We like to think that all the teams in our organisation are aligned, collaborating effectively, and working in harmony. In an ideal world, all of our teams’ passion and energy would be combined against the external world, beating competitors and solving problems that get in the way.
In reality, under pressure, we often turn on the groups closest to us. Not because they are the problem but because they are visible and identifiable. It is hard to blame people we can’t identify, so we find an ‘enemy’ we can name, which can be as simple as the team down the corridor. Sales get frustrated with Service, Manufacturing with Supply Chain, and the front line with Leadership.
When the in-fighting bubbles over from noise to frustration, you need to deal with it before all the energy (time and talent) of your team is focused on internal battles and not directed towards delivering the outcomes you require. In this podcast, Ricky and Paul explore how teams get themselves into this position, and when you find yourself dealing with this, what steps bring alignment and harmony back to your world?
Ricky and Paul mention the Trust model by Francis Frei in this podcast. This model is a really helpful way of thinking of trust between teams, and we probably did not do it justice in our description, so we recommend that you hear all about it from the expert in her fabulous TED Talk.
Frances Frei – How to build (and rebuild) trust. TED.com 2018