As CRR GLOBAL GCC Partners, we are well aware of the circumstances that are prevalent in our region and these reasons have also caused cancellation or postponement of our courses. … Continue reading
We meet with and coach a lot of teams from a wide variety of backgrounds and sectors, made up of people from all over the world. Despite this diversity, there are some common issues that come up for everyone. One of the most common things we hear is ‘we have a silo mentality, and we want to change it to be more collaborative and work cross functionally’. Does this sound familiar? … Continue reading
This is our first in a series of articles about collaboration, or more specifically, ineffective collaboration. It’s a common problem our clients report that they want to improve upon, and one that we cover in practically every coaching journey we are on with a team. … Continue reading
If you did a quick google search for the top reasons why teams fail, you will find that an inability to collaborate is up there on the list. If it doesn’t have a specific mention in one of the many articles and posts you will find on the subject, then aspects of collaboration like ineffective communication will feature on the list of reasons why teams are unsuccessful. … Continue reading
One of the most common reasons teams fail is through issues surrounding how the people in the team communicate. If it’s not the central reason for their dysfunction, it will certainly feature as a compounding problem. Good communication is essential to a teams’ performance – if communication isn’t working, then the team isn’t working. … Continue reading
We are working in an increasingly culturally diverse world. Innovations like affordable air travel and the Internet coupled with economic and political Globalisation have meant that people from all corners of the world have begun to interact like never before. The world’s expatriate population is growing by 5% year on year, and 80% of millennials want to work abroad in their careers. … Continue reading
With the ongoing market conditions in the region, every organization is trying its best to keep their team morale up and finding ways for improving team performance. It’s a known fact that teams and companies are running under pressure and the management is looking at making the best out of their available resources without overburdening or exhausting them. However, every team goes through a stage where it experiences a team burnout. This is a common scenario, which if not identified on time, may lead to damages which can affect performance. … Continue reading
“When employees are happy, they are your very best ambassadors”
Our workplace is undeniably a place where we spend most of our time during the day. Imagine spending those 8-10 hours a day in a place which doesn’t make you feel happy or productive. One of the most important lessons that many leading companies have learned in the recent times is that creating and fostering a work environment that is fun and that inspires employees to enjoy their work can make a huge difference in profitability and performance on an individual and team level. We cannot agree less, here are the top reasons why we think companies need to make sure that their office is a happy place to work. … Continue reading
A lack of trust prevents alignment
Team misalignment is most evident as a lack of trust between team members: poor communication leads to poor understanding, which results in a lack of trust at the personal level. That lack of trust becomes an obstacle to healthy relationships between team members, preventing teamwork. Unspoken assumptions under which the team has been operating, and false stereotypes, often lay at the root of this downward spiral in relationship.
Linda Berlot is a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) who has gained accreditation from the International Coach Federation (ICF). Her specific role is that of Team’s Performance Coach, and she coaches intercultural teams of all kinds, all over the world. As a CRR Global faculty member, she also trains others to become relationship or team coaches. Linda specializes in helping organizations align their inter-cultural leadership teams into close-knit, more aligned teams. The goal is a team of insightful members who value one another and play to each other’s strengths.
When Linda is called in to help misaligned teams, she finds that poor communication and clashes of culture always play a significant part in most team issues. For years, Linda has used the Organization and Relationships Systems Coaching (ORSC) Model as part of her methodology to help teams build empathetic understanding, trust and alignment.
The ORSC model focuses on the whole team as a relational group (as opposed to one of mere circumstance, for example). Whereas many are familiar with Emotional Intelligence (relationship with oneself) and Social Intelligence (relationship with others), ORSC looks at what is known as Relationship Systems IntelligenceTM, where the focus is on the entire team as a unit. This is Linda’s specialty.
By looking at issues in terms of inter-team relationships (rather than citizenship or ethnicity, for example), the insights that Linda is able to bring to light for a team are quite surprising. “We don’t live on an Island; everything is about relationships.” Even before any real coaching takes place, just the sharing of some insights exposes the roots of some of the perceived issues; and that in itself moves the team forward in their dynamics and effectiveness.
In intercultural situations, however, understanding between team members is often difficult to achieve. Increasing understanding requires a framework and a vocabulary that make it possible to explore differences in various aspects of team life, such as decision-making.
Linda received Inter-Cultural Intelligence (ICI) Certification from KnowledgeWorkx, and she now uses the ICI Model to help teams explore and understand the differences that lie at the root of misalignment. ICI provides a proven framework and vocabulary for alignment in intercultural contexts.
As an experienced practitioner of both models, Linda finds ORSC and ICI complementary and effective when used in conjunction. In particular, Linda views two ICI tools as indispensable additions to her coaching toolbox: the Three Colors of Worldview, and the 12 Dimensions of Culture. Linda says that she can see the worldviews and dimensions playing out in front of her in each group that she coaches, because these powerful tools are constantly in the back of her mind.
A team culture map lays the foundation for understanding and positive change. For example, one team that Linda coached was fairly homogenous in terms of nationality, with the single exception of one expatriate.
When she displayed the team’s Group Map for the 12 Dimensions, the whole team could note their spectrum of similarities and dissimilarities along the different dimensions. Along several dimensions there was a notable outlier to the groupings. Everyone in the room (except Linda) immediately assumed this outlier to be the expatriate, and it was clear that the team had always been operating under that kind of assumption.
But Linda revealed the outlier to be another team member, and as their understanding of themselves and each other grew it became evident to the team that unspoken assumptions — like who the outlier was — were the source of many perceived issues and conflicts within their team. The team began to align.
Sharing these insights, exposing and identifying the assumptions, and the subsequent coaching, drew the team together. The team began to understand that unique and personal influences form much of our culture as individuals; and that allowing various stereotypes or assumptions to exist within the team only hides the real issues that cause misalignment.
When team members begin to communicate with each other, and when their knowledge of themselves and their sympathetic understanding of each other begins to grow, trust can flourish between them. A cultural map with insights into team dynamics provides a team with even more knowledge, motivation and resources for alignment. They develop a sense of belonging and shared purpose within the team. Everyone wants to belong to a thriving team with that kind of alignment, and Linda Berlot has discovered the mix of tools and competencies that can take teams there. She is a great example of an inter-culturally intelligent coach.
Here’s hoping that more people can integrate inter-cultural intelligence into their coaching, in order to improve team effectiveness in the global workspace