Inspired Teams
by Steven B. WolffComparative Inspired Teams represents the next generation in team development. It is a framework that combines 20 years of research on Team Emotional Intelligence (TEI) with the principles of Agile development. Comparative Inspired Teams execute and innovate quickly.
Build a High Performance Culture
High performing teams consistently beat their peers in measures of quality, speed and customer satisfaction. Comparative Inspired Teams help you build an intentional culture by identifying the concrete behaviors that make a difference – and affect change where it matters to your teams.
Agility – Beyond Product Development
Agile was born in a software development context, but its values and principles have been proven to work in all areas of business characterized by volatility, uncertainty, complexity and volatility (VUCA).
Backed by Industry-leading Research
The research behind Team Emotional Intelligence is peer reviewed and published in the Harvard Business Review. Leverage the power of these insights with proven behaviors from agile thinking to improve how your teams interact, collaborate and perform together.
Team Emotional Intelligence Meets Agile
When you combine two proven technologies, Agile, and Team Emotional Intelligence, you get awesome teams.
These teams know how to get things done quickly and they know what to do to build the team.
Agile teaches how to drive the car but does not provide a “map” for developing the team.
Agile speeds team progress using a set of principles and processes. Although Agile often creates high-performance teams, the team has no “map” for how to improve the team itself.
As a result, teams may struggle for a while before finding a route to reaching their full potential; some teams may never find their way to high performance.
Team Emotional Intelligence provides the “map” but not instruction on how to drive the car.
Team Emotional Intelligence is a framework that provides such a “map” for building the team. TEI helps the team build a culture that allows it to energize members, remove obstacles to progress, and create psychological safety, trust, and team identity.
TEI has been shown to significantly boost performance; however, it does not provide a set of processes that teams can follow.
Sample Questions
Create Meaning
We clearly define team goals.Build Connection
We try to understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses.Build Support
We work to build connections outside the team.Proactively Address Blocks
We act proactively to prevent problems from occurring.Threats to Performance
If a member behaves in a way that slows team progress, we let him or her know.Context
We work to understand the priorities of the leaders in our organization.Orientation to Challenge
When something goes wrong, we see it as a challenge rather than an obstacle.Learning Orientation
We find new ways to do things better.Outcomes
Mistakes are not held against you.His work has been featured in the Harvard Business Review. Inspired Teams, the next generation team framework, is grounded in research from TEI and incorporates critical concepts from Agile.
Change the Norms to Change the Culture
Emotional intelligence has a profound affect not just on team dynamics but also on organizational culture. In his research Steven Wolff has found that culture is often on the list of factors for team performance – but what is culture?
Says Wolff, “When you can affect the rules of behavior – the norms – you can change the patterns of behavior that you see and feel – which is the culture.”
