Thriving Teams: researchED national conference ’24

As ever, the researchED national conference was an inspiring day of learning, networking, and sharing. Luckily, the weather was milder than the scorcher of 2023 (and I didn’t have a flip flop malfunction this year), and Parliament Hill School hosted the event brilliantly, along with Helene, Tom and the big team of helpers.

My aim for the day was to engage with trust-wide ideas to help me in my role as Director of Education at Xavier CET. I attended sessions by Sam Gibbs and Jen Barker, Kay Shepherd, Siobhan Meredith and Shannen Doherty, all of which discussed school and trust culture, staff wellbeing and workload, professional growth and CPD. I’m indebted to those speakers for sharing (for free!) their ideas, expertise, and the research they’ve been looking at.

My talk was called Thriving Teams: research to reality, and it attempted to explore how research can help us when teams are stuck or in a tough place, rather than being a utopian look at the perfect conditions in which teams can thrive.

The slides are below – please feel free to download – I hope you get some use from them.

Leading, and being a member of, a school team, is no easy feat. There are so many demands on all aspects of the job, and, while we try to focus on the main things (often involving the flourishing of the children!), its easy for teams to neglect the deliberate practice of crafting a team.

Teams can fall into the trap of focusing only on what they ‘do’ or ‘make’ – the stuff they produce. But, for teams to thrive, they also need to coalesce around many things, from a clear vision and purpose, to goals and a strong performance challenge. And then we have the task of discussing the ways we work together – how we behave, what we want to learn, etc.

I based much of the session on the work of Salas and Tannenbaum in their excellent (research packed!) book Teams That Work.

Their research suggests that there are seven drivers of team effectiveness:

1.Capability – do we have the right mix of knowledge, skills, and other attributes in this team?

This is about having ample horsepower – if your team lacks critical competencies, it will be difficult to succeed.

2.Cooperation – Do team members possess the right beliefs and attitudes about their team?

Cooperation is about mindset – beliefs and attitudes about my teammates and my team.

3.Coordination – Are members exhibiting the necessary teamwork behaviours for team success?

Coordination is about behaviour – teammates demonstrating the right team work behaviours – this is about action, not attitudes

4.Communication – Do team members communicate effectively with each other and with people outside the team?

Communication is about information exchange – to accomplish work, maintain awareness, and foster positive relationships both within and outside the team

5.Cognition – Do team members possess a shared understanding about factors such as priorities, role, vision, purpose?

Cognition about shared awareness and understanding – for example, about the team’s priorities, roles, situations, and expectations.

6.Coaching – Does the leader / team members demonstrate the necessary leadership behaviours.

Coaching is about leadership – the leader, as well as a tea members, demonstrating effective leadership behaviours

7.Conditions – Is the context in which the team operates favourable for performing effectively? E.g. supportive culture, ample resources, etc.

Conditions are about the environment in which the team is embedded – they send signals that either support or inhibit teamwork and performance.

During the session, I tried to explore what the first five of these meant for school teams, offering practical solutions (I hope) that teams would find useful.

It was a joy to share ideas and research with a lovely audience – thank you for coming! And indeed to see so many educators during the day. The highlight for me was being reunited with my co-tutor and unofficial mentor during my training year, Henry. Here we are together:

If you love evidence-informed practice and a warm atmosphere, come along to researchED Surrey in October! https://researched.org.uk/event/researched-surrey-2024/

Thanks for reading – happy teaming!

Slides for my session – Thriving Teams: research to reality