(I previously wrote about the dynamic stability of high performing teams. The ideas presented in that post are very much relevant to this update to my team/tribe experiment.)
Fourteen months out, my team/tribe experiment is still going strong. If we disbanded tomorrow, it would end as an unqualified success. That we've continued to meet at January's strength of ten members is undoubtedly due to a genuine team effort. And for that reason, I feel comfortable moving this effort out of the "experimental" category into something that just IS. There are still some challenges ahead, including those previously identified around time shifts and holidays. Add to this the prospect of me not being able to attend for a few meet-ups in the near future. Given we have experience with the previous issues and the fact that I'm not essential to the tribe's success, I've every confidence we'll be moving into 2023 in good form.
Elements that have contributed to maintaining balance while in motion:
Facilitation is a shared responsibility with a robust voluntary rotation of responsibility
Creative approaches to how meetings are facilitated, loosely organized around a familiar lean coffee format
Individual team members continue to set up one-to-one meetings with each other and work on a variety areas in need of special focus
We continue to meet the same time on the same day of the week with those not able to attend sending notice to other team members
Genuine concern for the well-being of each other and our families
All this combines to make a team that is dynamically stable.
Photo by Kimson Doan on Unsplash