To: ilead@MIT.EDU
Subject: Team Leaders' Workshop 12/14
Date: Mon, 18 Dec 1995 10:42:58 EST
From: Mike Barker <mbarker@MIT.EDU>

This message does two things--it announces the ILEAD mailing list (if
I missed anyone, please let me know or add them yourself) and provides
you with a copy of my notes from the Team Training Workshop.

ILEAD is a mailing list containing the team leaders and other
participants in last week's meetings.  I set it up to help make
communications among this group easier, and I hope you find it useful
to reach the IS leaders with email.

Action Items:

1.  Inspire Each Other
    scribes from each table should email to killian@mit.edu ASAP
    combined list will be provided to participants
    small group outlines strawman plan for coordinated inspiration
2.  Help Success Flourish
    individuals should continue with personal contingency measures
    scribes should email pankin@mit.edu table notes ASAP
    small volunteer group outlines strawman plan for support
3.  Make the I/S Grapevine Flower
    volunteers outline strawman plan for priority items
4.  Get Teams Fermenting
    complete impact diagram with team
    share with high-impact teams and revise if needed
    start setting up, revising, or confirming groundrules for talking to
        your high-impact teams
    send mbarker@mit.edu a copy ASAP
    combined (at least collected) diagrams will be made available to
        participants

[these are my notes, which are incomplete in some spots.  for what they
are worth...]

Today's Agenda:

Introduction
What to do in the next few months to
1.  Inspire one another to tackle the challenges ahead
2.  Help teams succeed
3.  Build communications throughout I/S
4.  Build communications between teams
Summarize action items

Bill added the point that we need to move toward alignment around
well-formed outcomes.

I suggested that stopping things from happening, negative criticism,
tearing down is both easy and lazy.  However, the often-heard advice
"if you don't have anything to say, then don't say anything at all"
seems to me to fall short of what is needed.  Instead, we need to take
the stance that we should "find something positive.  Create something
positive.  And then say it!"

In looking at ways to inspire one another to tackle the challenges, we
considered the best ways to keep in touch with our teams and to keep
hope alive.  We considered four steps:

1.  What is the current reality of IS, thru the eyes of team members? 

2.  What are the 3-4 most important reasons I come to work at MIT every
day?  What inspires me? 

3.  What resonates for the team members I work with and brings them in
to work?

4.  What are 3-5 actions we can take to keep hope alive and stay in
touch with our team members?

Headline results were reported, and detailed results will be sent to
Marilyn.

(My notes are incomplete, and I apologize for skipping some parts.  This
is my summary.)

The headlines seemed to revolve around change, mentioning the
challenges, opportunities, and rewards as well as the need to "drive
drivel away" and "run interference."  Also mentioned were the need to
tell people what you are doing and ask for their help; the need for
constant feedback between the micro-level "where the rubber hits the
road" and the macro level "where dreams are made"; and the need for
personal contact.  

Next Jeff Pankin led in beginning discussion of contingencies to deal
with one question.  The question was "what can we do to insure our
failure as team leaders?"  Responses came fast and furious.

Then we discussed as tables one possible way to fail, and what the most
important actions were that we could take to avoid that.  Three tables
chose to discuss the need to prioritize, suggesting actions such as
having a clear mission and criteria for success; alignment,
follow-through, and allowing enough time; and identifying deliverables
and continuous feedback to help combat ambiguity.  One table talked
about the need for credibility, suggesting that truth first and foremost
was the critical action.  Another table talked about the need to avoid
depending on heroic efforts, with preparation to delegate, trusting each
other, and living with imperfect results as some of the actions.  There
was one more table, and my notes simply say that they recommended
trusting the team--I seem to have skipped over the problem to a general
solution.

Jeff will be collecting a small working group to continue refining this
analysis and report back.

Next was Cec leading an exploration of methods of communication that
have worked and what needs to be communicated.  One important point made
was that informal (and highly effective) communication was often
precipitated around formal meetings of various sorts.  Or, as Greg
Jackson put it, "these were the McGuffins that got us to talk."

Cec also is looking for a small group to continue refining this material
and report back to the group.

Last, I ran rapidly through one approach to helping with the lack of
structure so many people are feeling.  The basic idea is to put your
team in the middle of a piece of paper, then two circles to divide the
nearby (high-impact) space, middle (medium-impact), and outer limits
(low-impact) space.  Then put other teams (individuals, suppliers, etc.)
in appropriate locations in the diagram.

One way to position the other teams is to put those that you have daily
contact with nearby, frequent contact in the middle, and rarely seen
teams in the outer edges.

You can also think about which teams have important inputs to your team,
or take important outputs from your team.

Another way to use the tool that I mentioned is to put a change in the
middle, then put yourself and the people you are dealing with in the
various spaces.  Look at where the person you are talking to is in
relation to the change, and where you are.   What they see and what you
see are different!

I also tried to suggest that every person is in the middle of their own
impact diagram--but you aren't in the middle of theirs.

The workbook from Monday has some materials that people might consider
using once they have identified their high-impact teams.  The worksheets
and other information about contracting (pp. 62-80) can provide ways to
open and build relationships.

The team leaders were left with the assignment:

1.  Make your team's impact diagram (if you aren't sure, talk to other
people about it.  you don't have to only have teams on it--make it your
useful tool.)

2.  Send a copy to mbarker@mit.edu by early January (1 week before the
next meeting, if at all possible).  Especially for sending in email
form, you can use three lists--high, medium, low impact.  If you think
the graphic shows more about the relationships, please send it, but you
should probably send me hardcopy of any graphic.

mike