Management Perspectives

I coach teams and, in my experience, for them to climb what I call the ‘Team Progression Curve’ and succeed as a high-performing unit, they must all navigate three psychological issues. I call them ‘Commit’, ‘Combust’, and ‘Combine’. Unfortunately, most people do not know about these and therefore find it harder to build winning teams. In this article, I will outline those three issues. The payoff will help you figure out how to raise your team’s performance when progress stalls. Or better still, it will help you avoid the problems before they arise.

Psychological issue #1: Commit

Commit is normally the first issue you and your teammates will face because whenever we join a new team, we subconsciously ask ourselves questions like:

• Do I feel I belong here?
• What is our team aim? Do I want to contribute to achieving it?
• Will they ignore or dismiss what I say?
• Who responds favourably to me or see things the way I do?
• Will they (especially the leader) accept me?  Will they think I can make a difference to our results?
• Will it be a successful team? If you are the leader, you can be sure your new teammates will be pondering these questions.

The central issue, the thread running through the questions, is inclusion. You could boil them down to just one: shall I be an active engaged member, include myself, and commit to this team, or shall I stay detached, hold back and remain on the sidelines? How do you know when you have resolved Commit? It is when most of your teammates have made the minimum commitment needed for the emerging team to move onto the Combust issue. In my experience, this usually means four things. One, they believe the team’s aim is sufficiently worthwhile and realistic. Two, they have assessed their colleagues’ reactions to them and feel included. Three, they can at least sense a value-adding role for themselves. And four, stemming from the first three points, they have decided they want to stay and play their part in the team—at least for now.

Psychological issue #2: Combust

Now the Combust issue looms into view. This is about power, especially around team decision-making and execution. It shows as our efforts to exert influence by playing roles that satisfy our power needs. This explains the conflict you will often see when Combust is in force. In Combust, again subconsciously, we will ask ourselves questions like:

• Who are the most powerful people here?
• How do we get things done here and what’s my role in it?
• How much power do I want and what kind – formal responsibility or behind-the-scenes influence?
• What are the rules here? Can I make, change, or break them?
• Do I need to fight anyone?
• Can I cope?
• Am I ready to limit my autonomy by letting others influence and challenge me?

As with Commit, we can distil these questions down to one: am I seeking high or low influence, especially, when we consider and act on team decisions, and will I face battles with my colleagues—and therefore, shall I act timidly, subtly, or forcefully? What are the signs that you have resolved Combust enough to shift onto Combine? Assuming the members still believe in their common goal and remain engaged, look out for these five indicators. One, your teammates have settled into what they consider satisfying team roles. Two, they understand and accept how the team reaches decisions. Three, they know who plays what role in those decisions. Four, most (ideally, all) members are satisfied with their influence in the team. Fifth, a sense of order, structure, and progress has emerged from points one to four.

Psychological issue #3: Combine

Combine is the most complex of the three issues. Why? Because you will see two distinct yet connected themes: intimacy and focus. Our desire for intimacy moves us beyond a wish for contact (in Commit) to want to feel closer to others, to like and be liked, to support and be supported. Intimacy requires trust. Building trust means we must say what we genuinely think, feel and intend, and do what we promised our colleagues we’d do. Focus concerns where we direct our willpower and energy: in the team’s interests or our own? When we combine trust and focus, we support one another while expressing our individual potential in service of the team’s purpose, not our selfish interests. As before, subconscious questions arise when Combine is your main issue. They include:

• How safe is it to reveal my real thoughts and feelings in this team?
• Are people telling the truth here?
• Do I trust these people? Who can I trust here?
•  How much of myself do I want to reveal? Can I be myself and still be liked?  Do I care enough about our goal to put the team’s interests before my own?
• What contribution to results does the team need from me?
• How can I balance my personal growth needs with what others want and, also, what the whole team needs?

We can distil these questions and others like them down to just two. First, am I ready to trust the people here and say what I really think and feel, even at the risk of making myself vulnerable—or shall I remain guarded? Second, shall I put the team’s priorities before my own interests and, if so, how can I best use my talents to help us succeed – or shall I instead look after number one? How do you know you’ve navigated Combine successfully? I have found there are five signs. One, the members trust one another’s motives, which shows through their readiness to say what they are really thinking and feeling on important and sensitive issues. Two, the members have grown emotional bonds, pulling them closer together as a team. Three, you will see examples of members putting the team’s aims before their personal needs, for example, ‘turf’ or career interests. Four, the members have accepted that they cannot leave leadership entirely to the team leader, meaning they hold one another accountable without waiting for the leader to put them under pressure. Five, the team consistently arrives at clear decisions and follows through skilfully.

Sequence

I have been implying that all work groups face three issues their members must resolve to become and stay a successful team— Commit, Combust and Combine—usually, in that order. You may be wondering, why do they normally arise in that sequence? Commit is typically the first issue because if the members do not decide to engage (at least for now), the team would not need to address the Combust and Combine challenges. Again, why? Because members would not care enough to worry about them. Why would they care about power, trust, and focus if no one committed? Why does Combust typically follow Commit? Because research shows that once we have decided we are ‘in’, that is when we focus on power and roles. Why does Combine normally follow Combust? Because it is usually only after members gain enough feel for their power in the new team that they turn to the Combine issue. That is when they show most interest in developing closer connections, building trust, supporting colleagues’ needs, putting the team first, and seeking ways of raising collective performance.

Timing

You may be asking yourself; how long does it take to navigate the three issues successfully and become a genuine team? Unfortunately, there is no fixed answer. At a minimum, several months. But it takes as long as it takes and, frankly, some would-be teams never resolve them because their members lack psychological awareness and teambuilding know-how. You are, however, forewarned and forearmed so your chances of successful team-building are already better than average.