The 4 C's of Team Development

Happy New Year to You! 

As I look into the new year, I am reflecting: Where there is challenge there always lies tremendous opportunity. 

Despite all the unrest and the ever-shifting economy and workforce, I believe 2024 has great potential. And, it could be where your team's best work is accomplished, becoming more efficient, working together more smoothly, and with business profitability increasing. 

One common perspective in the last couple of years (including many responses from our recent survey) is that  people "just don’t want to work hard anymore" or that "it’s impossible to find qualified, hard-working candidates." 

Although these statements of frustration feel accurate, they rarely reflect the root cause of the shift happening in the workforce: that people are becoming less willing to work within business systems that devalue their humanity as people. 

As I mentioned before, Andreas, Alison, and I have been developing team building tools through our company Learning Facilitation. While we’ve been refining our learning models, global research continues to come out that aligns with and supports our work. From the current research one thing is clear:  Employees now expect the companies and people they work for care about them, and they have a strong desire to have a positive impact through their work.  

Even the world's largest survey organizations are catching up to this key learning: 

In a global survey, Boston Consulting Group (BCG) asked 6,000 people what attributes they want most from their leaders at work. The top four qualities reported by respondents were all related to what BCG calls actions of the “heart” (emotional well-being). Respondents said they most want more recognition, coaching, listening, and caring from their leaders. BCG summed up their findings as: “No leader can ignore the need to do good.” 

A recent survey by Gallup concluded that employee expectations at work have fundamentally changed, particularly since the onset of Covid-19. Jim Harter, Gallup’s chief scientist of workplace states: “It’s a real opportunity for organizations to figure out the next new normal.” 

Anyone who has attempted to hire recently has likely experienced the change. But what is the new normal? What are the expectations? And how do we as leaders reasonably meet those expectations? 

For many leaders, particularly those who are also owner/operators of a business, meeting the new workforce expectations is going to require a fundamental mindset shift. 

To meet this challenge and invigorate your teams, the overwhelming evidence shows leaders are going to be charged with making a shift from a Compliance-based culture to a Collaboration-based, or even more sustainable, a Co-creation based culture. 

Moving from Compliance to Co-creation is a process that evolves over time. And you can think of that process in terms of "The Four C’s of Team Development". 

With Learning Facilitation, we’ve tried to create models that are simple to remember, with tips and tricks, skill development, and with plenty of real-world examples. 

Here’s the CliffsNotes version of "The Four C’s of Team Development": 

Stage one: Compliance. In this stage the primary focus is task completion in exchange for salary. The expectation is that an employee is being paid to do tasks. Leadership's responsibility is focussed on providing financial compensation and articulating expectations. It’s a transactional mindset that places little value on relationship building. If an employee is not meeting expectations around task completion, leaders often feel the logical solution is to replace them with someone who can “fill the role.”  

Stage 2: Cooperation. At this stage most tasks are being completed competently and the primary focus becomes resolving any team conflict or getting people to not interfere with other’s work. As long as team members aren’t actively sabotaging each other, that is a success.Team members at this stage often report that they “get along”. I’d like to offer that in a workgroup setting, getting along is a pretty low bar of interaction. Often at this stage there is still a transactional culture within the organization which assumes the employees provide task completion in return for salary.  

Stage 3: Collaboration. Collaboration is the “new normal” that Gallup refers to. In the Collaboration stage of team development, the focus shifts from “I want to be good at my job”, to “What can I do to make our work better as a team”. Everyone within the organization is consistently recognized and treated as a vital component in the team, regardless of role. The team (including leadership) embodies what the Arbinger Institute refers to as an Outward Mindset. Team members directly support the success of one another, and the entire organization as a result, by identifying how their work impacts that of the entire team. If a team member is not meeting task completion expectations, the Collaborative team creates systems to support the individual becoming successful within the organization. This is what Steve Jobs called “Taking the long view on people.” The move toward a Collaboration-based organization begins the transition from a transactional culture to a relationship-centric culture. People are recognized and appreciated as people beyond the role they have within the organization.  

Stage 4: Co-creation. In the fourth stage of team development, there is a cultural shift from hierarchy of power, to shared responsibility. Teams begin to become highly engaged and remarkably effective at adapting to change. Co-creative teams thrive in complex and challenging environments. As the development of technology continues to speed up and the rate of change in business increases, teams that adopt a mindset and culture of Co-creation will be the few to experience long-term success. Co-creation requires a significant mindset shift from everyone within the organization, and the benefits that result are tremendous, with increased productivity, very low turnover, less stress, and greater fulfillment from work. Ultimately, the primary focus of the Co-creative team is long-term organizational and individual success through shared leadership and responsibility. Every voice is heard, and each team member uses their unique skills, talents, and perspectives to collectively overcome even the most difficult and entrenched challenges.  

Making the shift to a Co-creation based organization requires both a mindset shift and new skills. In any given week (or even in one day!), you might find moments of each of the stages are occurring in your team. It’s not about focusing on Stage 4 / Co-creation as the only goal - it’s about a continued practice of implementing the mindset and actions that support a cultural shift that empowers everybody on the team, creating more motivation and excitement to do exceptional work. 

Does this resonate? Or feel too high level? We're always looking to make this platform as good as it can be. Let me know by shooting me an email with any questions, thoughts or topics you would like to learn more about.

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- Joan and the Learning Facilitation team