Adapt

Time Required: 15 minutes

The Team Lead Will Download:
Whole Brain^® Communication Toolkit (Download PDF)

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Teams are dynamic - they form and re-form as priorities and projects shift. When membership changes, it can present challenges for both new and existing team members. Here are some steps you can take to help manage transitions when people leave or join your team:

Instructions: 

1. Communicate openly, and acknowledge changes as soon as possible. Open communication is essential for both new and existing team members. Use the Whole Brain^® Communication Tool to craft messages, plan announcements, and guide conversations about transitions within your team:
   
   
2. Invite new team members to complete their HBDI^® journey. With the Stop & Think app installed [link text that reads "Stop & Think app installed to a support document or page] on Microsoft Teams, they can visit the Activate stage [link to MS Teams activate stage in the "Activate stage" text to the left], scroll to the bottom of the activities and enter their email address to get started. 
   
   
3. Update your team by adding or removing members.
   
   
4. Schedule time to revisit the Explore Your Team Profile exercise. Acknowledge, share, and discuss the new team profile. Discuss changes to strengths, watchouts, and other insights.
   
   
5. Revisit your work from the Create Team Norms exercise. With new members come new personalities, working styles, and ways of thinking. Take time to confirm that team norms still work well and reflect the strengths and skills of new team members while honoring those who continue to contribute.
   
   
6. Continue the effort to Build Trust. Building trust takes time, and changes can break down the trust already established. Think of ways to both celebrate those who are moving on and include those who are joining the team. Keep opportunities for team building and group learning alive at all stages of development to encourage open and honest communication.
   
   
7. Address concerns and be prepared to Unblock Conflict. Make time in meetings where transitions are happening, someone leaving or being added, to discuss potential concerns or conflicts. Work as a whole team to get clarity and resolution.
   
   
8. Provide support. New team members may require additional support and guidance.  Use your team profile (shown below) and sharing of individual HBDI^® profile insights to activate the best conversations for team transitions.

[INSERT TEAM PROFILE HERE AND DELETE THIS TEXT]

Time Required: 20 minutes

The Team Lead Will Download:
Whole Brain^® Unblocking Conflict Tool (Download PDF)

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Conflict avoidance can be very dysfunctional for a team and needs to be addressed as soon as possible. Many fear conflict or worry so much about it that it stays unresolved and may even fester over time. When a team has the common language of Whole Brain^® Thinking, it becomes much easier to have a common process flow to unblock conflict. 

Instructions: 

1. Select one person to lead this activity for the team. Consider the team's profile (viewable below) as you work through this activity.
   
   [INSERT TEAM PROFILE HERE AND DELETE THIS TEXT]
   
   
2. The team lead will ask the team: “What’s the first thing you think of when you hear the word conflict?” Most will say anger, fear, etc. Others often also say creativity. Remind everyone that a negative mindset about conflict will often prevent dealing with it. 
   
   
3. Ask each team member to think about a conflict they’ve faced. Let them know that in this exercise, everyone will quickly work through a tool that your team can use in the future when you need to address conflict. The goal of this exercise is to experience the process and practice applying it.
   
   
4. Download the Whole Brain^® Unblocking Conflict Tool, open the file and share your screen with your team to walk through the review steps below:
   
   A Quadrant (Facts). Ask each person to share their perception of the facts in the conflict they selected. After each person has shared, ask them the following “yes or no” question: “Would others involved in the conflict present the same facts?”
   
   Most likely, the answer is “no.” Share with the group that this first step often clarifies a lot in the beginning to help those involved in the conflict move forward.
   
   C Quadrant (Feelings). Ask each person to share how the behavior in the conflict made them feel. Remind them it’s best to use feeling words and “I” statements.
   
   D Quadrant (Future). When trying to unblock conflict, ask each person to brainstorm what they can do in the future to resolve their conflict and brainstorm options to resolve it. For this exercise, ask members of your team for examples of how they brainstormed options for resolution in their selected conflict.
   
   B Quadrant (Follow Through). When applying this tool, those in the conflict would describe the next steps to follow through on from their brainstorming. Ask your team for a few concrete examples of specific actions they took to resolve their selected conflict.

Next Steps:
As a team, agree to make it a ritual to use the Whole Brain^® Unblocking Conflict Tool when conflict arises. Always start by saying - "let's use Whole Brain® Thinking to unblock this conflict," which helps the team align around the process regardless of their thinking preferences. Also, a review of team or individual profile data in the platform can help understand potential sources of conflict.

Time Required: Will vary; assigning the team prework to capture thoughts ahead of the meeting will speed time spent together

The Team Lead Will Download:
Whole Brain^® Retrospective Template (Download PPT)

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Making time to evaluate where you are as a team and exploring how things are going is a great way to reset, stay agile, learn what's working/not working, and assure the team is on track. Using the Whole Brain^® Retrospective Tool will help your team embrace a learning mindset and build evaluation into the team’s processes for ongoing improvement and efficiency at any stage of a project.

Instructions: 

1. Use the Whole Brain^® Retrospective Tool at the mid-point or end of a team project to check-in on how things are going and make adjustments going forward. Consider your team's profile (viewable below) as you work through this activity.
   
   [INSERT TEAM PROFILE HERE AND DELETE THIS TEXT]
   
   
2. Select one person to lead this activity for the team. The team lead will download the Whole Brain^® Retrospective Tool, open the file and share their screen with your team.
   
   
3. Give everyone time to capture their thoughts on the following questions in each quadrant individually before sharing and capturing themes as a group:
   
   A) What have we accomplished?
   
   B) What should we stop doing? Start doing? 
   
   C) How well are we collaborating?
   
   D) How could we do things differently?
   
   
4. Invite team members to take turns sharing their responses in each quadrant. The team lead will capture each of these on a sticky note provided on the slide and group similar responses so the team can see trends and themes as they start to emerge.
   
   Tip: When collecting responses as a group, you don't need to go in A-B-C-D order. A better workflow is:
   
   A) Celebrate wins!
   
   C) Cheer what’s working and process any frustrations around what’s not.
   
   D) Brainstorm solutions.
   
   B) Plan next steps and capture action items.

Next Steps:
Use the Whole Brain^® Retrospective Tool again during and after different projects. The team will get more familiar with the process the more you use it and look forward to it as a way to address any issues and improve going forward.

Time Required: 15-20 minutes

The Team Lead Will Download:
Whole Brain^® Change Model (Download PDF)

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There’s no question that change is constant. One of the bigger challenges when navigating changes in the workplace is knowing where we are in the change process. Understanding the stage of a change can help a team determine what needs to be communicated, course corrected, started or stopped, discovered or created. Whole Brain^® Thinking can help teams prevent many common pitfalls of change efforts. For example, without an action plan, the team can suffer from false starts because they are not clear about where they are going. Without proper motivators, you’ll encounter resistance.

Successful change is the result of a whole-brained approach across the organization - which includes a clear vision of the change, the right capabilities and resources, the right motivators, and an action plan that aligns with your existing mission and goals. 

Instructions: 

1. Using the Whole Brain^® Change Model, think about where your team, department or organization is now. Consider your team's profile (viewable below) as you work through this activity.
   
   [INSERT TEAM PROFILE HERE AND DELETE THIS TEXT]
   
   
2. As a group, think about what is missing or needed in your change efforts.
   
   
3. Based on your evaluation, create actions to course correct, communicate, and improve your change process.

Next Steps:
Follow through on the team’s action plan and revisit the Whole Brain^® Change Model any time the team needs to navigate change together. 

Use this survey to check in on team progress (e.g., periodically or at the end of a project). 

Please take a few minutes and share your perspective of where you believe your team currently is on the following actions.