How to Develop Effective Team Leadership

There are many definitions of team leadership, but, at their heart, most will feature the need to somehow define a goal for the team, and then ensure that the team feel enabled to work towards that goal. There's a simplicity here that may be very easy to describe, but difficult to achieve if the leader is to stay in the 'sweet spot' that lies between a hands-off approach and micromanagement. It's very likely that actively demonstrating where this sweet spot lies will be singularly more effective than finding the words to describe it.
     
Working experientially there are two activities I find to be particularly useful in structuring an effective demonstration of what's needed here; which one I choose largely depends on the complexity of the workplace situation I'm gearing- up the team to face.

If I'm working in a situation where I simply need the team to efficiently pool the knowledge they hold, I don't want personality and status to deflect them from this task. We need to hear what each individual knows without interruption or bias so that the team process is smooth and direct. Sharing in this way is the quickest way to firstly reach agreement on an objective and then go on to achieve it, and it's a process that is perfectly demonstrated using the Workstations activity.
I don't want to spend a long time with a team getting them to trust and value the contribution of colleagues, Workstations allows me to move quickly to illustrating this process.

If, however, I'm working in a situation that is more complex and dynamic, particularly one where knowledge is emergent, I need an activity that lasts a little longer so that needs and understanding can change and develop. Here I might turn to Minefield, particularly if I'm working with more senior leaders or representatives of more than one team or function.

Within any organisation knowledge develops at different rates. This knowledge might be specific to a particular function, but there's always going to be content that will inform the work of other parts of the organisation. I need people to consistently scan what they're finding out, and to recognise what might have value elsewhere (and this might include partners outside of the organisation), then to understand the relationships and channels they need to move the information effectively. With Minefield I can recognisably simulate this environment; allowing teams to build understanding of their operating environment, collate knowledge, work against a budget to place a value on this knowledge, and to consider the extent to which they need to collaborate with other teams. Ultimately the group will achieve a score, and it's a feature of Minefield that this score is a direct evaluation of how accurately they have assessed the situation and managed the knowledge environment. It's an activity that generates strong emotions and powerful learning, making the transfer of learning back into the workplace both direct and insightful.

As a leader I want my team to have all the tools and permissions they need to self-manage their knowledge environment; achieving that degree of autonomy is something I'm prepared to invest time and energy in achieving. Working with experiential learning tools like Workstations and Minefield has got to be a strong consideration for this investment.