Internal Family System and high performing teams.

Key principles from Family system Therapy that enables a team to reach its full potential.

The Internal Family Systems (IFS) Model defines a family as a system made of various parts (members). All parts of the family system are individual that by itself is a system of internal parts that impact and are impacted by the family system. Internal Family System Therapy uses System Thinking to identify and treat family systems and individuals and bring them from a dysfunctional state into harmony and balance between the system parts. In this article and the following, I will try to use Internal Family System principles to discuss how to build and lead an effective, harmonious and high-performing team. In this particular article, I will lay out the four principles of IFS in the context of teams and team members.

According to Kozlowski and Ilgen (2006), a team is defined as two or more individuals who socially interact (face-to-face or, increasingly, virtually), possess common goals, have different roles and responsibilities, exhibit interdependencies concerning workflow, goals, and outcomes and is embedded in an encompassing organizational system, with boundaries and linkages to the broader system context and task environment. IFS applies system thinking principles to understand team dynamics. According to IFS, a team, like any system, is cybernetic. It influences and, at the same time, relies on its parts. It influences and is influenced by the environment in which it operates. IFS is interested in how team members function, affect each other and interact within the context of the team system, and lastly, how the larger context in which the team operates affects the team and its members dynamic.

IFS considers each individual within the team as an autonomous system. They organise themselves to maintain a range of homeostasis in any number of areas, from proximity to other people to the level of conflict with other people. In addition, each individual contains a multitude of cybernetic systems, from those regulating blood sugar levels to those regulating the expression of feelings. A basic premise of IFS is that people have an innate drive towards and wisdom about their own health. We not only try to maintain steady states and react to feedback. We also strive toward creativity and intimacy. Humans come fully equipped to live harmonious internal and external lives. From this basic premise, it follows that people have chronic problems because their inner resources and wisdom are not being fully accessed. Elements of the system in which we are embedded or that are embedded within us can constrain our access to our inner resources. IFS therapy is designed to help people find and release these constraints.

Similar to humans, a team is also a system of parts (individuals) that, from its inception, can be considered a system with an innate drive towards and wisdom about their own health. A team can be fully equipped to have a harmonious internal and external existence, and a team with chronic problems is a team that can be considered as not able to utilise and fully access its member's wisdom. Elements of the team can constrain the team's access to its inner resources and their full potential. IFS's therapeutic model can be applied to teams and help its members find and release these constraints and drive the team to its full potential. IFS examines the various systems surrounding or within a team to find or remove these constraints. Constraints may exist in a team system of inner personalities, in a team's relationship with various other teams, how the group of teams is generally organised (a project, a function, etc.), and how the organisation outside it affect the team values and beliefs. All of these human systems are interlocked. They affect and are affected by one another.

There are four key principles in which IFS can be used to assess team dynamics and performance. There are balance, harmony, leadership and development. These principles have evolved from working with inner and family systems but have a good deal of universality and can be used to examine a team health.

Balance

Teams function best when they are balanced. There are four dimensions for assessing balance within a team.?

1. The degree of influence a team member has on the team's decision-making process.??
2. The degree of access a team member has within the team.
3. The degree to which the team boundaries are balanced.
4. The degree to which team members have boundaries that are neither too rigid nor too defused.?

In a balanced team, each member is allowed the degree of influence and access to the team's resources and responsibilities that is appropriate to their need and equal to those of members with similar roles.??

Harmony

The concept of harmony applies to the relationships among members of the team. In a harmonious team, an effort is made to find the role each member desires and for which they are best suited. Team members work cooperatively toward a common vision yet value and support individuals' differences in style and vision. The harmonious team allows each of its members to find and pursue their own vision while also trying to fit that individual vision into the larger vision of the team. In such an atmosphere, the team members do not mind sacrificing some of their personal resources and goals for the greater good because they feel valued for their personal qualities and contributions and care about one another's well-being. They communicate well because they are sensitive and responsive to information flowing among members of the team. Polarisation is the opposite of harmony. In a polarised relationship, each person shifts from a flexible, harmonious position to a rigid, extreme one that is the opposite of or competitive with the other person.?

Leadership

Balance and harmony in teams require effective leadership. One or more members of the team must have the ability and respect to do the following:

1. Mediate polarisations and facilitate the flow of information within the team.?
2. Ensure that all team members are protected and cared for and that they feel valued and encouraged to pursue their individual vision within the limits of the team's needs.
3. Allocate resources, responsibilities and influence fairly.?
4. Provide a broad perspective and vision of the team as a whole.?
5. Represent the team in interaction with other teams.?
6. Interpret feedback from other teams honestly.?

Fortunately, though a variety of factors often constrain our resources, teams have the resources necessary for this kind of leadership.?

Development

In its inception, a team usually has the resources necessary for balanced and harmonious operation. However, it still needs time for those resources to develop. As an analogy, consider a new basketball team. The team members possess plenty of raw talent, but they need to learn one another's habits and come to trust and respect one another and their coach to function optimally. Similarly, the wisdom for health exists within a team, but it takes time to develop the skills and the relationships necessary to implement that wisdom. Thus, effective leadership and clear boundaries evolve gradually and are affected by the team's environment. If the team of focus is embedded in a harmonious, balanced, larger system, then it is likely to have the freedom and support it needs to become harmonious and balanced. A team's ability to use its resources for healthy development will be constrained, however, if it evolves within a polarised, unbalanced larger system. In which case, it will take on the extreme beliefs and emotions of the larger system.

In the following articles I will focus on how the four principles can be used within the IFS model to enable a team reach its full potential and become a high performing teams

References

Kozlowski, S. W., & Ilgen, D. R. (2006). Enhancing the effectiveness of work groups and teams. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 7(3), 77-124. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1529-1006.2006.00030.x

Schwartz, R. C., & Sweezy, M. (2019). Internal family systems therapy (2nd ed.). Guilford Publications.