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5 Steps to Fix Any Problem at Work | Anne Morriss | TED

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5 Steps to Fix Any Problem at Work | Anne Morriss | TED

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5 Steps to Fix Any Problem at Work | Anne Morriss | TED

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It's no surprise that trust is at the core of high-performing teams. But conversations about cultivating trust at work often focus on the relationship between managers and employees. As important - if not more so - is establishing trust between teammates. To understand how the best teams build trust among themselves, researchers interviewed 1,000 U.S.-based office workers and identified five key behaviors that set these teams apart: 1) They don't leave collaboration to chance; 2) They keep colleagues in the loop; 3) They share credit; 4) They believe disagreements make them better; and 5) They proactively address tension.

If you're like most seasoned leaders, you've heard a lot in recent years about the value of trust.

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It's no surprise that trust is at the core of high-performing teams. But conversations about cultivating trust at work often focus on the relationship between managers and employees. As important - if not more so - is establishing trust between teammates.

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Conflict Management: Definition, Strategies, and Styles

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Conflict Management: Definition, Strategies, and Styles

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Conflict management is an umbrella term for the way we identify and handle conflicts fairly and efficiently. The goal is to minimize the potential negative impacts that can arise from disagreements and increase the odds of a positive outcome.

At home or work, disagreements can be unpleasant, and not every dispute calls for the same response. Learn to choose the right conflict management style, and you'll be better able to respond constructively whenever disputes arise.

What is conflict management?

Conflict management refers to the way that you handle disagreements. On any given day, you may have to deal with a dispute between you and another individual, your family members, or fellow employees.

Although there are many reasons people disagree, many conflicts revolve around:

5 conflict management styles

It's human to deal with conflict by defaulting to what's comfortable. According to University of Pittsburgh professors of management Ken Thomas and Ralph Kilmann, most people take one of two approaches to conflict management, assertiveness or cooperativeness [ 1]. From these approaches come five modes or styles of conflict management:

1. Accommodating

An accommodating mode of conflict management tends to be high in cooperation but low in assertiveness. When you use this style, you resolve the disagreement by sacrificing your own needs and desires for those of the other party.

This management style might benefit your work when conflicts are trivial and you need to move on quickly. At home, this style works when your relationship with your roommate, partner, or child is more important than being right. Although accommodation might be optimal for some conflicts, others require a more assertive style.

2. Avoiding

When avoiding, you try to dodge or bypass a conflict. This style of managing conflicts is low in assertiveness and cooperativeness. Avoidance is unproductive for handling most disputes because it may leave the other party feeling like you don't care. Also, if left unresolved, some conflicts become much more troublesome.

However, an avoiding management style works in situations where:

You need time to think through a disagreement.

You have more pressing problems to deal with first.

The risks of confronting a problem outweigh the benefits.

3. Collaborating

A collaborating conflict management style demands a high level of cooperation from all parties involved. Individuals in a dispute come together to find a respectful resolution that benefits everyone. Collaborating works best if you have plenty of time and are on the same power level as the other parties involved. If not, you may be better off choosing another style.

4. Competing

When you use a competitive conflict management style (sometimes called 'forcing'), you put your own needs and desires over those of others. This style is high in assertiveness and low in cooperation. In other words, it's the opposite of accommodating. While you might think this style would never be acceptable, it's sometimes needed when you are in a higher position of power than other parties and need to resolve a dispute quickly.

5. Compromising

Compromising demands moderate assertiveness and cooperation from all parties involved. With this type of resolution, everyone gets something they want or need. This style of managing conflict works well when time is limited. Because of time constraints, compromising isn't always as creative as collaborating, and some parties may come away less satisfied than others.

Learn more about these conflict management approaches in this video from Rice University:

Tips for choosing a conflict management style

The key to successfully managing conflict is choosing the right style for each situation. For instance, it might make sense to use avoidance or accommodation to deal with minor issues, while critical disputes may call for a more assertive approach, like a competitive conflict management style. When you're wondering which method of conflict management to choose, ask yourself the following questions:

How important are your needs and wants?

What will happen if your needs and wants aren't met?

How much do you value the other person/people involved?

How much value do you place on the issue involved?

Have you thought through the consequences of using differing styles?

Do you have the time and energy to address the situation right now?

The answers to these questions can help you decide which style to pick in a particular situation based on what you've learned about the various conflict management styles.

Tips and strategies for conflict management

Conflicts inevitably pop up when you spend time with other people, whether at work or home. However, when conflicts aren't resolved, they can lead to various negative consequences. These include:

Hurt feelings

Resentment and frustration

Loneliness and depression

Passive aggression and communication issues

Increased stress and stress-related health problems

Reduced productivity

Staff turnover

Conflict is a part of life. Knowing a few strategies for managing conflict can help keep your home or workplace healthy. Here are a few tips to keep in mind when conflict arises:

Acknowledge the problem.

If someone comes to you with a dispute that seems trivial to you, remember it may not be trivial to them. Actively listen to help the other person feel heard, then decide what to do about the situation.

Gather the necessary information.

You can't resolve a conflict unless you've investigated all sides of the problem. Take the time you need to understand all the necessary information. This way, you'll choose the best conflict management style and find an optimal resolution.

Set guidelines.

Whether discussing a conflict with a spouse or intervening for two employees, setting guidelines before you begin is essential. Participants should agree to speak calmly, listen, and try to understand the other person's point of view. Agree up front that if the guidelines aren't followed, the discussion will end and resume later.

Keep emotion out of the discussion.

An angry outburst may end a conflict, but it's only temporary. Talk things out calmly to avoid having the dispute pop up again.

Be decisive.

Once you've discussed a dispute and evaluated the best approach, take action on the solution you've identified. Letting others in on your decision lets them know you care and are moving forward.

Build conflict management skills today

Learn key conflict types and strategies to resolve them. Enroll in the Conflict Management Specialization from UC Irvine today to build your skills.

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Conflict Management: Definition, Strategies, and Styles

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Learn how to manage disputes at home or work using various conflict management styles and strategies.

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Herzlich willkommen zur Learning-Journey "Teamentwicklung und Teamphasen" für Führungskräfte! Wir freuen uns, dass Sie an dieser Reise teilnehmen, um Ihre Fähigkeiten in der Teamentwicklung und im Management der verschiedenen Teamphasen zu erweitern.

Dieses Programm ist als Selbstlernprogramm konzipiert, das Ihnen die Flexibilität bietet, in Ihrem eigenen Tempo zu lernen. Sie können sich auf die Bereiche konzentrieren, in denen Sie die meisten Verbesserungen benötigen, und die Inhalte zu Zeiten durchgehen, die für Sie am besten passen. Dies ist eine kosteneffektive Methode, um Ihre Kenntnisse und Fähigkeiten zu erweitern.

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Lesen Sie den Einführungsartikel zur Teamentwicklung.

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Your team is amazing. It works at the highest level of efficiency and reacts responsively at lightning speed in every situation. At times where additional effort is required, your team members step in and out of one another's roles deftly and at a moment's notice... right?

If this is not an accurate description of your team right now, you'll be encouraged to know that it could be very soon.

Developing your team is an important part of your job, whether you're a new team leader or an experienced manager. And it doesn't apply only to new hires. People need training and support throughout their careers - both as individuals and as teams - to develop their skills and to continue to work effectively.

If you work in a small or medium-sized organization, you may perform the roles of recruiter, trainer and team leader. The resources in this article can help you to perform to the best of your ability in each of these roles. If you work within a large organization, the Human Resources or Learning and Development department will likely provide development opportunities for your team.

As a manager, however, you are in a great position to know how your people work, to identify what training they need to perform better, and to work closely with HR or L&D to deliver the right training to the right people at the right time.

In this article, we'll look at several areas of team development, and explore some practical tips and tools to help you get the best out of your people and achieve your objectives.

Identifying Training Needs

The hardest part of developing your team can be knowing where to begin. Start by understanding your team members' developmental needs. Review and update their job descriptions, talk to them, and watch them working.

Often, just asking the right questions can reveal knowledge and skill gaps in your team. For example, what is the key part of a person's role? And what is your team's most urgent performance issue?

This is particularly helpful if your workplace doesn't have a culture of performance management - that is a system of regularly appraising and improving people's performance. If your team members are not used to having their performance appraised and developed in this way, they may view it as a negative judgment of their competency. Gathering specific information about what they need to be successful in their roles will help them to feel positive about developing themselves.

It can be helpful to appraise yourself in this way too. You may identify areas where you can improve that will, in turn, help your team to grow.

Choosing the Right Training Methods

Now that you've identified areas where your people can improve, you can choose training to suit their needs. However, finding the right balance between different ways of learning that will suit everyone can be a challenge.

Some of the more common ways to improve people's skills include On-the-Job Training, where someone works alongside a more experienced colleague; Instructor-Led Training, where whole groups can be taught in a classroom; and Active Training, which uses games and role-playing to keep learners engaged.

Coaching

Specific coaching models, such as GROW, allow you to do this. GROW stands for Goal, Reality, Options, and Will, and creates a structure for your discussion. The POSITIVE model can help people to find purpose in their work, while the PRACTICE model focuses on finding solutions to problems.

Team Building Activities

Team building exercises can be fun and effective ways to improve teamwork and identify people's strengths and weaknesses. If you decide to run one, you should select the exercise very carefully, so that it meets your training objective.

Some team building activities encourage creativity and develop leadership, while others strengthen problem-solving abilities and build your team's planning and strategy skills.

Delegating Work

If you have not delegated tasks that your team has the potential to perform, make a list prioritizing your most important tasks and delegate those at the lower end. Your people can work their way up the list as they gain experience.

When you delegate, you will need to manage the process well to achieve the best outcome for your people. Hand over a task carefully and help the team member who takes it on to succeed, by giving them support and guidance to complete it. Otherwise, your team members may not want to take on other tasks in the future.

When you delegate successfully, you can focus on adding value with your own work. Taking on a new challenge will improve your people's confidence and give them a great sense of empowerment. (Find out how good your delegation skills are with our quiz.)

Managing Talent

Your HR department may have a formal talent management plan in place for identifying and developing people with key skills, abilities and potential across your organization. As a manager, you can identify members of your own team with specific talents, help to retain them, and develop their abilities. You can work with HR to hire staff with the right skills, and support their development with an effective performance management system.

Succession Planning

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Developing Your Team - Improving Team Performance

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You want to help your people increase their skills and achieve their goals, but do you know what will improve their performance?

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Machen Sie sich mit den Tuckman-Phasen der Teamentwicklung vertraut.

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Tuckman Phasenmodell einfach erklärt

Das Tuckman Phasenmodell beschreibt die Entwicklung, die ein Team bei einem gemeinsamen Projekt durchläuft. Es setzt sich aus den 5 Phasen Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing und Adjourning zusammen. Sie beschreiben den Lebenszyklus eines Teams, von der Gründung des Teams bis zu dessen Auflösung.

direkt ins Video springen

Die Teamentwicklung nach Tuckman soll Führungskräfte bei der Arbeit mit ihrem Team unterstützen. Es hilft dabei:

Orientierung zu geben

das Teambuilding zu erleichtern

konstruktive Konflikte zu führen

gut organisiert zu sein

ideenreich und flexibel zu arbeiten

konstruktives und nützliches Feedback zu geben.

Übrigens: Das Phasenmodell nach Tuckman ist auch unter den Bezeichnungen Teamuhr nach Tuckman oder der Teamentwicklungsuhr bekannt, da es wie ein Kreislauf funktioniert.

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Tuckman Phasenmodell * Teamentwicklung nach Tuckman

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Phasenmodell nach Tuckman einfach erklärt ✅ 5 Phasen Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, Adjourning ✅ Teamentwicklungsuhr ✅ mit kostenlosem Video

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21 Fun Trust-Building Activities To Use With Your Team

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21 Fun Trust-Building Activities To Use With Your Team

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Lernen und üben Sie diese vertrauensbildenden Gruppenaktivitäten.

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Conflict Resolution: Key Skills to Clear Up Conflict

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Conflict Resolution: Key Skills to Clear Up Conflict

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Where there are people, there is conflict. We each have our values, needs and habits, so it's easy to misunderstand or irritate one another - or, worse, to fall into conflict.

Surprisingly, conflict can often drive meaningful change. But left unresolved, it can lead to feelings of dissatisfaction, stress, hopelessness, and even depression. These feelings can manifest themselves in behaviors such as aggression, emotional withdrawal, breakdowns in communications and personal relations, and even job resignation. Unchecked, conflict can also result in poor decision making, and can grind productivity to a halt.

The good news is that not only can conflict be resolved, it can also bring hidden issues into the light, strengthen relationships, and spark innovation - so long as you don't try to ignore it!

Contents

What Is Conflict Resolution?

Conflict has many sources. It is born out of differences, and can arise in any situation where people are required to interact with one another. Conflict resolution is a set of skills that you can learn and develop to move from conflict into collaboration. It involves communication and empathy.

Conflict is usually due to problems that can easily be resolved if they are addressed at the first sign of trouble. However, when ignored, these seemingly small issues can quickly escalate and prevent the individuals from coming to an effective agreement.

If you notice conflict, it is extremely important to act and resolve the situation before it spirals out of control. Don't wait for someone else to make the first move - that might never happen, and your conflict will likely worsen.

Types of Conflict

Generally, conflicts fall into two categories:

Personality conflict or disagreements between individuals. These clashes are driven and perpetuated by emotions such as anger, stress and frustration. Sometimes they're caused by perceptions about the other person's character, motives, values, and personality. These conflicts are based on emotions. Since people's personalities aren't likely to change, these conflicts are unlikely to dissipate without being dealt with consciously.

Substantive conflict is tangible and task-related, such as conflicts over ideas, directions, decision making or pursuing a course of action. This type of conflict can be handled by addressing the specific problem or subject. When addressed effectively, this type of conflict can lead to concrete solutions that positively impact the wider context.

Causes of Conflict

Some of the most common causes of conflict are:

Unclear responsibilities. Some people may feel they do more work than others or resent those who seem to have fewer responsibilities. Blame and frustration can build due to duplicated work or unfinished tasks. There may also be uncertainty over who is responsible for specific duties or has the authority to manage them. Parties may claim or reject the responsibility, which can cause conflict.

Competition for resources. Time, money, materials, equipment, and skillsets are all valuable, but finite, resources. Competition for them can lead to conflict between individuals or groups.

Different interests. People prioritize different personal or professional goals. This can become frustrating when these goals are delayed by others with competing responsibilities. When the ability to accomplish goals and objectives depends on the cooperation of others, this increases the opportunity for conflict.

Signs of Conflict

To resolve a conflict, you need to recognize that it's happening. Although signs of conflict are often quite subtle, you can detect them simply by being aware of interactions. Things to look out for include:

Body language, such as crossed arms or leaning away from people.

Facial expressions, such as frowning or gazing down.

Tone of voice, such as cutting, disparaging or dismissive ways of speaking.

It's easiest to pick up on tensions when you know people well, but be attentive: some signs are fairly common. On the other hand, avoid jumping to false conclusions. For example, some neurodiverse colleagues may feel uncomfortable making direct eye contact, while others may be following their own cultural norm for politeness. Use your emotional intelligence and communication skills to find out what's really going on!

To learn more about developing your conflict resolution skills, watch this video.

Conflict Resolution Skills

When conflict arises, these skills will help you to resolve disagreements quickly and effectively.

1. Raise the Issue Early

Keeping quiet only lets resentment fester. Equally, speaking with other people first can fuel rumors and misunderstandings. So, whether you're battling over the thermostat or feel that you're being micromanaged, speak directly with the other party.

2. Manage Your Emotions

So, stay calm, collect yourself, and ask, "What is it that I want to achieve here?", "What are the issues I'm having?" and "What is it that I would like to see?"

3. Show Empathy

When you talk to someone about a conflict, it's natural to want to state your own case, rather than hear out the other side. But when everyone does this, the conversation goes in circles.

Instead, invite the other party to describe their position, ask how they think they might resolve the issue, and listen with empathy.

Be aware of and sensitive to each person's individual situation. There will likely be triggers that anger or upset them, so tread carefully around these subjects.

Putting yourself in the other person's shoes is an essential part of negotiation. This helps you to build mutual respect and understanding - and to achieve an outcome that satisfies both parties.

4. Practice Active Listening

Before getting the conversation underway, set some ground rules. All parties should listen to one another, respect one another's points of view, and refrain from interrupting each other.

Paraphrase the other party's points to show that you're listening and understand them.

Look out for non-verbal signals that contradict what they are saying, such as a hesitant tone behind positive words. Bring these out into the open sensitively to address them together.

Use appropriate body language, such as nodding your head, to show interest and to make it clear that you're following them.

5. Acknowledge Criticism

So, keep an open mind and use criticism to help you to identify areas to improve, perform better next time, and to grow.

6. Make Concrete Plans

Try to find solid commitments and actions that address the cause(s) of friction and are agreeable to all parties. Make sure each person takes responsibility for seeing through those actions that are relevant to them. It's also vital to follow up, to make sure the agreed actions are being taken and that they are helping to resolve the initial conflict.

Conflict Resolution Strategies

Conflict management consultants Peter and Susan Glaser recommend three simple, but powerful steps that can help develop your conflict resolution skills. The steps are:

1. Prove that you understand their side.

2. Acknowledge that you are part of the problem.

3. Try again if the conversation didn't go well.

You can hear the Glasers talking more about the models and strategies that form part of their Breakthrough Conflict program in our exclusive Expert Interview with them.

Let's apply each step to a fictional conflict scenario.

Conflict Resolution Example

Imagine that the heads of two departments are in conflict. Product manager Sayid changed the price of a product without letting marketing manager Gayanne know. As a result, the marketing team sent out an email to customers with incorrect prices. They had to send a follow-up email apologizing for the error and making good on the price some customers paid for the product.

1. Prove That You Understand Their Side

Instead of blaming Sayid, Gayanne asks him how he came to make the decision. She uses her questioning and listening skills to get the information she needs and to show that she's truly hearing Sayid's response.

As Susan Glaser says in our Expert Interview, "Only when you believe that I understand you, will you be willing to try to understand my perspective."

2. Acknowledge That You Are Part of the Problem

If you're in conflict with someone, it's unlikely you're free of all blame. So admit your part in it. This leads to mutual trust, a better understanding of one another, and makes it easier to find a solution.

In our scenario, Gayanne could say to Sayid, "I should have shared our marketing strategy and email send dates with you. I'll do that right away."

3. Try Again if the Conversation Doesn't Go Well

Despite the progress they've made, relations between the two managers remain frosty, so Sayid calls Gayanne the following week. He says, "I was thinking about our conversation, and I'd like to try again because I'm not happy with how it went. I've had time to take your points on board, and I'd like to talk about how we can work together better going forward."

Remember that you get more than one shot at resolving a conflict. Susan Glaser says, "There's a myth that if we have a bad conversation with someone it's over. In fact, 'do overs' are powerful."

Key Points

Conflict happens every day. The biggest mistake you can make when dealing with one is to do nothing. Unresolved tensions can affect the health and performance of people and organizations.

So, hone these six conflict resolution skills to pre-empt, manage and fix conflicts:

1. Raise the issue early.

2. Manage your emotions.

3. Show empathy.

4. Practice active listening.

5. Acknowledge criticism.

6. Make concrete plans.

Then try the Glasers' steps to resolve issues together:

1. Prove that you understand their side.

2. Acknowledge that you are part of the problem.

3. Try again if the conversation doesn't go well.

In the process, you may even discover positives such as improved processes, strengthened relationships, and innovation!

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Conflict Resolution: Key Skills to Clear Up Conflict

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Understand the types and causes of conflict, and how to resolve it with a handy guided example.

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Nehmen Sie an einem Selbstbewertungs-Quiz teil, um Ihren Führungsstil zu bestimmen.

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When we lead for the first time, we might adopt a style of leadership that we've experienced from someone else, or that we've heard or read about. If it seems to work, we'll likely stick with it - in effect, it becomes "our" style.

But there are many approaches available to us, and a good leader is able to adapt their style according to the situation and the people involved.

Choose the right leadership style to suit the situation.

This quiz will help you to identify the style that you naturally lean toward, and introduce you to alternative approaches that you might find it helpful to develop, and the occasions when they may be appropriate.

We've based our questions on psychologist Kurt Lewin's Leadership Styles Framework - a model developed in the 1930s that is still popular and useful today.

What's Your Leadership Style?

Instructions

For each question, complete the statement by choosing one of the three options: A, B or C. Please answer according to how you would behave in reality, rather than how you think you should behave. When you're finished, please click the "Calculate My Total" button at the bottom of the test, and go on to read the guidance that follows.

12-20

You most commonly adopt an authoritarian or autocratic leadership style. You rarely consult your team members and, instead, tend to tell them what you want, when you want it, and how you want it done.

This style works well in a crisis, when a task must be completed quickly. However, you'll likely demoralize, demotivate and aggravate people if you use it all the time. This can translate into high absenteeism and turnover rates. You'll also miss out on a wealth of ideas, thereby stifling innovation and creativity. Read more below.

21-27

You lean toward a democratic or participative style of leadership. You tend to set the parameters for the work and have the final say on decisions, but you actively involve your team members in the process.

This style can build trust between you and your people, as they'll likely feel engaged and valued. But it's not great in a high-pressure situation that requires a fast turnaround, as it will slow you down. And, if you dislike disagreement or conflict, you might struggle with how people respond to consultation. Read more below.

28-36

Your default leadership style is probably delegating or "laissez faire." You give your team members free rein in how they work toward their goals.

This is an ideal approach when your people are highly skilled and motivated, and when you're working with contractors and freelancers who you trust. But if a team member is inexperienced or untrustworthy, or if you lose sight of what's going on, this approach can backfire catastrophically. Read more below.

Do you believe that you can adapt your style? Harvard University professor Ron Heifetz and leadership experts David Rooke and William Torbert say that you can. So let's look in more depth at Lewin's leadership styles, their strengths and risks, and how you might become more skillful in using them.

Authoritarian, Autocratic Leadership

This approach is helpful when your team needs to follow a process "to the letter," to manage a significant risk. It's also effective when you need to be hands-on with people who miss deadlines, in departments where conflict is an issue, or in teams that rely on quick decisions being made.

But you need to be aware that relying on control and punishment to maintain standards will likely drive people away. Similarly, if you always demand that your team works at top speed, you can end up exhausting everyone.

Instead, you can show respect for team members by providing the rationale for your decisions. And they will more likely comply with your expectations if you take the trouble to explain Why the Rules Are There.

You can improve your ability to "lead from the front" by Planning for a Crisis, Thinking on Your Feet, and making good decisions under pressure. But be sure to balance these skills with an awareness of their potential negative impact on creativity, ideas gathering, motivation, and trust within the team.

Being too autocratic can also mean that you'll find it hard to stand back from the detail and take a wider, more strategic view.

Tip:

Did you achieve your leadership role thanks to your technical expertise? If so, you'll likely be used to getting things right, adding value, and having people's respect. But your soft skills might be lacking, so don't be afraid to listen and collaborate more.

Democratic, Participative Leadership

With this approach, you set goals, guide team discussions, and make the final decision. But you also acknowledge that your people can have valuable insight into a problem or process, so you actively consult them. As a result, you'll likely gain creative input and fresh ideas that you wouldn't have come up with if you were working alone.

You might wonder how to manage differing opinions in the team, once you've invited participation in this way. Your goal is to build a culture in which people can have healthy debates with one another. So:

Be aware that processes could become dangerously slow if you involve your team members in every decision. You'll need to judge carefully whether you need to adopt a more autocratic approach, even if it's only briefly.

The Delegating, "Laissez Faire" Leader

"Laissez faire" is a French phrase adopted into English that means, "Let (people) do (as they choose)." It describes a policy of leaving situations to run their own course, without interfering.

By adopting this style of leadership, you empower your team to make decisions and to organize its own processes, with little or no guidance. The danger of this approach is that situations can collapse into chaos if your people have low motivation or poor skills. It can work, however, if they are experienced, knowledgeable, confident, creative, and driven, or if deadlines are flexible and processes are simple.

Be in no doubt, though, that as the leader you will still be held accountable for the outcome! So you might want to organize team decision making processes to support your people while you take a "hands off" approach. Just be sure to delegate the right task to the right person, as a mismatch could mean that the whole team fails.

Avoid becoming too remote, even with a high-performing, highly autonomous team. Change can occur at any time in business, so your organization's requirements for your team might shift after your initial brief. If this happens, stay in touch with your people, and communicate clearly and promptly. Remember, you can offer your support without becoming a micromanager!

Tip:

Consistently excellent and long-lasting teams tend to have transformational leaders. These leaders have high expectations for, and set a fine example to, their people. And they inspire them to reach for the seemingly impossible.

Further Reading:

We have numerous resources on leadership styles and approaches in our Leadership Skills toolkit. You might find the following articles helpful:

Key Points

We all tend toward one leadership style more than another, due to our personal preferences, abilities, role models, and more.

But one approach doesn't fit all scenarios: some situations and people call for a fast, firm, top-down approach, while others flourish with shared responsibilities and the freedom to plan, decide and act.

You and your team will likely perform better if you develop a wide set of styles to apply as appropriate.

Kurt Lewin's model expresses this range of styles in relatively simple terms, from Authoritarian or Autocratic, through Democratic or Participative, to Delegating or "Laissez Faire."

Transformational leadership is the best approach for most situations.

Note:

This assessment has not been validated and is intended for illustrative purposes only. It is just one of many that help you evaluate your abilities in a wide range of important career skills. Click here for other self-tests.

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What's Your Leadership Style?: - Learn About the Strengths and Weaknesses of the Way You Like to Lead

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Use this quiz to discover your preferred leadership style, and to develop other ways to lead people successfully in different situations.

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Nutzen Sie die Vorlagen und Checklisten, um die Leistung Ihres Teams zu überwachen.

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When teams have clarity into the work getting done, there's no telling how much more they can accomplish in the same amount of time. Try Smartsheet for free, today.

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Free Employee Performance Review Templates

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Choose from 13 free templates for Excel and Word, including annual performance review, professional development plan and employee evaluation forms.

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Verständnis der Teamphasen: Sie werden die verschiedenen Phasen der Teamentwicklung nach Tuckman (Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing und Adjourning) kennenlernen und verstehen, wie Sie Ihr Team durch jede dieser Phasen führen können.

Förderung der Kommunikation: Erfahren Sie, wie Sie effektive Kommunikation in Ihrem Team fördern und Kommunikationsbarrieren überwinden.

Aufbau von Vertrauen und Zusammenarbeit: Entdecken Sie Strategien, um Vertrauen zu schaffen und die Zusammenarbeit in Ihrem Team zu stärken.

Konfliktlösung: Erlernen Sie Methoden zur erfolgreichen Konfliktbewältigung und -lösung in Teams.

Anpassung des Führungsstils: Verstehen Sie, wie verschiedene Führungsstile die Teamentwicklung beeinflussen und wie Sie Ihren Stil anpassen können, um optimale Ergebnisse zu erzielen.

Leistungsbewertung: Erfahren Sie, wie Sie die Leistung Ihres Teams überwachen und konstruktives Feedback geben können.

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Teamentwicklung ist ein entscheidender Faktor für den Erfolg jeder Organisation. Gut entwickelte Teams arbeiten effektiver, sind kreativer und resilienter gegenüber Herausforderungen. Als Führungskraft spielt Ihre Fähigkeit, Teams zu entwickeln und durch verschiedene Phasen zu führen, eine zentrale Rolle bei der Erreichung von Unternehmenszielen und der Förderung einer positiven Arbeitskultur. Diese Learning-Journey wird Ihnen die Werkzeuge und das Wissen vermitteln, um Ihre Teams erfolgreich zu führen und weiterzuentwickeln.

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The Importance of Reflective Leadership in Business

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The Importance of Reflective Leadership in Business

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Effective leadership is essential to business success. As an organizational leader, you not only guide decision-making but create your company's culture, retain its talent, and move it toward bigger, better things.

Your leadership style -the behavioral patterns consistent across your decision-making-influences your impact on your organization and team. One of the most beneficial styles to adopt is reflective leadership.

If you want to learn more about reflective leadership's role in business, here's an overview of its components, why it's effective, and how to become a reflective leader.

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What Is Reflective Leadership?

Reflective leadership involves self-awareness, introspection, and continuous learning and growth to make better decisions, enhance leadership skills, and improve team performance.

"Reflective leadership requires the continuous practice of reflection over time," says Harvard Business School Professor Nien-hê Hsieh in the online course Leadership, Ethics, and Corporate Accountability. "This allows you to regularly examine and re-evaluate your decisions and responsibilities to practice, broaden, and deepen your skills, and to apply this knowledge when analyzing present situations."

Reflective leadership also enables you to help your team grow.

"Reflective leadership is about helping others on your team or in your organization," Hsieh says. "It's about helping them develop their own skills in awareness, judgment, and action."

In Leadership, Ethics, and Corporate Accountability, Hsieh delves into the reflective leadership model, a framework for conceptualizing your responsibilities as an ethical leader.

The model has four components:

Awareness: Recognize your legal, economic, and ethical responsibilities to stakeholders.

Judgment: Consider biases and shared concepts that influence your decision-making.

Action: Act on your decisions in an accountable, consistent way.

Reflection: Reflect on all three components throughout the process to learn from past experiences.

"The reflective leadership model involves not only reflection on business decisions but also continuous reflection on your own personal beliefs, goals, and commitments," Hsieh says in the course. "These aspects of self are often significant influences on your decisions and internal guides when navigating difficult situations."

The Importance of Reflective Leadership

Before diving into the importance of reflective leadership, it's critical to note the pitfalls of being an inadequate leader.

According to recruitment services company Zippia, 79 percent of employees leave their companies because they don't feel appreciated by leaders, and upwards of 69 percent believe they'd work harder if recognized. In addition, only 33 percent report feeling engaged in the workplace.

Companies also lack focus on leadership development. Zippia reports that 77 percent struggle to find and develop leaders, and only five percent implement leadership development at all levels.

Since reflective leadership focuses on continuously improving and developing, it's one of the more effective leadership styles. By regularly reflecting on your beliefs and values and incorporating them into your actions, you can make ethical decisions and enable your company to be more purpose-driven.

"Along with responsibility, leadership brings opportunities," Hsieh explains in Leadership, Ethics, and Corporate Accountability. "These include opportunities to make ethical decisions where someone else wouldn't, to influence others to do the right thing, and to make a positive impact on the world."

Reflective leadership also helps you build authentic, supportive relationships with team members and create a workplace of ethics and accountability.

If you want to adopt a reflective leadership style, here are the competencies to develop.

How to Become a Reflective Leader

Be Self-Reflective

Self-reflection is at reflective leadership's core. According to Leadership, Ethics, and Corporate Accountability, you can practice self-reflection by:

Reviewing, analyzing, and evaluating your decisions-in the moment and over time.

Continuously deepening your awareness and self-knowledge.

Developing a general framework for judgment.

Improving your capacity for action and leadership.

Leading with self-reflection won't just help you learn from past experiences but also encourage and enable your team members to adopt reflective mentalities.

Identify Your Commitments

Knowing your commitments is also essential to effective leadership.

"It's important to identify and define your own commitments," Hsieh says in Leadership, Ethics, and Corporate Accountability, "both to set a baseline for what you will and won't do and to evaluate and clarify your thoughts, opinions, and feelings when making decisions."

To create that baseline, Hsieh recommends asking the following questions:

What's core to my identity?

What lines or boundaries won't I cross?

What kind of life do I want to live?

What kind of leader do I want to be?

By identifying your commitments, you can better guide yourself and your team.

Consider Your Accountability

Becoming a reflective leader also requires accountability to successfully execute on your values and implement them into action plans.

This refers to the reflective leadership model's "action" step-putting your decisions into practice in a way that's accountable and consistent with your responsibilities.

"When leading reflectively, straightforward action planning may not be enough," Hsieh says in Leadership, Ethics, and Corporate Accountability. "An accountable leader will go beyond just answering 'How will we do it?' to ask 'How can I do it accountably?'"

Reflective Leadership Training for Businesses

By incorporating your values into your leadership style, you can learn from your experiences on a deeper level and develop into a better leader.

One way to gain the skills and frameworks to succeed long term is by taking an online course, such as Leadership, Ethics, and Corporate Accountability. Through a dynamic, interactive learning experience, the course provides the opportunity to apply the reflective leadership model to real-world business ethics challenges.
Are you ready to become a reflective leader? Apply to Leadership, Ethics, and Corporate Accountability-one of our online leadership and management courses-and download our free e-book on effective leadership.

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The Importance of Reflective Leadership in Business

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Self-reflection is critical to effective leadership. Here's why reflective leadership is important in business and how it can make you a better leader.

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15 Tips for Effective Communication in Leadership

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15 Tips for Effective Communication in Leadership

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Verbessern Sie Ihre Führungskommunikationsfähigkeiten.

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15 Tips for Effective Communication in Leadership

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Communication in leadership is critical for success. Get our research-backed tips for better and more effective communication for leaders.

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Transformational leaders are exceptional communicators. In this piece, the author outlines four communication strategies to help motivate and inspire your team: 1) Use short words to talk about hard things. 2) Choose sticky metaphors to reinforce key concepts. 3) Humanize data to create value. 4). Make mission your mantra to align teams.

In the age of knowledge, ideas are the foundation of success in almost every field. You can have the greatest idea in the world, but if you can't persuade anyone else to follow your vision, your influence and impact will be greatly diminished. And that's why communication is no longer considered a "soft skill" among the world's top business leaders. Leaders who reach the top do not simply pay lip service to the importance of effective communication. Instead, they study the art in all its forms - writing, speaking, presenting - and constantly strive to improve on those skills.

Accelerate your career with Harvard ManageMentor®. HBR Learning's online leadership training helps you hone your skills with courses like Writing Skills. Earn badges to share on LinkedIn and your resume. Access more than 40 courses trusted by Fortune 500 companies.

Capture your audience's attention with smarter emails, Slacks, memos, and reports.

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Transformational leaders are exceptional communicators. In this piece, the author outlines four communication strategies to help motivate and inspire your team: 1) Use short words to talk about hard things. 2) Choose sticky metaphors to reinforce key concepts. 3) Humanize data to create value. 4).

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Dr. Vince Molinaro is a NY Times best-selling author, speaker & adviser to companies needing to build & scale leadership accountability.
How's this year going for you? If you're like most of the leaders I talk to, even as the world returns to "normal," you're still feeling overwhelmed, overworked and burnt out. The pandemic has been hard on all of us. Leaders have been asked to do more with less for months. We've all had to adapt our leadership styles to working remotely, and now many of us are navigating an uncertain return to the office or a new hybrid work reality. Many leaders I speak to are feeling isolated and in dire need of a break.

It may feel like you barely have time to get through your to-do list, but I believe that there's no better time to pause and reflect than when you're feeling overwhelmed. I've always been a big believer in what I like to call a mid-year leadership gut check, and this year it feels more important than ever. If you pause to reflect on what's working and what isn't, you can reorient yourself to how you're approaching your work. You can rededicate yourself to your highest priorities and look for ways to delegate or eliminate low-value tasks that are eating up your days.
1. Check in with yourself as a leader.
Here are three things to reflect on with what I call your mid-year leadership gut check:

As leaders, we're asked to do more than simply keep our heads above water. We're obligated to step up and do the hard work of holding others accountable for meeting key strategic goals. A lot of the hard work of leadership involves dealing with people issues. Especially in the past 15 months, many employees have been struggling with personal issues like health, isolation, childcare and more. These issues can be tough to deal with as a leader.

Here are some questions to guide your reflection:

* What impact have you had as a leader in the first half of 2021?

* How have you lived up to your obligations as a leader?

* What are some of the critical leadership decisions you've made this year, and what has the impact been?
2. Check in with your team.
* How have you demonstrated compassion for your team while still ensuring you all meet your goals?

Every team has been challenged over the past year. Many have accomplished extraordinary things, and yet we're all human. We can't continue to push ourselves in crisis mode forever. Now's the perfect time to evaluate where your team is and what your team members need to be successful in the next six months. Great teams have a high degree of clarity about what they need to accomplish and a strong commitment to working together to succeed.

Take a few minutes to reflect on the following gut-check questions:

* How has your team stepped up and worked together to meet your strategic goals this year? What have you done to acknowledge their hard work?

* Does everyone on the team understand what your top priorities are for the remainder of the year?

* Do you believe that the whole team is committed to pulling together and doing what it takes?
3. Check in with your leadership community.
* What support will your team need from you to succeed?

Isolation has always been a problem for leaders, but during the pandemic, that problem has only become more severe. A strong, supportive community of leaders can go a long way toward combating that isolation. As a leader, you need a few specific things from the community of leaders around you. You need people who you can vent to when you have a bad day. You need people you can be vulnerable with and talk about the leadership challenges you face. And you need people who will be supportive, collaborative peers.

Reflect on the following gut-check questions to determine the strength of your leadership community:

* In what ways have you relied on a strong community of leaders in the first half of 2021?

* In what ways did you offer support to peers and colleagues when they needed it?

* Did you proactively build and strengthen relationships with other leaders?

* Which peers and colleagues do you believe have your back?

Leadership is hard work. And this year, it has been harder than ever. Now's a perfect time to step back, reflect and ask yourself the gut-check questions to assess the first half of this year and begin to think about how you will finish the year strong.

Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. Do I qualify?

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Council Post: Pause, Reflect And Recommit: Leadership Questions To Ask Yourself

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I've always been a big believer in what I like to call a mid-year leadership gut check, and this year it feels more important than ever.

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Erfahren Sie mehr über effektive Feedback-Techniken und setzen Sie diese in die Praxis um.

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If you find giving feedback uncomfortable, you're not alone: 44 percent of managers agreed in a recent survey that delivering negative feedback is stressful, while 21 percent admitted to avoiding the act altogether.

By shying away from sharing feedback, you miss out on important learning opportunities-both for you and your colleagues. It's been shown that employees prefer to receive criticism over no feedback at all, because at least then they know how to improve.

In order to deliver feedback effectively, you also need to practice. Avoiding a potentially awkward situation now will only make future conversations more difficult, which is why it's important to coach colleagues in the moment.

If you're nervous or don't know where to start, here's how you can provide feedback more effectively.

How to Give Feedback Effectively

1. Exercise Empathy

Receiving feedback can be just as uncomfortable as giving it. Put yourself in your colleagues' shoes and try to understand where they're coming from and what they might be experiencing.

Your message will resonate more if you exercise empathy, because your employees will know the critiques are coming from a good place. Make it known that you're providing feedback because you want to see them succeed. That will put them at ease, and in a better position to internalize what you're saying and turn your advice into action.
Why Emotional Intelligence Is Important in Leadership
2. Take Time to Prepare

Before offering feedback, strategize what it is that you actually want to say and how you want to say it. If your employee is underperforming, but works hard and has the right intentions, you might take on a warmer tone in the meeting. If you've cautioned your colleague before, but they've been unresponsive, then you should be more direct.

From there, rehearse your advice and prepare for different scenarios. Consider how the feedback recipient might react and formulate a response. The more prepared you are, the less likely it is you'll rush through the feedback.

3. Speak in Specifics

It's important to be specific when delivering feedback. In the online course Leadership Principles, Harvard Business School Professors Joshua Margolis and Anthony Mayo outline a process for how you can deliver feedback that gets to the root cause of an issue.

When delivering feedback to employees, they advise:

1. Be direct and speak to the issue you want to coach them on

2. Identify a specific behavior, rather than speak in generalities

3. State the impact of that problematic behavior and connect it to the consequences

4. Share specifics around who was affected and the impact the recipient's actions had not just on the organization but on their own career

The more clear and specific you are, the less room there is for the feedback recipient to misinterpret your advice.

4. Save Time for Inquiry

Whether you use it to start or end the conversation, you should always incorporate inquiry. At the beginning of the conversation, it can be helpful to ask feedback recipients how things are going and their perspective on the situation. Through that process, they might identify behavior themselves, which makes it easier to kick off the conversation. If they don't, it might mean that they have a particular blindspot or are defensive about certain aspects of their performance.

At the end of the conversation, return to inquiry. Ask if they understand the feedback and how it makes them feel. You want to ensure they didn't misread your message or only internalize certain parts of the feedback. If it's clear they recognize what the problem is, you can start brainstorming solutions and leaving the meeting with a greater sense of resolution.

4 Tips for Growing Your Professional Network

5. Focus on the Future

Once the feedback has been delivered, shift the focus of the conversation from what's happened to what's next. Rather than rehash the past, describe how the recipient can change their behavior moving forward and how the two of you, together, can use this experience as a way of overcoming future issues.

Creating Opportunities for Growth

Although the conversation might be uncomfortable, you shouldn't try to avoid it. Not only will the process make you a more effective leader, but it will help your employees grow in their own career. If you truly want to see them succeed, they'll recognize that and know your feedback is coming from the right place.
Do you want to enhance your leadership skills? Download our free leadership e-book and explore our online course Leadership Principles to discover how you can become a more effective leader and unleash the potential in yourself and others.

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How to Give Feedback Effectively | HBS Online

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If you're nervous about giving feedback or don't know where to start, here's how you can provide feedback to your employees more effectively.

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5 Feedback Techniques To Boost Continuous Performance Improvement 

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5 Feedback Techniques To Boost Continuous Performance Improvement 

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Feedback can be a powerful tool for boosting performance. Get it right and teams and employees will deliver above and beyond, achieving targets and bringing fresh ideas and innovations to your company.

Here's how you can optimize your performance management by Incorporating these five simple but effective feedback techniques.

1. Give your feedback an EDGE

Dawn Sillett outlines the EDGE feedback framework in The Feedback Book. An acronym for Explain, Describe, Give and End Positively, it provides a structure for feedback that improves clarity and provides actionable results.

Each component of EDGE is geared towards improving sustained performance.

Explain

Feedback should first make sure to articulate the reasons why the behaviour and actions have led to the feedback. Whether the feedback is positive or negative, nail the detail and specific actions, sticking only to the facts and avoiding going off-topic.

Describe

Next, describe the effects of their behaviour and actions, for instance how it has affected other colleagues or team efforts, or the impact on production or sales. Pay close attention to the reactions of others so you can understand the details.

Give

After you've explained the actions which prompted the feedback and described their effects, it's time to give your employee the opportunity to voice their perspective. They might have new information to bring to the conversation which provides a fresh context and sheds new light on the situation.

Ask them what actions they intend to take moving forwards, or how they will change (or continue) the behaviour. It's also an opportunity for employees to take responsibility for their actions, or take credit and acknowledge the part played by colleagues.

End positively

Finally, end the feedback session on a positive note, reaffirming any commitments made moving forward and thanking them for the conversation. Make it clear that you are available for any additional follow-up discussions, and if ongoing meetings are necessary, schedule these in a performance management suite along with any other notes from the feedback session.

2. Conduct regular 1-2-1 meetings and check-ins

In 2017 Forbes reported on several studies which demonstrated the link between a strong culture of feedback throughout a company's hierarchy with improved engagement and performance. These studies revealed that four out of 10 workers are actively disengaged when they get little or no feedback, while 43% of highly engaged employees receive feedback at least once a week as opposed to 18% of low engagement employees.

Many businesses are still trapped in the mindset of annual performance review, but with 82% of employees appreciating positive and negative feedback, regular 1-2-1 meetings and check-ins between managers and employees are crucial for companies eager to maximise the benefits of consistent feedback. They're also a great opportunity to discuss any ideas and innovations employees might want to contribute to the company.

Using ongoing and regular check-ins allows managers and employees to talk about work progress, goals and performance and address any issues before they get out of hand. With 80% of Millennials preferring on the spot recognition over formal reviews, making regular feedback a core component of your company's culture is essential for successful businesses in the 21st century.

3. Use 360 feedback

360 feedback - sometimes referred to as multi-rater feedback - is the technique of gathering feedback from multiple sources in order to get a better idea of the bigger picture. Supervisors, colleagues, peers and other members of the organization are invited to provide additional information and offer their perspectives to build a holistic overview of performance.

Companies should establish ground rules for 360 feedback, for instance in what instances this feedback is anonymous or not, who gets to see the feedback, and what rating scale to use. Seek out feedback from employees with a range of skills and experiences is an effective way to help boost the skills of those receiving the feedback and gain insights into how their role impacts the rest of the organization.

360 feedback alone isn't enough but incorporated into a broader performance management process it becomes a highly effective development tool.

4. Establish an optimal feedback ratio

In her book Positivity, Barbara Fredrickson discusses a ratio of 3:1 in favour of positive feedback as the optimal balance for delivering the best performance results. Additional research conducted by academic Emily Heaphy and consultant Marcial Losada into The Role of Positivity and Connectivity in the Performance of Business Teams suggests that the ideal ratio should be 5.6 to 1.

Whichever ratio you decide to adopt, the key takeaway is that weighting positive feedback over negative feedback is the best practice for improving individual and team performance. Emphasizing positive feedback helps build a strong culture of learning while breeding a confident, "can-do" mindset in employees.

5. Align feedback to objectives and key results (OKRs)

Tracking your objectives and key results (OKRs) is a crucial component of effective performance management. Aligning your feedback mechanisms directly to these goals via a performance management suite brings a new level of focus and immediacy, allowing managers to interact directly with teams and employees as and when any issues arise.

Drawing upon the various feedback techniques outlined above while running them through performance management tools is a surefire way to boost continuous performance improvement in your company.

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5 Feedback Techniques To Boost Continuous Performance Improvement | StaffCircle

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Feedback can be a powerful tool for boosting performance. Get it right and teams and employees will deliver above and beyond, achieving targets and

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Welches Ziel ist für Sie am relevantesten?

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Das Tuckman Phasenmodell der Teamentwicklung: Teamphasen gestalten

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Das Tuckman Phasenmodell der Teamentwicklung: Teamphasen gestalten

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„Forming, storming, norming, performing!" Schon einmal gehört? Das sind typische Teamphasen. Teams bleiben nicht einfach wie sie sind, sie entwickeln sich - und das nicht immer zum Guten. Oft bestimmen Streit und Machtgerangel das Teamklima. Deshalb hat der Psychologe Bruce Tuckman ein Phasenmodell der Teamentwicklung vorgestellt (Tuckman, 1965). Mit diesem Tuckman Phasenmodell können Teammitglieder und Führungskräfte Teamphasen gestalten und ihre Teams in die gewünschte Richtung entwickeln.
Wie gelingt das? Das Kapitel beginnt mit den klassischen Phasen der Teamentwicklung nach Tuckman und bringt das Modell auf den neuesten Stand der Forschung. Danach beschreibt es die einzelnen Teamentwicklungsphasen und ihre Herausforderungen. Teammitglieder und Führungskräfte lernen die entscheidenden Methoden, um erfolgreich mit diesen umgehen. Sie erfahren, wie sie ihr Team in die Leistungsphase bekommen und dort behalten.
Autor: Diplompsychologe Professor Dr. Florian Becker
Teamphasen nach Tuckman: Die Teamuhr

Was sind Teamphasen? Hier eine Definition: Teamphasen sind Entwicklungsniveaus, die ein Team durchläuft. Das bekannteste Modell für Teamphasen ist das von Bruce Tuckman (Tuckman, 1965). Ähnlich wie der Zeiger auf einer Uhr auf verschiedene Uhrzeiten läuft, läuft ein Team nach seinem Modell der Teamentwicklung auf einem starren, vorgegebenem Weg durch diese Phasen. Deshalb sind die vier Teamphasen nach Tuckman oft in Form eines Ziffernblattes dargestellt, die Teamuhr. Idealerweise münden diese Entwicklungsniveaus in einer Leistungsphase und bleiben dort, bis die Aufgabe erledigt ist.

Das ursprüngliche Modell von Tuckman hat diese vier Teamphasen:

1. Forming. In der Formingphase begegnen die Teammitglieder sich vorsichtig und höflich und loten sich gegenseitig aus.

2. Storming. In der Stormingphase treten persönliche Konflikte auf, Hierarchie und Regeln sind noch nicht klar und es gibt Widerstand und Uneinigkeit bei ihrer Herausbildung.

3. Norming. Die Normingphase klärt Standpunkte, Rangordnungen und Rollen - das Team bekommt seine spätere Form.

4. Performing. In der Performingphase sind Rollen und Zuständigkeiten klar, die Kommunikation und Arbeit läuft flüssig, die Mitglieder sind engagiert und lösen Konflikte funktional.

Nach Tuckman durchläuft jedes Team diese Phasen - aber nicht jedes Team kommt bis zur Performingphase. Vorangehende Phasen sind die Voraussetzung, um in die späteren Phasen zu kommen. Auch gibt es Rückschritte, etwa, dass ein Team wieder in die Stormingphase zurückfällt, weil ein neuer Konflikt aufbricht - beispielsweise weil neue Mitgleiter hinzukommen oder sich die Situation und Arbeitsaufgabe ändert. Und genau hier ergibt sich die praktische Relevanz des Modells: Es geht darum, Teams zu helfen, in die Leistungsphase zu kommen.

Bruce Tuckman hat sein Modell der Teamentwicklungsphasen schon vor Jahrzehnten vorgestellt. Welche neuen Erkenntnisse gibt es zu Teamentwicklungsphasen?

Teamentwicklungsphasen: Ein aktuelles Modell

Wie sieht ein modernes Modell der Teamentwicklungsphasen aus? Die folgende Abbildung zeigt ein modernes Modell der Teamentwicklungsphasen mit sechs Phasen.

Das Modell der Teamphasen nach Tuckman hat natürlich Kritik erfahren. Es gibt basierend darauf zwei wichtige Erweiterungen.

Alterungsphase. Es gibt immer mehr Forschung, die sich mit dem Verlust der Leistungsfähigkeit von ehemals sehr leistungsstarken Teams befasst (vgl. Shepard, 1956; Smith, 1970; Katz und Allen, 1982). Teams bleiben nicht automatisch in der Leistungsphase, auch wenn sie nicht zurück in frühere Phasen fallen. Sie werden unter anderem selbstgerecht, glauben sie sind die besten, lernen immer weniger dazu, verlieren an Innovationskraft, befassen sich mehr mit zwischenmenschlichen Themen und weniger mit ihrer Arbeit. Dieses Phänomen bezeichnet man als Teamalterung (Aging). Entsprechend enthält ein modernes Modell auch diese Teamentwicklungsphase.

Auflösungsphase. Vor allem die Autoren Bernstein und Lowy entwickelten schon bald ein Modell mit einer fünften Phase der Teamentwicklung, einer Auflösungsphase (Bernstein und Lowy, 1969). In dieser Teamentwicklungsphase geht es um die runde Beendigung der Aufgabe und des Teams. Beispielsweise kann man gemeinsam einen Rückblick machen, um aus dem Projekt zu lernen, Erfahrungen für andere Teams festhalten, den Erfolg feiern und die zwischenmenschlichen Beziehungen aufrecht erhalten. Bruce Tuckman selbst erweiterte sein Modell daher gemeinsam mit Mary Anne Jensen (Tuckman und Jensen, 1977) ebenfalls um eine Auflösungsphase (Adjourning).

Die Teamentwicklungsphasen sind:

1. Orientierungsphase

2. Konfliktphase

3. Organisationsphase

4. Leistungsphase

5. Alterungsphase

6. Auflösungsphase

Nicht wirklich eine Phase der Teamentwicklung aber eine Grundlage, damit es rund läuft, ist die Vorphase.

Vorphase

Als erste Phase, noch bevor es das Team gibt, sollte man eine Vorphase beachten. Es ist nicht wirklich eine Teamentwicklungsphase, denn das Team besteht noch gar nicht. Dennoch ist die Phase wichtig. Sie legt das Fundament für den späteren Erfolg. Es geht um die geeignete Zusammenstellung der Teammitglieder und die Zuteilung und Gestaltung der Aufgabe(n) für das Team.

Das sind wichtige Fragen in der Vorphase:

Es versteht sich von selbst, dass Teams in den verschiedenen Phasen ganz unterschiedlich geführt werden sollten. Teammitglieder und Führungskräfte können Teams in diesen Phasen begleiten und dabei unterstützen, dass sie diese erfolgreich durchlaufen sowie in den gewünschten Phasen bleiben (Wageman, 2001). Daher gibt es zu jeder Phase ganz konkrete Tipps.

Wie können Teammitglieder und Führungskräfte die Vorphase sinnvoll gestalten?

Eine entsprechenden Auswahl der Mitglieder kann das harmonische Miteinander und die Teamleistung maßgeblich prägen. Ein wichtiger Tipp, damit es harmonisch und rund läuft: Teammitglieder sollten möglichst selbstbestimmt entscheiden können, mit wem sie arbeiten und mit wem lieber nicht. Das kann geschehen, indem die Teamleitung auf einem Zettel abfragt, mit wem man gerne udn weniger gerne zusammen arbeiten würde - natürlich ohne das öffentlich zu machen. Diese Selbstselektion fördert den Zusammenhalt.

Teammitglieder sollten idealerweise nicht nur auswählen können, mit wem sie zusammenarbeiten, sondern auch das Thema. Ein guter Ansatz dafür ist Themen bzw. Aufgaben für Teams auszuschreiben. Mitglieder können sich für diese Themen bewerben. Wer sich für ein Thema interessiert, der arbeitet später natürlich auch wesentlich motivierter daran.

Der von außen gesetzte Zeitrahmen kann die Teamentwicklungsphasen beeinflussen: Die Leistungsphase beginnt bei festen Zeitgrenzen nach etwa der halben „Lebenszeit" der Aufgabe (Gersick, 1988). Teamentwicklungstrainings können Prozesse vor der Leistungsphase im Team beschleunigen. Auch Zwischenziele und engere Zeitrahmen, die sich später erweitern lassen, können dazu beitragen.

Die Vorphase legt das Fundament für die Teamentwicklungsphasen.

Teamphase 1: Forming - die Orientierungsphase

Sobald das Team zusammengestellt ist, beginnt die Phase Forming. In dieser Orientierungsphase sind die Führungsstrukturen, Rangordnung, Normen und Rollen noch unklar. Teammitglieder begegnen sich vorsichtig und höflich und loten sich gegenseitig aus. Die meisten zeigen ihre Schokoladenseite. Erwartungen und Motivation sind typischerweise hoch. Das Ausbilden von Erwartungen, Unsicherheit, die Suche nach Rollen und Ängste sind hier typische Merkmale. Die Phase endet damit, dass langsam ein Teamgefühl entsteht.

Wichtige Fragen in dieser Phase sind:

Welche Erwartungen haben die Teammitglieder?

Welche Ziele haben einzelne Mitglieder, warum sind sie im Team?

Welche Werte haben die Teammitglieder, was ist ihnen wichtig?

Worauf sollte die Teamleitung in dieser Phase achten? Das zeigt der Schaukasten.

Wie können Teammitglieder und Teamleitung die Orientierungsphase sinnvoll gestalten?

Zunächst geht es natürlich darum, ein offenes Klima herzustellen, Vertrauen zu schaffen und Distanz abzubauen. Ein gegenseitiges Kennenlernen ist das Ziel. So kommen auch die verschiedenen Sichtweisen und Interessen schneller und ehrlicher auf den Tisch.

In dieser Einstiegs- und Findungsphase ist zudem ein direktiver Führungsstil angebracht. Es ist besonders wichtig, dass der Leiter klar und immer wieder die gemeinsame Aufgabe und Ziele kommuniziert und die Bedeutung der Aufgabe betont, um ein Zusammenfinden des Teams zu stimulieren. Die Teamleitung kann folgendes fördern:

Ideen zu Rollenverteilung und Lösungsansätze für die Aufgabe einfordern,

eine klare Aussage zu Erwartungen und Zielen der einzelnen Mitglieder verlangen und

Aussagen zu Entwicklungen, die einzelne Mitglieder im Team nicht wollen, vor denen sie sich sorgen.

Idealerweise schafft es ein Team durch die oben geschilderten Maßnahmen in die nächste Phase zu kommen.

Teamphase 2: Storming - die Konfliktphase

Die Konfliktphase beendet das vorsichtige Abtasten, die „Flitterwochen" sind vorbei, die unterschiedlichen Vorstellungen liegen auf dem Tisch. Jetzt geht es darum, dass die Teammitglieder ihre Rollen und Regeln für die Zusammenarbeit finden. Persönliche Konflikte und Konfrontationen treten langsam auf, Führungspositionen und Normen sind noch nicht klar und es gibt Widerstand bei ihrer Herausbildung. Dabei formen sich Koalitionen, die Führungspositionen und Ziele beeinflussen wollen und der Eindruck von Stillstand herrscht vor. Oftmals tritt hier auch Frustration bei den Beteiligten auf, die sich dann in offenen Konflikten austragen kann. Die Motivation der Gruppenmitglieder fällt auf einen Tiefpunkt und steigt erst in den späteren Phasen wieder an. Diese Phase kann auch gleich die erste Phase sein, wenn Personen nicht freiwillig im Team sind oder bereits starke Konflikte wegen einer gemeinsamen negativen Vergangenheit bestehen. Obwohl diese Phase selbst erst einmal negativ erscheint, ist sie ein notwendiger Schritt, um zu einem funktionierenden Team zu gelangen. Das Bild eines pubertierenden Jugendlichen, der diese Phase für sein Erwachsenwerden braucht, ist hier recht anschaulich. Die auftretenden Konflikte und Probleme sollten nicht unterdrückt werden, sondern als wertvoller Beitrag für die Entwicklung des Teams aufgegriffen werden, damit sie überwunden werden können. Ansonsten können Teams in dieser Phase verbleiben, was ähnlich katastrophale Auswirkungen hat, wie bei Erwachsenen, die in der Pubertät hängen geblieben sind. Auch später noch können Teams in diese Phase zurückfallen, wenn neue Mitglieder dazu kommen, Mitglieder das Team verlassen oder sich das Tätigkeitsfeld ändert.

Wie können Teammitglieder und Führungskräfte die Konfliktphase sinnvoll gestalten?

Währende dieser Konfrontationsphase ist ein Führungsstil angebracht, der gleichsam Rücksicht nimmt auf einerseits die wegen der noch herrschenden mangelnden Struktur meist niedrige Motivation und andererseits auf die geringe Strukturierung der Aufgabe. Die Führungskraft sollte

das Geschehen in der Gruppe sehr aufmerksam beobachten,

erste Ansätze zur Strukturierung fördern,

immer wieder auf die Aufgabe und gemeinsame Ziele hinweisen und den Blick darauf lenken,

zur Zusammenarbeit und Äußerung von Meinungen ermutigen (gerade die leiseren und introvertierten Personen),

Konfrontation klar benennen und nicht unter den Tisch kehren und

dort wo es nötig ist Grenzen für die Konflikte ziehen und diese in eine konstruktive Richtung lenken.

Offene Konfrontation in der Phase ist wichtig, damit sich das Team weiter entwickeln kann und sollte nicht unterdrückt werden. Daher sollte die Führungskraft auch aktiv die Unterschiede zwischen Meinungen benennen und das Team zur Klärung auffordern. Gleichzeit geht es darum, das Team aus der Phase in Richtung Struktur zu führen, ohne diese Struktur autoritär vorzugeben.

Wichtig damit all das gut funktioniert: Die Teamleitung sollte auf jeden Fall Ruhe bewahren und ausstrahlen, unparteiisch und objektiv bleiben.

In der Konfliktphase gilt es vor allem zwei Fehler zu vermeiden:

Konflikte unter den Teppich zu kehren. Dieser Fehler führt nur dazu, dass die Konflikte dann später umso härter zuschlagen - und zwar dann, wenn der Druck bei der Zusammenarbeit hoch ist und man Streit überhaupt nicht brauchen kann.

Konflikte übertreiben und nie verlassen. Ein Team, das ewig im Konflikt bleibt, wird nie eine Struktur finden und niemals leistungsfähig.

Für die Teammitglieder und die Teamleitung bedeutet das eine schmale Gratwanderung zwischen beiden Fehlern.

Nach dem Chaos und Konflikt ist es Zeit für Struktur und Ordnung. Das Team soll aus der Pubertät kommen und erwachsen werden.

Teamphase 3: Norming - die Organisationsphase

Mit dem herauskristallisieren der Strukturen im Team beginnt das Norming, die Organisationsphase. Die Standpunkte werden geklärt, Rangordnungen und Rollen bilden sich heraus und das Team bekommt seine spätere Form. Hier werden die sozialen Normen herausgebildet, die im Team gelten. Insgesamt nimmt die Zufriedenheit zu, die Auseinandersetzung mit Kritik wird offener, einseitige Schuldzuweisungen verschwinden und eine gemeinsame Identität als Team festigt sich als erster Schritt für eine höhere Kohäsion. Die Struktur bildet sich also bereits, die Motivation ist aber noch nicht voll da.

Tipps zur Organisationsphase

Wie können Teammitglieder und Führungskräfte die Organisationsphase sinnvoll gestalten?

Wichtigste Aufgabe des Leiters ist in der Phase der Normierung vornehmlich zu motivieren und Zuversicht zu fördern. Es geht darum, funktionierende Regeln, Rollen und Aufgabenplanung zu erreichen. Erste Strukturierungsversuche sollten unterstützt werden. Die Teammitglieder wollen in dieser Phase zunehmend Verantwortung übernehmen. Der Führungsstil sollte daher weniger direktiv und mehr partizipativ werden.

Klare Regeln, Rollen und Struktur: Das ist der Nährboden für Teamleistung.

Teamphase 4: Performing - die Leistungsphase

Die Normierung in der Organisationsphase ist die Voraussetzung für die Leistungsphase. Das Team wendet sich jetzt zunehmend von internen Reibereien ab und kann sich (endlich) seiner eigentlichen Aufgabe widmen. Jetzt sind Rollen und Zuständigkeiten klar, die Kommunikation läuft flüssig, die Mitglieder sind engagiert und Konflikte werden funktional gelöst. Die Atmosphäre (Teamklima) ist emotional positiv und es besteht ein wachsender Zusammenhalt zwischen den Mitgliedern. Nicht selten wechseln sich Mitglieder in dieser Phase mit der Führungsrolle ab, je nachdem wessen Expertise gefragt ist.

Wie können Teammitglieder und Führungskräfte die Leistungsphase sinnvoll gestalten?

Der Leiter kann sich in der Leistungsphase viel stärker zurücknehmen und sollte nur in das Team eingreifen, wenn es wirklich erforderlich ist. Dafür kann sich der Teamleiter verstärkt

kümmern um die Bereitstellung der notwendigen Ressourcen für das Team.

Und er kann das Team nach außen hin politisch vertreten und repräsentieren.

Es geht darum, über ein geeignetes Umfeld die Leistungsbasis für das Team weiter zu verbessern,

sich um den Verbleib und die Entwicklung der guten Mitglieder im Team zu kümmern und ggf. frühzeitig neue wertvolle Teammitglieder zu kontaktieren.

Zudem sollten Teammitglieder und Teamleitung sensibel für Symptome der Teamalterung sein.

Leistungsfähigkeit bleibt nicht einfach von selbst - weder bei Einzelpersonen, noch bei Teams.

Teamphase 5: Aging - die Alterungsphase

Bisher ist die Produktivität des Teams über alle Phasen bis zur Leistungsphase kontinuierlich gestiegen. Allerdings bleibt die Leistung nicht automatisch auf demselben hohen Niveau. Nach anfänglichem Leistungszuwachs kommt es irgendwann zu einer Alterungsphase, in der die Teamleistung wieder abnimmt. Bei Projektgruppen im Bereich Forschung und Entwicklung hat sich beispielsweise ein Leistungsmaximum zwischen 1,5 und 5 Jahren Zusammenarbeit gezeigt (vgl. Katz und Allen, 1982; v. Rosenstiel, 2007). Gealterte Teams leiden zunehmend an einem Mangel an Innovation und Flexibilität. Eingeschliffene Einstellungen und Prozesse werden nicht mehr hinterfragt. Die Leistung nimmt offenbar auch durch eine wachsende Beschäftigung der Teams mit anderen Dingen als der Aufgabe ab. Die Mitglieder beginnen sich mit dem Team selbst und anderen Aktivitäten zu beschäftigen. Was kann man darauf für Teamführung lernen?

Wie können Teammitglieder und Führungskräfte die Alterungsphase sinnvoll gestalten?

Die Herausforderungen für die Führungskraft, um eine Phase der Alterung von Teams zu verhindern bzw. diese rückgängig zu machen, sind sehr komplex. Ein eigenes Kapitel zu Teamalterung stellt dazu geeignete Maßnahmen im Überblick dar. Wichtig ist vor allem:

Eine gewisser Austausch von Mitgliedern (Rotation), um frisches Denken zu erhalten.

Intensiver Kontakt und Austausch mit anderen Teams, um neue Ideen zu bekommen.

Vergleich der Leistungsfähigkeit mit anderen Teams und früher, um ein Gespür für die eigene Entwicklung zu bekommen.

Manche Teams schaffen es offenbar diese Alterungstendenzen aufzuhalten und stattdessen immer leistungsfähiger zu werden (Allen et al., 1988)

Teamphase 6: Adjourning - die Auflösungsphase

Zumindest bei zeitlich begrenzten Projektteams steht am Ende eine Auflösungsphase. Hier ist die Aufgabe auch nicht mehr der zentrale Fokus des Teams. Teilweise ist diese Phase auch schmerzhaft für die Mitglieder, vor allem, wenn man lange Jahre miteinander gut und gerne gearbeitet hat.

Tipps zur Auflösungsphase

Wie können Teammitglieder und Teamleitung die Auflösungsphase sinnvoll gestalten?

In der Auflösungsphase sind wichtige Ziele:

Das bevorstehende Ende der Zusammenarbeit vorzubereiten.

Einen Rückblick auf die Zusammenarbeit zu organisieren, aus dem idealerweise alle viel lernen.

Den Arbeitsprozess ordentlich abzuwickeln (archivieren, dokumentieren, aufräumen).

Den Erfolg und / oder die gemeinsame Zeit feiern.

Zwischenmenschliche Beziehungen und Aufgaben für die Zeit nach dem Team definieren.

Der nächste Abschnitt gibt Literaturhinweise zur weiteren Vertiefung.

Teamentwicklung: Literatur

Aktuelle Literatur-Tipps zu Teamentwicklung.

Das nächste Kapitel befasst sich mit dysfunktionalen Teams. Was kennzeichnet diese und wie kann man sie wieder zurück in die Leistungsphase bringen?

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Das Tuckman Phasenmodell der Teamentwicklung: Teamphasen gestalten

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„Forming, storming, norming, performing!" Schon einmal gehört? Das sind typische Teamphasen. Teams bleiben nicht einfach wie sie sind, sie entwickeln sich - und das nicht immer zum Guten. Oft bestimmen Streit und Machtgerangel das Teamklima. Deshalb hat der Psychologe Bruce Tuckman ein Phasenmodell der Teamentwicklung vorgestellt (Tuckman, 1965).

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Chat, get answers, create amazing content, and discover information effortlessly with Bing's AI-powered chat. Transform the way you search and get answers with Microsoft Copilot in Bing.

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