Team Work: Managing the First Weeks

Well the pedestrian stuff is out of the way, and now the group is getting down to the nitty gritty of the team work. They will be entering the initial stage of function as a team. This can be a complex stage. Generally, they are on their best manners. To explain this stage by way of analogy I will tell you a little about myself. I am a foster parent. One of the things they teach new foster parents is when a new child comes to your home that child will initially behave like an angel. After the child feels safe and is willing to risk then you will start seeing challenging behaviors. Opinions start being expressed. Emotions are not always positive. At the present you have a room full of angels. Later in the next stage you will see the more challenging behaviors.

One of the problems with the polite stage is people will agree to practically anything as long as it does not involve blood or losing body parts. You get the picture. However in the next stage they more or less come to their senses. Look at their values and say, “This has to change. What Did I agree to?” One reason they are initially so agreeable is due to they do not want to offend. Yet another is they cannot see around the bend. Here is another story about me. Just this week my plan was to get a house pressure washed and painted. Then down the street came reality knocking on my door. The idea looked good on paper, but life showed up and kicked over my apple cart and my plans were rearranged. The wife figured she needed the only vehicle capable of hauling the stuff I needed – all week. This week the kitchen faucet went “south” So here I am again readjusting my schedule. Also no one, I do mean no one, thinks your plans are as important as you do. Everyone’s priorities are more important than yours – to them. Your plan is to get the proposal to a committee by Wednesday; the boss comes in and dumps something new in your lap; and the person you need to do whatever decides he needs a wellness break takes off on Tuesday and won’t be back until Friday. In the mean time you still have your deadline. Life is messy at stage one no matter how many times we have been there we tend to forget that fact. It is a lot like when a woman gives birth. Nearly none say, “Wow that was fabulous I cannot wait to do this again.” Most swear off giving birth. Then a form of amnesia sets in and 12 or 14 months later having another baby sounds like a good idea. Still another factor that makes us so agreeable in the beginning is we stop thinking about the fact that meaning of words is different from person to person. We fail to remember that “On time,” “late” “right away,” “staying on budget” are invariable going to mean something different to the other members. A married couple I know both claim money is unimportant. What one means is money is no obstacle, if it takes the last dime than that’s okay. Who needs money if we are happy, and I have what I want? The other half is somewhat frugal; her tastes are simple and she generally does not buy anything unless it is replacing something that is broke. Think there is some tension between them? You are right. They both see money and handle it very differently. In fact, they both do value money. One values what it can buy, while the other values saving it. Alas another story to nail the point home. So there you are happily working away on your part of the project. The agreement is the members would share their part of the project on Friday. To most members it means in its completed form. However, two people show up and while they have all the essentials it is not put together in a meaningful way. All of these troubles have their inception in the happy stage. Again they are going to come up as misunderstandings and unhappiness later.

Some of what I talked about can be headed off in the first stage of groups coming together. Obviously the clearer people can be about things upfront the better it will be down the line. So it may not be a bad idea to talk about what it means to be on time, to have something finished, to have something presentable, to be ready, and so on. Similarly, it is good to make an honest as possible appraisal about what can be committed to as a group. Will it really work for everyone to meet at 2 pm Thursdays. Is meeting room number 2 really going to work out for everyone? Will the meeting place and time generally work and if there are times it will not where should the alternate place be? Will there need to be other accommodations (air conditioning, different furniture, windows, etc)? Taking these steps ought to eliminate a lot of trifling stuff, but it will not eliminate everything. There are too many bends in the road, life is too complex to see and account for all the problems that will come up in the next stage. Some things will just need to wait until life makes it obvious something was missed.