroups.com/extras/

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