Going further with your team’s mission using “Identity Symbols”
Hello everyone, how are you? After some time without publishing articles, we are slowly returning with some topics that I think can help you in your daily lives with their teams.
In the past few months, I have been testing several tools and techniques with teams and business areas to understand which one fits best the situations. Recently, I decided to make run for the “Identity Symbols” practice so I could start structuring an Agile transformation team. In this case, a community of practices or Business Guild (we’ll talk about that soon).
What is the “Identity Symbols” practice?
As I set up the 2-day workshop, I thought of different ways to write this team’s mission. Why were they there? What all that was to them? How did they identify themselves with this initiative? These are questions that are relevant enough to be dealt with care and responsibility, as if these people needed a “symbol” to represent those questions. So I resorted to the Identity Symbols practice (for more details, click here).
Identity symbols is a Management 3.0 practice that associates the identity of a group, people and even the organization, with symbols that represent them. Symbols can be either icons, images, different titles or other form of representation.
Through this practice, we allow teams to have a simple way of saying who they are. At the same time, we give people the freedom, autonomy and confidence to build their own symbols.
Why use this practice?
We all need things that connect us with who we are or with things we like. A different outfit, a tattoo, a ring or necklace. Each of these items is a piece of what we are and that is what makes us feel “unique” in the world. With Identity symbols I was able to use the same perspective for my teams, teaching them something that connects them to the world and to themselves.
What and how I used this practice
So that I could help the teams to find this “symbol” of theirs, I had to wait for the best moment for that. In each exercise, I had to build a more organized structure of practices and tools, that would be compatible with a topic of such importance. So I chose a “team building” exercise. By using this practice in this context, we have the opportunity to provide a starting point regarindg principles, rules, routines and, in this case, the team’s mission.
A team without a mission, a purpose, is a team that has no direction. So that we could approach their mission widely and how it represented their needs and ideals, we used a technique called Ikigai.
Despite not being created for this purpose, Ikigai has become a way that many teams have used to identify their reason for existence and their focus of action. Essentially, I asked the team members to fill out each major part of the diagram, following the guidance below. You will see that we have adapted some terms so that the diagram could represent the organization and the team as a whole, not just each individual:
- What you love: what things do we love to do in the company? What situations do we love to be in? What, as individuals, do we feel passionate about doing?
- What the organization needs: what do we, as an agility community, see that the company needs to achieve great results.
- What we are paid for: what does the company expect of us, in this case, as agilists? What kind of services and results does the company expect?
Through this information, we built a set of aspects that could provide us the materials to build the mission. It looked something like this (forgive the low resolution).
Soon after, we experienced a more improvised dynamic, inspired by the technique of liberating structures 1–2–4-All. Each individual wrote their own version of the team’s mission, how we would identify ourselves (war name) and a symbol, something that expressed their characteristics, goals and expectations about agility in the company. After each one showed their perspective, we spent the remaining time to consolidate the mission in a single statement that fit the perspective of everyone on the team.
What did I learn from this exercise?
The feedback on the practices used that day was great. People praised the exercises and the dynamics of the facilitation. But even so, it is important to think about what we learn from such practices and what it shows us that we need to do better.
- Identity is underestimated
Often, people ignore the need for a Team Building exercise. They think it is superfluous, irrelevant or ineffective. But it is through moments like this, using the practices, for example, of Management 3.0, that we are able to connect with people. - Always start with the mission
Purpose connects us, unites us and gives us meaning. Therefore, always allow the team their identity and the mission that connects themwith its reality. A mission that inspires and motivates them. - Less is more
Despite having used several practices to achieve the objective of the exercise, the simplicity contained in the practice and how easy it is for people to understand its objective and its execution makes the dynamics lighter and eliminates any complexity. - Create a safe environment
In any situation, people will say what they think if they are surrounded by a safe atmosphere. By having a sense of belonging in the group, people can share their pains and concerns. For “Identity symbols” it is essential to create this type of environment.
So, what did you think of the article? Give your feedback!
