Wholeheart Works - Team Building http://www.wholeheartworks.com UK London Team Building

Did you know that your team’s emotional life has a direct impact on its effectiveness?

Research shows that negative and positive emotions are contagious. A recent report on the Reuters health website quotes research in The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, highlighting that emotional convergence occurs when people spend long periods of time together. After a while they tend to develop similar emotional reactions to the more dominant person.

This can be destructive If the dominant emotion is fear. It affects dynamic communication and can have a detrimental effect on a team leading to:

» Distrust

» Unhealthy competition

» Vital energy caught up in negativity

» Passive/aggressive or even sabotaging behaviour

» Stress

» Bullying

However, when the predominant emotions are based on trust, respect, collaboration and empathy, the team energy becomes expansive, encouraging creativity and open communication. the positive aspects of this emotional convergence can help create a winning team where members resonate with each other and are working together for the health of the whole organisation.

Wholeheart Approach to teams

Fundamental to our approach is a holistic perspective on team development. We draw examples from biology, science and the natural world to create a systemic window on your team and organisation. The natural world offers us extensive examples of groups working together for the benefit of the whole.

For example, the human heart fundamental to physical existence, is made up of individual cells which actually beat independently. However, a complex communication response system enables these cells to work together and pump blood around the body. It is the ability of these cells to work harmoniously in unison, that enables the heart to work effectively.

Creating space to explore a team’s creative dynamics can free up essential energy which is wasted in negativity. Teams have often found this an extremely valuable process which leads to more authentic communication and a sense of community. Whilst this can sound serious and challenging, we have found shared humour often emerges and creates an opening for deeper team cohesion.

All Wholeheart Works team interventions are facilitative and focused on your specific team.

The format of where and how we do this will be guided by your requirements. However, the following demonstrates some of the ways we have helped other organisations.

» Consultative process usually involving one to one sessions to highlight issues and intentions

» Designing a structure for facilitation interventions

» Agreeing team’s key agreements and ground rules

» Team retreat – Individual or a series of two day workshops held over an extended period of time

» Creative team exercises (not outward bound, but may include some outdoor activities)

» Facilitated open space meetings

» One to One follow up sessions

A sense of community is essential to our approach and we work in partnership with other organisations including a Management Consultancy and professional actors who we might bring in to work with us on a project.

	The Facts
	"Research at Cambridge university found that even groups comprising brilliant individuals will make bad decisions if the group disintegrates into bickering, interpersonal rivalry or power plays." Source: Daniel Goleman, “The New Leaders”

	The Way Forward
	“If everything in the universe depends on everything else in a fundmental way, it might be impossible to get close to a full solution by investigating parts of the problem in isolation” Source: Stephen W. Hawking, “A Brief History of Time”

	Responsibility
	“Our brain is not only a window on the universe; it is part of the organism and hence also an input into the universe… given the two way traffic between human brains and the world, each person’s thoughts and perceptions are of direct consequence to his environment, including other persons… this makes for a new depth of responsibility in human beings” Source: Ervin Lazlo – ‘The Creative Cosmos” At WHW’s we call this ‘Holistic Social Responsibility’