ABSTRACT
Emergence teams are only formed to tackle serious organizational problems, and since launching an emergence team is a significant undertaking, it should not be commenced without the understanding and support of the most senior levels of the organization. The CEO or a senior member of the executive team should drive the formation of the emergence team as well as assume the role of the emergence team’s sponsor. This individual must clearly understand not only the problem but also the properties of emergence teams as described in Chapter 1, plus what results are expected of the team, its interaction with and impact on other stakeholders, and how successful resolution of the problem will be defined. This information establishes the core of the team’s charter including the team’s role and the team leader’s role, and forms the basis for Example 2.1. The critical importance of establishing a clear role for the team will be explained in Chapter 3. Emergence Team Sponsor–Team Leader–Team Members Questionnaire
The following questions relate to the work to be carried out by the emergence team and are being sent to you as sponsor initially, and also to the team leader, and later to each member of the team. Please fill out the questionnaire and retain your responses providing one copy to the sponsor or team leader or team members as appropriate; these will be used as the basis for later dialogue between the sponsor and the team leader, and potentially with team members.
Why are we doing this?
What imperatives influenced the decision to form this emergence team?
Please describe concisely the problem(s) with which the team will be tasked.
How doses the team’s work relate to the organization’s present and future strategies and objectives?
What will be achieved?
What will be the specific outcomes/results of the team’s work?
How will the team know when it is successful?
In what manner will the team report its progress and results?
Definition of the team leader’s role.
How will the team leader contribute to achieving question #2 above?
What role is the team leader expected to play in advocating plans, tasks and activities related to the outcomes to be achieved?
How must the team leader participate in leading implementation of the plans, and in sustaining commitment and ensuring cohesiveness?
How is the team leader expected to support team development?
Who else has a stake in the team’s activities?
Who are the other key internal and external stakeholders (including other teams)?
What should be the team’s relationship to these stakeholders?
How will the team’s sponsor support the team?
What is the sponsor’s role?
How will the sponsor and the team relate?
How will the team members be rewarded?
What achievements should the team or its members be rewarded for?
How should achievements be recognized:
At intervals throughout the project? Or
At the end of the project?
Should rewards be granted to:
Individual team members?
The team as a whole?
What could hold the team back?
Are there any critical constraints or barriers?
Are there security concerns?
How will all these constraints be addressed?
What could undermine the team’s recommendations?
It is critical that the team’s sponsor, and other members of senior management, understand that the emergence team may uncover unpalatable facts about the organization’s operations in relation to the problem with which the team is tasked, and that such conclusions must not be rejected unless they are seriously flawed. All too often, senior management of an organization will not countenance any suggestion that mistakes have been made, and indeed will suppress any such research based conclusions. Both authors of this book have carried out research reviews of unsuccessful business initiatives; these studies were based on in-depth interviews and stories from intimately involved personnel, and in both cases the resulting reports were not used in any organizational learning fashion but in fact were confiscated and destroyed! It will be important for the emergence team to ensure that its ‘environment’ (see Cynefin Framework in Chapter 1) research findings do not carry a ‘blaming’ tone but rather set out the team’s reasons for categorizing the problem: Environment as a Known environment; a Knowable environment; or an Unknowable environment – complex; or an Unknowable environment – chaotic. However, unless the evidence for one particular environment is overwhelming, it is very likely that the team’s categorization will not be fully supported by all senior executives or even all team members.
