1° Manual for the Team Coach E-Book

Marco Laganà

• Herausgeber: Youcanprint
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Beschreibung

This Manual is for those who wish to acquire, manage, and value the talents of team leaders and team members. Those who work in or for a team want to make it work. This document is for anyone committed to the team who wants to contribute and add value to their daily work. Particularly for managers, leaders, coaches, mentors, and those working in Human Resources. For those who believe that the human capital of a team is worth much more than individuals and their cost if the team works. For those who use or want to use the Team-CARE Assessment. How do we make the team work well? You need to take care of it! That's why Team-CARE. No people are talents in themselves, but each has talents and skills to make available or at the service of others. It's about discovering them, inspiring them, giving them the proper role, and valuing them in the team to win together. Let's find out how! If you have a problem at work, you may not need to change the people you work with. It would help if you changed how you see them, motivate them, manage them, and value them. If you have weaknesses, you can try to improve them, but sometimes it's better to leverage each other's strengths and work together. If you're a striker, play with a goalkeeper instead of forcing yourself to play as a goalkeeper.

Leseprobe

Contents

Introduction

I.1. The Team Coach should aim at building trust and better team relationships towards a sustainable alliance.

I.2. What does it mean: Together we win?

I.3. If we win, who will lose?

I.4. The Team Coach helps change the corporate culture by proposing trust as a critical business factor.

Chapter 1 The Team-CARE model for the Team Coach. Why?

1.1. Is Team-CARE an evolution or a revolution?

1.2. Is Team-CARE more receptive to innovation?

1.3. Is Team-CARE targeted to clients and to meet stakeholders’ needs?

1.4. Is Team-CARE close to the state of the art?

1.5. Team competencies and their interdependence with individual competences

Chapter 2 Team-CARE: what, how, who and when?

2.1.Team-CARE: the conceptual framework of the model

2.1.1. What's new for "traditional" human resources management?

2.1.2. Team-CARE enriches and strengthens Team Coaching

2.1.3. Overview of the Team-CARE framework

2.1.4. How would Team-CARE review the HR service model?

2.1.5. How does this fit in an HR service model?

2.1.6. Conclusion: a Copernican revolution from the individual to the team

Chapter 3 Overview results for the team leader and for the team

3.1. Overview of the -CARE assessment structure.

Phase 1: Team Coach Diagnostics Activities. WHY and WHO?

3.2 Overview of the report results for the team leader and the team.

3.3 Overview of the Team leader survey results

3.3.1. Survey results and comparison with benchmarks

3.3.2 Insight into team leader styles

3.3.3 In-depth analysis of the team leader's attitudes

3.3.4 Team competencies relevant to the team leader

3.3.5 Team leader strengths and skills to develop

3.4 Overview of the Team survey results

3.4.1 Overview of the team goals

3.4.2 Overview of team attitudes

3.4.3 Team leader strengths and skills to improve

3.4.4 What motivates the team to work well together?

3.4.5 Comparison between the self-assessment of the team and the team leader

3.4.6 Convergence-divergence assessment by the team

Chapter 4 Comparison of results for the Teamsystem. Report for the senior manager or the HR function

4.1. Team responses

4.1.1. Results based on teams' responses on teams’ functioning

4.1.2. Team responses on team objectives

4.1.3. Team responses on Team Leader

4.1.4. Team responses on team leader’ styles

4.1.5. Team self-assessment and comparison among team attitudes

4.2. Team Leader’s responses

4.2.1 Team leaders’ replies on the functioning of their teams

4.2.2 Team leaders' self-assessments on their condition

4.2.3 Team leaders' responses on their teams’ objectives

4.2.4 Team Leaders’ self-assessment on their styles

4.3 Comparison of Team and Team Leader responses

4.3.1 Difference in Evaluation by TLs and Teams with regard to Teams

4.3.2 Difference in evaluation by the TL and the team with regard to the team leader

4.3.3 Difference in the evaluation by the Team about the TL and the team

4.3.4 Difference in the evaluation by the TL about the TL and the team

Chapter 5. Tools for the Team Coach: Team-CARE assessment survey.

5.1 The 42 situations regarding the Team Leader

5.2 The 20 situations regarding the Team

Chapter 6. Tools for the Team Coach: activities to achieve the objectives.

6.1. What Types of Coaching?

6.2. What Types of Team Coaching?

6.2.1. Team Facilitation (not team coaching)

6.2.2. Leadership Team Coaching

6.2.3. Team Coaching

6.2.4. Teamsystem/Systemic Team Coaching

6.3. What Types of Team Coaches?

6.4. Team Coaching into Practice

6.4.1. Let's remember what team coaching is.

6.4.2. Dialogue in Team Coaching

6.4.3. Listening Skills in Team Coaching

6.4.4. Dialogue and Sharing Activities in the Team

6.5. Examples of activities for specific objectives

6.5.1. Examples of activities

6.6. 9 Reasons to focus on one's talents and strengths, not weaknesses?

6.7. 19 suggestions “FormaTEAM” – by themes

Chapter 7 The main causes of the failure of the team? The added value of the Team Coach

7.1.a Problems with the team leader?

7.1.b Problems with your colleagues in the Team?

7.2.a The 10 typical mistakes of managers with HIGH SELF-ESTEEM (I am OK, you are not OK).

7.2.b The 5 mistakes of team members with HIGH SELF ESTEEM (I'm OK, you're not OK)

7.3.a The 10 typical mistakes of the manager with LOW SELF-ESTEEM (I am not OK, you are OK).

7.3.b The 5 mistakes of team members with HIGH SELF ESTEEM (I'm not OK, you're OK):

7.4.a The 10 typical mistakes of the manager in an ALERT position (I am not OK, you are not OK).

7.4.b The 5 mistakes of team members in a CRITICAL CONDITION (I'm not OK, you're not OK)

7.5.a The manager COACH / MENTOR, AUTHORITATIVE, and CAPABLE (I am OK, you are OK).

7.5.b The AUTHORITATIVE and CAPABLE team member (I'm OK, you're OK).

7.6 Authority or leadership?

7.7 Lack of a sense of responsibility.

Chapter 8 Team coaching and individual coaching

8.1. A simple model for understanding the Business Case for Team vs individual

8.2. Team-CARE meets some key HR objectives for Talent Management

A Talent Management Review system to achieve HR objectives?

Team-CARE is critical to achieving HR objectives regardless of the workforce age distribution.

8.3. How does the Team-CARE business case compare to individual executive coaching?

8.3.1 Team-CARE focuses on the nature, relationships, functioning and features of the Team, not the single person.

8.3.2 Team-CARE is inclusive for all staff members, not only a few.

8.3.3 Team-CARE includes team diving to enable management to understand, measure, and evaluate better.

8.3.4 Team-CARE makes new data and information available for better HR management.

8.3.5. Team-CARE includes the I-TEC Games, an excellent way to value team competencies and achievements.

8.3.6. Team-CARE is 3D vs individual coaching, which is mono-dimensional

8.3.7 Team-CARE has a much higher potential impact than individual coaching

8.3.8. Team-CARE deals with Team and Network competencies and not only individual competencies.

8.3.9. With Team-CARE, the Team Coach has a wide variety of tools.

8.4. Conclusion: the distinctive features of Team-CARE

Chapter 9. The actual Team Coach objective? Value human capital in business transformation

9.1. Labour and capital

9.1.1. The working hypothesis. Is labour a cost?

9.1.2 Capital K has many advantages.

9.1.3. Is Capital K so appealing? What is the engine for innovation and growth?

9.2 Human capital

9.2.1. The new paradigm for unlimited potential Human Capital

9.2.2. Capital is a key enabler, but the engine is collective intelligence and imagination.

9.2.3. How is digitalisation removing limits for unleashing the potential of Human Capital?

9.2.4. Education and learning foster collective intelligence and unleash the potential of Human Capital

9.2.5 Open space and smart working: Team-CARE as a change management tool

9.3. Conclusion: Human Capital is unlimited in its capacity to transform business.

Annex 1. Team Coach Tools: Educational Games to learn, train and value competencies

A.1. Background

A.2. What about gamification and educational games?

A.3. Why Educational Games?

A.4. When should you play educational games during the life cycle?

A.5. Where to Play Educational Games?

A.6. About the I-TEC Games

a. Mission and goals

b. High-level principles and criteria

A.7. Conclusion

Bibliography

1° Manual for the Team Coach

Team-CARE, together we win

Toolkit for HRs, managers, team leaders, coaches, and mentors to measure, identify, manage, and develop talents and team competencies

SECOND EDITION with the

Team-CARE Assessment

Team Coach Marco Laganà

This Book is a Manual for those who use or want to use the Team-CARE Assessment. It is a reference for those who work in or for a team and want to make it work. This document is for anyone committed to the team who wants to contribute and add value to their daily work. Particularly for managers, leaders, coaches, mentors, and those working in Human Resources. For those who believe that the human capital of a team is worth much more than individuals and their cost if the team works. How do we make the team work well? You need to take care of it! That's why Team-CARE. No people are talents in themselves, but each has talents and skills to make available or at the service of others. It's about discovering them, inspiring them, giving them the proper role, and valuing them in the team to win together. Let's find out how! If you have a problem at work, you may not need to change the people you work with. It would help if you changed how you see them, motivate them, manage them, and value them. If you have weaknesses, you can try to improve them, but sometimes it's better to leverage each other's strengths and work together. If you're a striker, play with a goalkeeper instead of forcing yourself to play as a goalkeeper.

* Diagnostic tool to assess the team's functioning and the Team Leader's condition as perceived by the team. Methodology based on the Team-CARE© model.

Title | 1° Manual for the Team Coach, Team-CARE together we win

Author | Marco Laganà,

Writer and translator of books on coaching and mentoring in English and Italian.

Multi-year experience as manager and Team Coach of ca 650 people in 30 cities. More than 35.000 meetings (>10.000 remote) in 27 years of professional experience. EMCC Italy – former member of the Board of Directors, Team Leader in Human Capital Development & ISMCP (International Standards for Mentoring and Coaching Programs). European Mentoring Coaching Council (EMCC) EIA Senior Practitioner Coach and Practitioner Team Coach. In 2017, he published "Team-CARE, Together We Win, 1st Manual for the Team Coach ". In Italian and English. In 2019, a new edition of "The 1st Manual for the Team Coach ", the "International Standards of EMCC Mentoring and Coaching Programs", "Team-CARE Assessment, Manual for the Team Leader", " Team-CARE Assessment, Manual for the Team", " Team-CARE Assessment, Manual for the Teamsystem" and "The Manual for Mentoring Programs". Since 2019, he has been editing the translations and publications of David Clutterbuck, co-founder of the European Mentoring Coaching Council (EMCC), in Italian. These include an international bestseller, "Everyone Needs a Mentor," published by Franco Angeli, "A ciascuno il suo Mentor: manuale di Mentoring", as well as the dissemination in 2021 in Italian schools of the "1° Manuale del giovane Mentor/Coach. Educare alle scelte" Italian translation of "Coaching and mentoring for kids" and in 2022 of "1° Manuale di Coaching e Mentoring per insegnanti” translation of “Teachers guide for mentoring e coaching”, by D. Clutterbuck. In 2024, he published “Manual for team leaders, teams and their talents: Team-CARE Assessment” in Italian and English; the second edition of “Team-CARE, Together We Win, 1st Manual for the Team Coach”, and the third edition of “1° Manuale per il team coach: Team-CARE insieme vinciamo" in Italian.

http://team-care.eu

[email protected]

Cover image by the Author.

ISBN |9791222733630

© All rights reserved to the Author

No part of this book may be reproduced without the Author's prior permission.

“Education is an act of love where we give our best to inspire others and deserve their trust”.

To my beloved family

Introduction

I.1. The Team Coach should aim at building trust and better team relationships towards a sustainable alliance.

Why are people often unhappy or unsatisfied with their life and business? There could be many reasons. For example, many people were brought up to believe they have to win their competition at all costs, with only secondary or tertiary regard for others, regardless of whether they are companions or opponents. As kids, many people competed in sports or in school. Life and business have been presented as football grounds, battlefields or Darwinian worlds. This is utterly misleading. Most people were told that few would succeed, like in a pyramid where selection is ruthless. Competition among individuals was presented as always healthy for society and the economy. Many have not been educated to think first about others in need. Or to believe that playing together can be educational per se, regardless of the outcome.

People miss out on everyday opportunities to be happy and feel well. When trying to cope with diseases, difficult situations or what could go wrong, social science has focused on weaknesses, sometimes forgetting personal strengths or what could go right. Even worse, social science might have forgotten that working with others is the best way to overcome individual difficulties. Trust building leads to establishing alliances. Alliances allow people to do well what they do together, in a condition of well-being or even happiness.

The outcome of any interaction between people, namely the relationship, depends on the degree of trust and how stringent the relevant rules are. When we talk about strict rules for people, I also refer to companies, institutions or groups imposing and enforcing these rules. In the figure below, I have tried, based on my experience, to illustrate what happens to the relationships within a group of people who interact according to different levels of trust and rules. As always, the best in terms of regulations is a balanced approach. The closer we move to the extreme (right or left), the more the relationship becomes unsustainable over time or subject to deterioration, for example, due to the emotional instability of certain people. In the figure below, the colours indicate that the extremes or outliers of behaviour are similar to team conditions at the lower end of the scale and more identical to the higher end of the scale towards the centre.

The higher the level of trust, the better for the team. The ideal relationship is the alliance, with the highest level of trust, and regulations that guarantee sustainability over time.

Figure 1 Team Coach helps to build trust to improve relationships within the team.

The Team Coach can act in different areas and choose the objectives, tools and appropriate actions accordingly. The three main areas are: 1) business (for-profit ), 2) non-profit, and 3) family. Each of us is simultaneously part of different groups belonging to other areas. You may find yourself with your target group in one of several states mentioned in the chart above (e.g., obstruction, indifference, or alliance).

Figure 2 When improving relationships, in which areas does the Team Coach act?

The table below shows a possible characterization of the three different areas.

Table 1 Features of the area of action for the Team Coach.

1

2

3

Area

BUSINESS

NON PROFIT

FAMILY

driver

exchange

gift

love

mechanism of action

reciprocity

spirit of generosity

total generosity

where

firm

association

Home

measure

fair value

abundance

no limits

unity of account

currency

time/quality

quality/time

In this book, I focus on the area of Business. In this case, the Team Coach will first try to understand and analyse the optimal state of the team. Then, they will help with normally self-determined actions by the team to implement an action plan. The action plan will serve to (re-)build trust among colleagues and (re-) create an alliance.

Figure 3 Objectives of the Team Coach in the BUSINESS area.

I.2. What does it mean: Together we win?

First, it means to realise that I am not alone. Loneliness is an increasing human misery, but it can be fought. I am who I am because I am in relation to someone else. I am a husband because I have a (lovely) wife. I am an employee because I have an employer. I am a parent because I have (wonderful) children. I can be part of an association or an informal group. I am a citizen because I am part of a national state. Above all, I am a person because I am always part of a community. It may be my family, my schoolmates, my work team, my association, my firm, my village, my town, my country, my social network group, my world family.

Second, it means finding a way to be happy and make others more content. Once I realise I cannot be happy alone, I should strive to pursue this objective in my life and at work. To put it differently, do I need to discover how to make my little contribution to leave the world better than I found it and offer my little brick in constructing my Home? To continuously learn, grow and develop myself? Easier said than done. This idea requires a cultural paradigm shift. I need to consider myself immersed in larger communities or teams. In this regard, I have a nice tablet screensaver. It is a list of seven suggestions; the Scout Association inspired this list. These suggestions are excellent habits that help convey my meaning for Together We Win, which is translated into practice by the Team-CARE approach, thanks to the Team Coach.

Table 1 Seven ways to change my firm...and the world

Live for others and not only for yourself.

Accept others' opinions and do not impose your ideas

Share

Take every opportunity to learn and be a good example to younger people

Value your qualities...and recognise those of others

Feel part of a team and a large community

Respect and listen to others

Scientific support is useful for Team Coaching to help us understand how to be happy and feel well, which comes from positive psychology. Martin Seligman introduced it in the nineties. In his book "Learned Optimism" (1998), Seligman introduces a method centred on authentic human happiness, personal wellness and quality of life. Petersen and Seligman in 2004 published "Character Strengths and Virtues". They classify six classes of virtue (i.e., "core virtues"), made up of twenty-four measurable "character strengths". Other essential contributions to Coaching refer to Albert Bandura (1997) and his theory of social cognitivism and self-efficacy. A critical scientific contribution is made available by the community of academics, researchers and coach professionals who propose to study and constantly improve coaching methods ( the Evidence-Based Coaching movement).

Third, once I realise I cannot be happy alone and have read some good suggestions to do something for others, I find a way to put them into practice. What shall I do in concrete terms? “I struggle to change my little workplace where we are a few people, let alone the world”. As a Team Coach, why is it important to always be in a learning mood? I would consider myself an educator. Each of us, possibly unconsciously, is a potential educator. We should inspire, value and bring out the best qualities and talents from others. This should happen if you are a parent, a brother or sister, a friend, a colleague, a leader or a manager. Constantly learning about personal relations helps me understand why living and working together is, for many, so complex and often painful. Why do people forget their vocation to contribute to their well-being or for the good of others? More importantly, it stimulates me to think about what I could do to help for the better.

I need some concrete tools to live happily and work together effectively with others. Chapter 1 (see page 28) provides concrete answers and a toolkit. This is designed for Human Resource managers, team leaders, Team Coaches and educators. More humbly, the chapter might not be disregarded by each of us who is, or feels, part of a team and a more extensive network or community. Chapter 1 presents the Team-CARE model, which tries to explain what it all means: shared values, mission and objectives; a team composition which unifies diversity; a well-functioning dynamic founded on collaboration and mutual learning; engagement for co-innovation and co-creating value for stakeholders.

Hence, from now on, let's try enjoying working together and put the "Seven ways to change my firm and the world" on the screensaver.

I.3. If we win, who will lose?

"Together we win" does not necessarily mean everyone else will lose. It means I will lose if I try to win alone, at all costs and regardless of others. Do you know any team player who can win alone against another team? I do not. Companies’ managers and politicians must win together. I cannot be a happy husband if my wife is unhappy. A friend requires friends. A winning team is where the team value is greater than the sum of the individuals.

Can't I win alone? What can you learn when you hear a manager on the train aggressively complaining about their staff's laziness? You can quickly tell that mistrust has crept into that team. Sometimes, we can also infer whether the problem is perceived as an active obstruction or indifference from some team members. At other times, I can tell whether the manager complains about a lack of coordination or cooperation. Who is losing? All those team members, including the manager and the firm, will fail, too.

Why “We” and not “I”? Progress and innovation nowadays require collective intelligence and mutual learning. Albert Einstein worked alone; therefore, it took some time to develop his immense theory. But this was how innovation was conceived a century ago. Today, there must be a process of creation within a team where co-innovation means that you "connect the different minds and create the future" (I like the fact that this is the Expo Dubai theme in 2020). In other words, in many cases, innovation will no longer be the achievement of one individual but of teamwork, on-site or online, at a much faster speed and diffusion rate than Einstein's Theory of general relativity.

Why add “together”? What can you learn if you hear an employee expressing anger at their boss or colleagues or frustration or dissatisfaction that cannot be constructively channelled into the team? It is depressing to hear a woman or man complaining to another person – or on the phone with their mother - about her husband or wife. Why is it so increasingly difficult to talk and understand each other? The team - family or work team - including the leader, requires some fixing. Otherwise, even if the team sold the best product, used the best systems and had the best manual of procedure, it would fail. Even if their organization, governance or business model were the best, there would be a sustainability problem because of team(s) malfunctioning.

I.4. The Team Coach helps change the corporate culture by proposing trust as a critical business factor.

Trust is vital in business and any human interaction. I was fascinated by a speech given by Sabine Lautenschläger, Member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank and Vice-Chair of the Supervisory Board of the Single Supervisory Mechanism at the 7th International Banking Conference organised by Bocconi University in Milan, 28th September 2015. She told the audience how crucial it was for bankers to regain the lost trust during the crisis. Rebuilding trust is a long and complex process. This is also valid when major shocks occur in other sectors, including the health, food, energy and automotive sectors. "Banking is a service like healthcare, in which "transactions" occur between two parties that differ in terms of information, knowledge and technical competence. Banking is and always has been trusting.”

Trust building requires focusing on values such as respect, reciprocity, transparency, and fairness. It also requires lengthening the decision-making horizon. Destroying trust is easy, but building trust requires a lot of time and effort. Many people do not have time because they prefer to be efficient but risk a lot regarding effectiveness and reputational risk. Trust can be seen as a bank account: it takes time to accumulate money, but when trust is hampered, there is a bank run and money is withdrawn rapidly. Mrs Lautenschläger suggested a cultural change that requires efforts in all areas, including HR. The team coach promotes such a cultural change, intervening in all relevant teams.

Team-CARE asks for a radical change of perspective. Team-CARE is a Copernican revolution. Thanks to the Team Coach, one moves from believing that the centre is the team leader (Earth) to seeing the team (Sun) as part of the Teamsystem (Universe of stakeholders). No longer the team is at the team leader's service. It is the team leader, who may change over time, who is at the team's service. And in turn, the team is at the service of the stakeholders.

The Team Coach, in essence, suggests more attention to others and not to my interests. The Team Coach will pay attention to:

- team conditions: team diversity is valuable if trust brings unity;

- team actions: team trust building, educational games for teams to win together;

- team goals: collaboration, mutual learning, co-innovation and finally, co-creation of value for the stakeholders.

The focus on the team and the Teamsystem implies that the goals differ from those of a person. The team and the Teamsystem last longer than a single person. As a proxy, we can consider a permanent team and its Teamsystem lasting for a long time, like established institutions. Compared with a team that has been set up with a mission and mandate, the behaviour and goals of the person are - by nature and on average - more erratic, volatile, personally biased and often affected by short-termism. The principal-agent problem is higher with a single person than with a team.

A well-functioning team - oriented to create value for the stakeholders - promotes reciprocal oversight and attention to longer-term goals. It results in a more collegial composition of values/interests and a more stable care of the stakeholders' needs. This is why boards, committees and working groups are created and mandated with controlling functions. Lean decision-making governance, which is more based on groups/teams rather than individuals (less concentration of power), is proving more stable, with a longer-term horizon.

Trust building requires time; many short-sighted people do not want to take this time. It is a process where the WHY is shared - the values, the mission and the objectives. It deals with a process where a team learns WHO the team players are. They learn to know each other and to value their differences. It is a journey during which the team finds HOW best to work and win together.

We should never underestimate team difficulties, disengagement and lack of collaboration. We all know controlling machines, rules, procedures, and data is more straightforward than controlling human beings. However, if one thinks everything can be digitalised and human beings are redundant, we must find a sustainable way to promote and motivate teams, networks and communities.

Chapter 1 The Team-CARE model for the Team Coach. Why?

In this Manual for the Team Coach, I am presenting a paradigm change thanks to an approach called Team-CARE. CARE stands for Competences, Alliance, Roles and Education. But it could also stand for Creativity, Adaptability, Responsibility and Engagement.

1.1. Is Team-CARE an evolution or a revolution?

Team-CARE is my contribution to my children and their generation, but also HR managers, Team Coaches, team leaders, project managers, network coordinators and educators. As for the term education, we take the Treccani philosophy dictionary definition. Education is the "transmission of a system of knowledge and values, norms and behaviour patterns, aimed at structuring the human personality and the integration of the individual in society."

Team-CARE offers a toolkit to:

1) Identify, develop, manage and value team competencies (WHAT),

2) promote the conditions where people can choose and self-determine their preferred role based on their preferences and personalities, which may change over time (HOW?);

3) facilitate the improvement of relationships within the team by building trust to achieve an alliance (HOW?);

4) simplify the process of education and thus the individual's place in society. In our case, we will talk about inclusion in the team and its stakeholders, the Teamsystem (WHY?)

Figure 4 The Team-CARE model

Why do I call it a paradigm shift? We should move our mindset from the individual to the team: from the 'talent' - a person - to talent as a competence. Therefore, I will not talk about how to engage the individual talents but how to take care of a team of people with their respective talents. The good news is that each person has a portfolio of different talents and different competencies. If you have a problem at work, you may not need to change individuals. You need to change how you see, engage, manage and value them.

What does moving from the individual to the portfolio mean? The focus would turn from the person (the talent) to team competencies. From the coach to the Team Coach. From the individual CV to a portfolio of diversified and balanced team competencies, preferences/attitudes and cultures. From "congratulating" a direct competitor on a particular promotion to celebrating my team's achievements and best practices. From individuals who work and cooperate because they have to, to the respectful engagement of a Team of players who collaborate and enjoy their work.

Hence, from now on, prepare for a paradigm shift. Try not to think in individual terms but in team terms. And if you are eager to learn about the practicalities of Team-CARE and how it can be implemented... jump to Chapter 1.

1.2. Is Team-CARE more receptive to innovation?

Traditionally, we have seen firms hunting for innovation turn to units dedicated to Research & Development (R&D) or Business Development. In other words, innovation has often been functionally segregated into a dedicated department. Presumably, such a department is a concentration of innovative brains, mandated to innovate. Team-CARE changes this centralised approach into a "federal" process where R&D remains, but each team player has a role to play, bringing their contribution to promote co-innovation. We will see that Co-innovation is one of the four Team goals. It reflects the need for each Team to change its mindset. Each Team should be willing, motivated and encouraged to continuously improve Team procedures, processes, systems, products, communication, relations, etc. This competence is not the kind of knowledge that you learn in a University lecture.

What are the preconditions for Co-innovation? Allow me to refer to the European Union motto: United in diversity. First, the team should be diversified and united. Second, it should function well. In a nutshell, there should be collaboration between team members and a focus on Co-creating value for stakeholders. Relying only on the traditional concentration of innovative brains in a centralised business development unit may lose the necessary diversity. It may also focus only on a limited set of top-down priorities. The traditional approach hampers the autonomy and creativity of a decentralised network. Ultimately, it leads other units to think that they are there only to implement rules; they should refrain from innovating because someone else will take care of it.

If you are interested in innovation, you should be open to working together with others and discovering the unlimited potential for Co-innovation.