Teams

Working Towards Collective Purpose

“If you want to build a ship, don’t herd people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea” ~ Antoine de St. Exupéry

Keys to Teams

Here are our main keys to teams:

• Ensure your team has a shared purpose, interdependent roles, and clear norms for working together.
• Hold your team accountable for missing tasks/deadlines (i.e., you need to make sure they know the task is important).
• Use a snowflake leadership model to foster leadership growth.
• Setup a ladder of engagement to structure how people learn and take leadership within your group.
• Create a culture of debriefing after every meeting/action (i.e., plusses, deltas, and takeaways).

Practices of Effective Teams

Articulate a Clear Purpose 

Encourage your team to identify the clear vision and purpose of your team, along with knowing clearly who you will be organizing and the specific activities within the scope of your team. Marshall Ganz recommends writing a team purpose statement in a format like this – “Our leadership team’s shared purpose is to [What?] by organizing [Who?] through [How?].”

Set Team Norms

Norms are the shared practices your team will exhibit while working together. Break them down into:

• Ground rules (i.e., things the group cannot change or at least has to consider due to their impact on the group).
• Safe Space/Brave Space norms (e.g., around language, action, or individual needs).
• Operational norms (e.g., communication, decision-making, accountability, meetings, etc.).

The New York Times’ series, Managing a Successful Team, notes that one of the most important things is that “most problems on teams can be solved by colleagues being upfront with each other, and having respectful, frank conversations face-to-face.”

Have a plan

In the New York Times’ series on Managing a Successful Team they note the importance of highlighting clear and measurable goals for what you want to accomplish and also creating a path on how to achieve them. Also, to keep your team on track for your plan, keep these things in mind:

• Focus on clear goals and three priorities (and no more). The NYT notes that it is the role of the team’s leader(s) to determine those priorities and goals.
• Use shared metrics to keep teams on track. The NYT notes the importance of shared metrics that can demonstrate whether you are on track for success. 
• Remind people of the plan and priorities. The NYT notes we cannot just say the plan and priority once, we have to consistently remind folks. 

Adopt a “Snowflake Leadership Model” 

(from Organizing: People, Power, Change)

The “snowflake leadership model” as articulated by Marshall Ganz is a way of organizing teams to allow team members to focus on accomplishing common goals, but allowing each member autonomy on how to accomplish the goal. These teams allow for shared responsibility, clear communication, and focus on leadership development. 

For example, in a traditional hierarchy model (i.e., a bottleneck model) all decisions have to go through one person or a small group. In a snowflake structure, people take responsibility for different areas that follow team norms/goals (e.g., the communications coordinator can give approval on all communications items, without going to someone above them. Or a local neighborhood team can modify the template canvass script). 

Keep Team Sizes to Around Four to Eight

While you may have larger full team meetings, multiple studies have shown that once you get over nine people on a team then there will be at least some breakdown in productivity. So consider having team breakouts or different levels of teams if you have lots of people involved.

Consistently Use and Refer to Task Management System

It is imperative you know what needs to be accomplished, who is accountable for getting it done, the due date, notes, etc. You need to choose a system that works for your baseline of people. A simple TADDS system on a spreadsheet is an option:

• Task
• Accountable
• Due Date
• Status 

Create a Culture of Accountability 

Remember, the reason you hold someone accountable means the task is important, and their contribution matters. If you do not hold them accountable, people may believe their work does not matter. 

Culture of Feedback and Learning

It is essential to give frequent and ongoing feedback (e.g., leaving questions and plusses/deltas on every document or plan folks send, reviewing plusses/deltas after each meeting/action, and giving targeted feedback in 1-on-1 meetings).

Do the following after every meeting/action:

• Plusses (i.e., areas going well)
• Deltas (i.e., areas to change or improve)
• Key learnings (i.e., what you learned)

Measure Team Progress

Marshall Ganz notes that every team should make sure to measure their progress. He recommends looking at the following three key metrics:

• Output towards your mission/purpose: How successful are you in winning your campaign/mission goals?
• Capacity building with your team/organization: Is your team improving how it works together over time? 
• Leadership development of individuals: Do the people on the team learn and grow through being a member of the team? 

Recognize People and Celebrate

Build a culture of constant recognition and acknowledgement of people’s effort. Find creative ways for people to recognize each other and make sure there are chances for peer and group recognition. 

Engaging People With Your Team And Organization

Why People Stay Involved 

Keep in mind these key reasons people get involved/stay involved with a group or effort (i.e., we care about the issues, the people, the learning, and the impact):

• Interest in the issue. This is often the primary reason people initially get involved with anything, because they care about the topic (e.g., a specific policy, a candidate, etc.). However, the issue on its own will not keep them involved, but it will get them in the door.
• Enjoy the community/the other people involved. This is often the primary reason someone will stay with a group because they care about the other individuals on the team. So remember to not only build a 1-on-1 connection with the individual, but to connect them with others in the group.
• Feel they are improving their skills (and/or resume building). If people feel like they are learning and growing while being part of the group, they are likely to keep showing up. 
• Make an impact. If people feel like they are making a difference and have a sense of accomplishment, then they are very likely to keep on coming back. 

Leadership Tests

The Organizing: People, Power, Change manual notes the idea of “Passing leadership tests” as a way to determine whether someone is ready to take on additional responsibility. Often these are used when evaluating new or relatively new volunteers. Some examples include: hosting a house meeting, setting up a meeting with their legislator, or completing a task for an issue campaign. 

Ways to Keep People Engaged for the Long Haul

Here are some ways to ensure your teams stay invested over time:

• Recognize and celebrate contributions, good work, improvement, etc. Oftentimes, we focus on ways to change, instead of appreciating the good work we all do. Encouraging folks is incredibly important. 
• Respond to others’ ideas and contributions. When people know the work they do will result in real changes and action, they are more likely to stay. Make sure people have opportunities to contribute and work on new ideas.
• Ensure accountability to make sure people know their work matters and that it is an essential part of the organization. If people feel like their work matters, they will be even more likely to fulfill their obligations and tasks. 
• Give/receive coaching feedback to help understand how to improve efficiency at an individual and organizational level. 

Example Facilitation Agenda

• 15 min – Introductions and Session Overview
• 15 min- What Makes a Great Team
  • Ask participants to write down as many ideas as they can in 2-minutes of “what makes a great team?.” Then do a go around with each person naming 1 thing. Flipchart key themes. Then share story of being on a great team.
  • Sharing other best practices and stories of great teams – Group brainstorm 
• 15 min – Principles of an Effective Leadership Team
  • Small group breakouts – Have folks discuss effective leadership teams and what’s worked for them and where they have challenges
  • Then share as a full group
• 15 min – How to Keep Volunteers Involved
  • Group discussion – Effective ways to keep volunteers involved for the long-term?
  • Then go over other ideas
• 30 min – Breakouts: Leadership Team Case Studies (below)
• 10 min – Reflection (plusses, deltas, key learnings)

Case Studies

1. Starting a New Issue Campaign Team

You are part of a group that’s about to start a new issue campaign team. You’ve got 6 other committed people. What should the team do at these beginning stages to help it succeed? 

2. Unsuccessful in passing legislation

Your team has a clear purpose and roles, has been working together for over a year, got some press coverage of the issue, but in the end the General Assembly didn’t even vote on the legislation (though it did make it out of the Senate Committee). How do you keep your team motivated to keep working? What should you do in general to prepare for multi-year issue campaigns?

3. Only 1-2 people are really doing much to help the campaign 

Your issue campaign technically has over 100 people on its “list,” but only 4-5 people show up to meetings and even then it’s usually the same 1-2 people who take on tasks. What do you think happened that led to this happening? How can you prevent it in the future and how could you support this team to get back on track?

4. Lots of things going on, but few goals accomplished

Your team has been really busy having meetings, hosting events, getting mentions in the press, but you are getting the sense you aren’t making progress towards your goal of passing your piece of legislation. It feels like you did when you originally launched the campaign. What do you think happened and what should the team consider putting into place to make sure they have more success going forward? What are some intermediary goals to passing legislation that are worth pursuing?

5. Missed tasks

One of your team members comes to every meeting and seems very engaged. They often volunteer for tasks, but very often they don’t get the tasks done on-time or at all. How should you work with this individual? What practices or norms should the team consider to help address issues like this? What can you do to help develop this individual’s leadership and accountability?