Do you have certain people that are always struggle to work with? I had one team member that I always perceived to be a “roadblock” and was often frustrated when I would throw out an idea and her first reaction was a list of “yah but…” I took offense and stopped sharing ideas with her and would just do it on my own, which created a whole new set of problems. This obviously impacted our effectiveness and our relationship until our district leadership team participated in an activity that I thought was going to be a silly ice breaker and in turn changed our team dynamics completely. The activity was Compass Points: North, South, East, and West from National School Reform Faculty that helped to describe group work preferences. Our larger staff individually read and reacted to four statements and based on our initial reactions picked the statement that resonated most with our preferred work style.  

The four workstyle statements:

• North– “Let’s do it” LIke to act, try things, plunge in.
• East– Speculating- Like to look at the big picture before jumping in.
• South-Caring- Likes to know that everyone’s feeling have been taken into consideration and their voices are heard before acting.
• West– Paying attention to detail- likes to know the who, what, when, where, why before acting.

Based on our responses we moved to different corners of the room.  Although people do not fit perfectly in each category, it’s best to follow your first instinct. In our groups of people that had reacted similarly to the prompts we debrief five questions. 

1. What are the strengths of your style?
2. What are the challenges of your style?
3. Which group do you have the hardest time working with?
4. What do you need other groups to know about your style?
5. What do you value about the other groups?

Each group should discuss the questions and then share out with the other teams. A critical step is for the larger team to debrief what they notice about the distribution of the people,  noting and surprises or ahas.  As a team, consider implications for collaborative work and what could be next steps.

Know Your Thyself and Your Team

I am “north” also known as an “activator” for those of you who are fans of StengthsFinders. I get antsy without action and prefer to try things and learn by doing and am comfortable adapting in the moment as needed. Come to find out the “roadblock” was “west,” which meant that her tendency was to focus on details and make sure everything was thought of before action. Our approach to work and life was essentially on the opposite ends of the spectrum. This realization was a game changer.  We didn’t instantaneously agree on everything but we did have a much better working relationship that allowed for us to create a more effective team. Instead of assuming that she was just trying to be difficult and didn’t want to do anything, I understood that this was her personality and could be leveraged as a strength to help me think through things before acting so quickly. I also found out that my tendency to act on everything was irritating to her as well but she learned to let go of the notion that we had to figure it all out before trying something. Being able to name our dispositions helped me reflect on my impact on the team and work better with team members. In the end, it helped create better solutions than when we were  acting alone. 

In addition to knowing our workstyle preferences, we created a culture that was based on strengths rather than focussing on deficits.  Building from the premise that people are more confident, passionate and do better work when you focus on what’s right with them instead of what’s wrong with them, made everyone feel valued. Everyone on our team took the Gallup strenghtsfinders assessment to identify our top 5 strengths.  There are 34 research based talents and the assessment provides each individual with the language to name and claim unique strengths. When individuals are aware of what they are good at and leverage their strengths to do their best work, everyone benefits. To lead and collaborate with others, one first must understand themselves and their own strengths in order to maximize the talents of the group to do their best work. 

Some good questions for team and individual reflection:

• How did you build on your strengths this week?
• Were there times your strengths were not utilized?
• How can you continue to leverage your strengths to support the team?

This is an excerpt from Learner-Centered Innovation.