Day 2 Developing yourself as a team leader and Leading your work team

A less stressful journey this morning as I had petrol in the car.

Started the day with what Martin called an FOE exercise (focus, openness, energy). This brought our attention to our current state of mind and behaviour and whether we needed to change them in order to get the most out of the day.

Is it important to know the outcomes in advance of a task?

Forming Shapes
We were split into 3 groups and instructed to form various shapes of increasing complexity. As the shapes got more complex more communication and leadership was required. It was interesting to note that in each case the person with a vision of the shape lead the rest of the group into forming the shape. We discussed what people's perception of the exercise was, and what emotional responses they felt during the exercise; these ranged from enjoyment to anxiety. Would we do the task differently if we had to do it again?

This was a nice lead-in to The Kolb Learning Circle.

The Kolb Learning Circle demonstrates the learning process using a 4 step cycle: Doing (experience); Review (reflection); Theorise; and Plan (how to use this knowledge in future situations). Following this cycle/spiral maximises the learning to be gained from a situation.

For me, the highlight of the day was the Hollow Square exercise. We were split into 2 groups of staff and two groups of supervisors. The staff were sent to other rooms to await instructions from their supervisors. The supervisors were given a complex jigsaw which - when put together correctly - formed a square with a small square hole in the middle. The supervisors had to verbalise the construction of the shape to their staff who had to replicate it with their jigsaw pieces.

The first mistake we made was to leave our staff sitting alone in a room with no idea what was going on. This lead to them feeling alienated and frustrated that nobody was looking after their welfare, and it also wasted time. We should have had a supervisor with them explaining in advance what the task was going to be and forming them into teams.

We also failed to identify and divide the tasks up amongst the supervisors (though we did remember to keep track of the time). By the time we went to the room containing our alienated and aggrieved staff they were probably not in a co-operative mood.

Our plan to commit the solution to the puzzle to memory soon began to fail. I began to feel frustrated and anxious and was at a complete loss at what to do to help. After a fairly agonising start I realised that our tactic only utilised 1 member of staff and 1 supervisor. Everybody else was standing around watching in frustration. The light went on and I suggested to the team of supervisors that we split the task up and each take a section each. We could then convey our 'product' to separate groups of staff then bring the parts together to form the whole. Straight away, everybody in both teams had a job to do and attitudes changed instantly. There was now a buzz of excitement about the task and people became more engaged and co-operative. The task was completed successfully within the time limit to a great sense of achievement.

What did we do wrong? We failed to organise either group and, forgetting John Adair's plate spinner (task, group, individual) - which we were introduced to only yesterday - we focused entirely on the task.

I don't think I'll ever forget this exercise. It was a powerful demonstration of the complexities and difficulties in organising and leading a team. I feel the utmost sympathy for anybody that has ever had to manage me.

Trust...

Nudged a fantastic drop of fish down for my lunch before conducting a tour of the Web Development Memorial Fence.

After lunch we learnt about the Leadership Spectrum and applying appropriate leadership styles in different situations.

Giving and recieving feedback

Reflective review to be submitted by 3.00pm 5th January 2009 (don't forget your draft)

Late, headache, already written more than I intended; hopefully add the rest later.