Marilyn Laiken

“Contrary to popular myth, great teams are not characterized by an absence of conflict. On the contrary, in my experience, one of the most reliable indicators of a team that is continually learning is the visible conflict of ideas … conflict becomes, in effect, part of the on-going, creative dialogue”. – Peter Senge

Effective teams do not suddenly emerge on their own, fully developed and highly motivated. They require careful and consistent nurturing, as they evolve from a collection of individuals to an integrated, well functioning unit that unleashes the creative potential in each of its members.

One of the critical barriers to developing such teams is the conflict that naturally arises when several individuals are asked to work together. This topic will help you develop your ability to manage such conflict with confidence and skill.

This session will help you to:

• Learn to expect conflict in a team and value it as a rich resource for creativity.
• Reflect on your own conflict management style and how it might be having an impact on your teams.
• Explore skills for successful conflict management, and discuss with your colleagues how you might apply them in your work.

Are you an intuitive risk-taker? Maybe you prefer to work methodically, analyzing all the alternatives? Perhaps you are the emotional, imaginative type? Or the straightforward problem solver?

High performing teams understand the importance of all working styles and view divergent styles as a rich resource. While team conflicts may occur due to different working styles, each style can be useful to the team if drawn on at the right moment in the decision-making and problem-solving process.

This session will provide you with an opportunity to:

• Learn about four common working styles.
• Appreciate your own working style in problem-solving tasks and how to leverage its strengths for your team.
• Understand more about your colleagues’ working styles and how you can best work together.

Organizational agility requires two conditions — one is a dynamic capability, the ability to move with speed, nimbleness and responsiveness, and the second is a stable foundation of things that don’t change. Agility represents a set of paradoxes which are the key challenges for organizations in today’s context. All of the current research on the topic of agility is in agreement with this basic principle.

This topic will help you:

• Understand the concept of “Organizational Agility” as a set of paradoxes;
• Reflect on your own workplace within this framework;
• Determine actions you can take to move your workplace towards becoming an increasingly agile organization.

This topic examines teams and explores a model for the role of team lead in helping teams develop towards self-managed, high performance.

Self-managed, high-performing teams are frequently envisioned as leaderless and are asked to function without intervention. With neither the skills nor the experience to ensure a successful outcome, teams may flounder through extended periods of unmanaged conflict. When a lead does provide leadership, they may struggle with offering the kind of facilitation that effectively encourages self-management for the long-term.

This topic will help you:

• Be aware of the various stages of team development and what a team lead can do to help a team move through each stage.
• Understand why certain things are happening in your own team and how it could move towards high performance.
• Reflect on your own experience in teams and consider how you might improve your skills as a facilitative team leader.