A Call for Interdependence
Today’s business leaders face incredible pressure to anticipate, adapt, and produce. Unfortunately, ongoing uncertainty and increasing demands cause many to fall into the trap of over-management. And it’s not uncommon: when a system crumbles and a new one is not yet fixed in place, we get a lot of chaos and confusion.
Figuring out what’s next is not easy for business and organizational leaders. What are the questions they need to be asking in order to find clarity? How do they find a new vision, when there is ongoing uncertainty about any return to former norms?
What leaders need is a balance of independence and interdependence. They need to focus on economics and management issues, as well as how they respond to social, technological, cultural, political, environmental, and religious issues. Childcare, education, and working remotely have a tremendous impact on how they do business. Meeting after meeting leaves workers with very little time to actually do the work and complete assignments as agreed.
We need to rethink our previous assumptions about how we do business, and where we are going. What we have known about the past and assumed about the present is no longer sufficient to prepare for the future. Effective leadership requires a balance of interdependence and independence.
Interdependence versus Independence
Is your attitude about individualism based on your social class?
According to research published in 2017 by the Harvard Business Review, yes. But, it may also be shaped by your geography.
Colin Woodward, author of American Nations (Penguin Group, 2011), writes that our attitudes about interdependence and independence stem from eleven distinct regional cultures in North America. These differences show up as we express our views about individual liberty and the common good.
Today, most business organizations elevate independence as the corporate culture ideal. Too be sure, workplaces that support self-assertion, individual expression, and new ways of thinking/being are to be applauded, but what happens when this is valued greater than collaboration, or worse, greater than the common good?
Consider this: in Descent of Man, Darwin proposed that we humans succeeded because of our empathy and compassion. He wrote, “Those communities which included the greatest number of the most sympathetic members would flourish best, and rear the greatest number of offspring.”
While there is a place for independence in every organization, effective interdependence will sustain an organization and allow it to thrive.
Toward Better Interdependence
People don’t like giving up control, especially in uncertain times. Perhaps that’s why we resist the idea of interdependence: we believe autonomy, individual liberty, and independence will yield greater innovation, production, and wealth. But the reality is we are working in a time of 20-hour work days and seemingly endless virtual meetings. We need better interdependence to reach and maintain peak performance.
In the November-December 2019 issue of Harvard Business Review behavioral scientist, professor, and author Francesco Gino pointed to three attitudes for effective interdependence:
- Respect for contributions from others
- Openness to experiment with ideas from others
- Sensitivity and self-awareness of personal actions that affect others, as well as impacts toward goals and objectives.
Interestingly, these three attitudes are also the basis for successful improv comedy: they allow for true collaboration and forward progress, the hallmarks of innovation. It requires you to trust that others will support and build upon your contribution and it requires you to do the same for them. In business, support is almost always highly conditional:
- "I'll support you as long as I know where this idea is going."
- "I'll support you as long as success is guaranteed."
- "I'll support you as long as there's something in it for me."
And yet it's only when we trust enough to allow something to unfold that surprising innovations happen. The goal for leaders is to manage ego, model a growth mindset, and foster trust.
It Begins with Attitude
1. Manage ego and model effective listening:
· Practice active listening.
· Become comfortable with silence. This includes extended periods of time to allow others to complete their tasks and assignments.
· Be curious, without judgment. Ask open-ended questions that explore and expand, rather than solve or prove.
2. Express empathy and curiosity. Right now, expressing empathy can be more challenging for leaders: Studies have found that in an attempt to manage their own stress and anxiety, people will cognitively turn off empathy and compassion when they feel like they can’t help someone. If you have trouble managing your own stress as a leader, consider working with a qualified executive coach. They can help you remain open to seeing and addressing the needs of other people, including your stockholders, board members, employees, and clients: all stakeholders.
3. Practice constructive feedback:
· First, ensure expectations were effectively communicated. (If not, own it.)
· Engage in a dialog that points out what worked, and what needs improvement. Whenever possible, engage in the “Yes, and…” approach to model effective give and take: acknowledge what was presented (think of it as a gift offered), and build on the idea, rather than negate it.
· Finally, discuss feedback on feedback, and acknowledge our natural human tendencies to resist or avoid feedback.
Better Team Interdependence Doesn’t Just Happen
Are your team members grumbling about too many virtual meetings, or complaining of ‘Zoomout’? It could be a disconnect between management and employees in our understanding and expectations of interdependence.
If your team has transitioned to remote work and management (and/or leadership) believes that more interdependence and management is required, but team members believe otherwise, tension will be common. This shows up in the form of complaints from employees: they push back when asked to attend meetings, participate in decision making, and do work. They often complain of micro-management.
Conversely, if your team members believe they need to be more interdependent, and management or other team members do not, complaints of lack of support and help will be common. Either way, better management is required.
Two Factors for Better Team Interdependence
The two most important factors for better team interdependence are planning and communication. When all parties understand and agree to what, where, when, how, who, and why, less communication (and meetings) is needed.
When a team does not have proper planning and communication, team members have difficulty getting information from each other, completing tasks, and making decisions. They spend unnecessary time and effort on tasks, which slows production.
How much planning and communication is enough? This depends on the type of interdependence. Sociologist and organizational theorist James D. Thompson identified three types many teams use today: pooled, sequential, and reciprocal. Because team members may be operating from different (and or limited) experiences with each type of interdependence, their expectations may vary.
Team Interdependence: One Size Does Not Fit All
One of the greatest paradoxes of this time is our need for greater independence and interdependence: in order to overcome this crisis, we need to actively work independently, and with each other. This takes great planning, communication, and coordination. It requires the right type of team interdependence.
For example, let’s say your business is to make widgets. You offer standard widgets, as well as customized widgets. Your business is made up of production teams to reach standard widget goals and deliver quality custom widgets.
- Level 1 interdependence pools standardized independent actions into a team effort. Each person creates a standard widget. This is referred to as pooled interdependence.
- Level 2 interdependence requires a known sequence of standardized and modified actions into a team effort. Each person completes a portion of the process to produce a widget; an assembly line. This is referred to as sequential interdependence.
- Level 3 interdependence is based on known and unknown sequences of known and unknown standardized and modified actions into a team effort. This is referred to as reciprocal interdependence.
The level of interdependence is also referred to as the degree of interdependence, and determines the type of management, or amount of coordination, needed.
Shift Your Management for Success
Higher degrees of interdependence reflect greater complexity, and require different types, or degrees, of management:
- Level 1 management: When all team members are trained on and adhere to standardized processes and actions, standardization management, including reporting and communications, is efficient.
- Level 2 management: Planning management is required for sequential interdependence. This allows managers to coordinate goals with the actions needed, including process analysis, for successful outcome. Team members may be asked to provide additional information and shift actions as needed.
- Level 3 management: When any team member introduces new information that affects the reciprocal independence, increased communication, changes, and coordination are required. This calls for mutual adjustment management.
Great leaders help their team members understand and move through different levels of interdependence. They shift their management and coordination relative to the degree of complexity for improved productivity and efficiency. If your team members are complaining about the amount of meetings (or a lack of information), examine your level of management. It may require adjustment.
Coaching Team Interdependence and Peak Performance in a Virtual World
Coaching team interdependence and peak performance in a virtual world has its advantages. It allows you to plan, reflect, prepare, implement, and follow-up your discussions. But it’s not without its challenges. Avoid the risk of meeting burnout with these tips and best practices:
- Explore what and why. Before you begin the conversation, explore your own expectations and attitudes about the employee. What is the expected outcome of their efforts? If there is a gap, review your communications. Perhaps there was a misunderstanding, extenuating circumstances, or, your employee is privy to information that is not on your radar. Open the conversation with an attitude of curiosity, rather than judgment.
- Segue in to exploration of their goals: business and personal. Ask about the challenges and obstacles they are facing. Right now, most workers are doing their best to manage increased pressure and stress, and many are hesitant to share this. In some cases, it may be childcare or eldercare. Alternatively, it could be they lack the energy and creativity they found in their previous work environment.
- Collaborate on next steps. For example, if there was a misunderstanding, identify an effective communication process that works for both of you. This could be something as simple and specific as not interrupting during a virtual meeting, or conversely, asking for clarification. If skill was the issue, identify an effective training process, including mentoring and/or online learning. For those who miss the office environment, explore how employees might be able to connect virtually for water-cooler hangouts. The key is to not jump to solutions, rather, coach them to find insights and solutions they will implement.
- Follow-up as agreed. Be as specific as possible in your feedback, and link behavior to outcome. Whenever possible, use the 3:1 ratio: for every negative critique, share three positive observations. To reinforce lessons learned, ask how it will help them achieve their own goals. Use open questions to encourage self-discovery, and avoid micromanaging. And remember: level 3 management is reciprocal management. Your feedback should be a dialog, where you are open to ways in which you can improve, as a leader, manager, and interdependent team player.
Dr. Maynard Brusman
Consulting Psychologist & Executive Coach
Trusted Leadership Advisor
Professional Certified Coach (PCC), International Coach Federation
Board Certified Coach (BCC)
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