Polymerisation

Polymerisation is a crucial part of our lives, from DNA to plants to plastic.

One of the most well-known and simplest polymers is an addition polymer called polyethene (normally called polyethylene or PE). ?Addition polymerization is the process where two identical monomers come together to form a polymer. These polymers include, as I’ve mentioned, polyethene, polypropene (commonly known as polypropylene or PP), polyoctene (normally known as polystyrene), polychloroethene (normally known as polyvinyl chloride or PVC), and polytetrafluoroethene (PTFE or Teflon). ?

How this mechanism works is that a peroxide is introduced to a solution of the monomer. The peroxide, being very unstable disintegrates into two free radicals. These free radicals join to the monomers and make them radicals. More and more monomers join but this is not a never-ending process. Eventually, two of these monomer radicals will collide and the non-radical oxygen ends will form a complete molecule and not allow anymore monomers to join.

This process, the simplest method of polymerisation, cannot produce the toughest fibres. For that, we need to run to condensation polymerisation.

Condensation polymers include nylon 6, a polyamide, nylon 66, also a polyamide, Kevlar, a polyamide as well, DNA, RNA, cellulose, and Mylar, a polyester, or polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Condensation polymerisation, being a more complicated mechanism, involves the heating of the monomer solutions.?

Unlike addition polymerisation, condensation polymerisations involve two monomers, normally producing a side product. There are two types of condensation polymers, polyamides and polyesters. They are compound functional groups, which are created when two chemicals come together and connect.

The above section is the unedited writings of my son.?

Team Coaching

What is team coaching, and how is it different from 1-to-1 coaching?

On the most basic level, team coaching is coaching a group of coachees in a session, typically 4-8 individuals. If the coachees are an intact team, it's called team coaching. If they are not, it's called group coaching. In practice, however, the two terms are frequently used interchangeably.

When I do team coaching, I coach the team as a whole. It means I do not accept coaching outcomes that are for individuals. The outcomes have to be for the team as a whole. In addition, I also look at team performance and team dynamics.

First, outcomes. What does the team want to be able to do at the end of the coaching programme that it is unable to do now? Most of the time, this is related to team performance. Hitting KPIs, delivering results, and meeting numbers.

As a coach, I observe what impedes team performance and reflect it back to the team. The team can decide what they wish to do about the impediments. For teams that are newly formed, this can move them rapidly through the Tuckman stages of forming, storming, and norming into performing. (For more information on Tuckman's model, see https://hr.mit.edu/learning-topics/teams/articles/stages-development)

Another vital role I play is to call out the elephants in the room. Team dysfunctions that are identified can be dealt with. Still, it takes awareness and courage to raise them. As the coach, I ensure that these dysfunctions are brought to the attention of the team so that the team as a whole can work to resolve them. (For more information on team dysfunctions and what to do about them, see https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/five-dysfunctions-team-key-lessons-business-leaders-lee-nallalingham/)

Polymerisation

So what has team coaching got to do with polymerisation?

A polymer isn't just a collection of monomers. When polymerisation occurs, the monomers join together to form a substance that has entirely different properties and functions as the monomers.

Just like a bunch of amino acids that serve merely as nutrients in the body can polymerise to become DNA, the code by which the body is run, so too, a team that is truly high performing can become a force that is exponentially greater than a collection of individuals. In team coaching, our job as coaches is to cause individuals to polymerise into a team.

How do we do it?

First, we establish psychological safety with the coachees. Trust and safety within a team is essential for their performance. Being able to trust the coach gives the team a safe space in which to explore what they want to accomplish as a team.

Which brings me to my second point, establishing shared outcomes. Shared outcomes give the team a focal point around which to align their efforts.

Raising awareness is the next step. By reflecting the team's collective blindspots and asking exploratory and challenging questions, we support the team to resolve team dysfunctions and establish new team norms.

Lastly, we take the team through action and accountability. No amount of coaching can change reality without the coachees taking action. A team also needs to learn how to keep each other accountable, and support each other in fulfilling their action plans.

What to Do as a Leader?

No doubt as a leader, you're often dealing with the team as a whole. If you are looking to coach the team into greater performance, remember:

1. Collective outcomes
2. Team norms
3. Team roles

Collective Outcomes

Does your team have a vision? You might have a vision for your team, but is this also the collective vision of the team?

In addition, an outcomes can be more than just KPIs alone. How the team does things is as important as what the team does. Team morale, team effectiveness, and even team relationships can all be set as outcomes for the team.

I'm a Scrum Master, and one of the scrum events is the Sprint Retrospective. (for more information, see https://www.scrum.org/resources/what-is-a-sprint-retrospective) This is a timeboxed meeting that looks at how the team did their work and getting the team to function more effectively that it did during the last sprint. In this case, the collective outcome is team effectiveness.

So, as a leader, if you've not done so, sit down with your team to set some collective goals that all of you would like to reach.

Team Norms

We often talk about organisational culture. The truth is, despite the best efforts of top leaders, there is not so much a organisation-wide culture as a collection of similarly (and sometimes wildly dissimilar) team-wide cultures.

Team norms are the essence of team culture. How we do things around here determines what we will and will not do, and even how we approach tasks and each other.

Most team norms are unspoken. As the leader, make an effort to speak openly and authentically about what is accepted and unacceptable behaviours in the team. Invite the team to set these norms together with you. Use stories of when the team did exceptional work to highlight the highest potential of the team. And make it a point to indoctrinate any new joiners into the team norms.

Team Roles

One of my key takeaways from my Gallup Strengths Coach certification is that developing strengths means no one is a well-rounded individual, but combining strengths means strong teams are well-rounded.

A useful question is to ask yourself is what role does each member play on the team. This does not mean their job roles. Team role is what each does to contribute to team functioning and morale.

As a Belbin coach, I use the 9 roles to look at how the team interacts. (For more information, see https://www.belbin.com/about/belbin-team-roles) By understanding more clearly what each person does to ensure the smooth functioning of the team, you as the leader will be able to see where you are strong as a team (you have many team members in that role) and where you are weak (you have few or no team members in that role). You can then choose to assign a person who has some strengths in that role to it, recruit additional team members strong in that role, or tap on the members of another team who can play that role.

Monomers/Polymers

A vital part of any leader's job is people development. Certainly, this involves individual development plans and personal career coaching.

Beyond that, as a leader, think of what kind of reaction you need to effect to change a group of individuals into a powerful team.

Like polymerisation, the process can be kickstarted with a single step. For most teams, that step is the establishment of trust. But again, similar to polymerisation, it can be stopped by a single individual's actions. Set group norms that emphasise diversity and inclusion. Empower team members to act when individuals act to divide rather than unite the team.

What to Do as a Coach?

The ICF team coaching competencies extends ICF's basic coaching competencies to the entire team with an emphasis on the interaction and relationship between team members. (For more information, see https://coachingfederation.org/app/uploads/2021/10/Team-Coaching-Competencies_10.4.21.pdf)

As a team coach, focus on:

1. Team agreements
2. Team relationships
3. Team awareness

Team Agreements

A team coaching agreement should be set between yourself, all the team members (including the team lead), and the sponsor (if this isn't the team lead). This agreement obviously includes aligned outcomes and team performance expectations, but should also include discussions around team norms and team culture.

Take the opportunity to also explain what team coaching is and is not, and to ensure that concerns and issues of relevant stakeholders are addressed, such as confidentiality and reporting.

Most team coaching revolve around helping teams to achieve specific organisational KPIs so understanding the KPIs and the team's relationship to them is useful as well.

Spending more time upfront setting a good coaching agreement will allow enable both coachees and sponsors to feel more comfortable with the coaching programme. This increased safety and trust increases the efficiency and effectiveness of the coaching so it is time well worth spending.

Team Relationships

In Gestalt coaching, we talk about how the quality of the connection between coach and coachee is instrumental to the success of the session. In team coaching, that maxims extends to the quality of the connection between team members and between coach and the team as a whole.

Who we are being (our coaching presence and use of self) will determine how we are connecting. With more people in the session, it is easier to be pulled off-centre and to be adversely influenced by the energies of different individuals. Spend more time ground and centring before starting a team coaching session. Find a way to restore your inner balance quickly during the session if you do notice it becoming off-kilter. (For more information on Gestalt coaching and use of self, see https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/gestalt-based-coaching-competencies-siminovitch-ph-d-mcc/)

Additionally, we need to spend significant time observing the quality of the connection between team members. In Patrick Lencioni's book, 'The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team', he details lack of trust as the most basic dysfunction. Another way to put it would be failure to connect. If team members are unable to authentically connect to each other, the team starts to fall apart.

As the coach, pay attention to how team members are connecting (or not) with each other. Bring up the issues to the team and encourage them to decide how they want to deal with the issue. Encourage the team to own the dialogue.

Team Awareness

One of the principles of Gestalt coaching is the Paradoxical Theory of Change. It states, "that change occurs when one becomes what he is, not when he tries to become what he is not." First articulated by Dr Arnold Beisser in 1970, the idea is that we should stop attempting to force change ("become what he is not") but to simply bring greater awareness to our current state ("becomes what he is"). From that awareness flows change. Just like knowing the position of an electron automatically changes its speed. So gaining greater awareness of our current state automatically changes that state. (For more information on the Paradoxical Theory of Change and it's application to coaching, see https://www.animascoaching.com/blog/paradoxical-theory-of-change/)

Organisations often send outstanding individuals to lacklustre groups to try and revitalise the group. More often though, individuals joining a group end up being influenced by the group and conforming to group norms. As a single individual, how do we as the team coach change the team when there are more of them. The answer is we don't. Our job is just to enhance the team's awareness. Help them see what are their underlying assumptions, automatic behaviours, limiting beliefs, unconscious mindsets, and sense making processes. The change will take care of itself.

Monomers/Polymers

I often receive as coachees a newly formed team or task force. An company restructuring has caused a new team to be formed, often out of the remnants of previous teams. Or a significant organisational challenge has brought a new task force to the issue, made up of individuals from different functions and levels.

Like polymerisation, I am searching for the one spark that will ignite the entire chain reaction, converting a group of individuals into a true team. As a coach, I certainly believe that team coaching is the spark, but what about team coaching creates such transformation?

For me, the answer lies in belief. I teach Solution-Focused Coaching, and one of the things I teach is, "No one turns up to do a bad job." It's one of Solution-Focused's core assumptions. Plus, anyone who turns up to my classes would have heard me speak of our assumption as coaches, "Our coachees are capable, resourceful, and whole." Combining the two beliefs, I see the team as capable and motivated to succeed.

By believing in the capability and resourcefulness of the team, we create a self-fulfilling prophesy in what is termed the Pygmalion Effect. Our expectations create the reality we expect. (For more information on the Pygmalion Effect at work, see https://hbr.org/2003/01/pygmalion-in-management)

This in terms create a virtuous cycle, like polymerisation, transforming separate individuals into a high performing team.

Final Product

Team coaching is all about transformation. It's holding the space and providing the one reflection that would start the process of changing individuals into a team. Like polymerisation, the right conditions have to occur. But again, like polymerisation, every polymer, every team has a different set of 'right conditions'. We bring our presence and awareness as coaches to the team session to understand the team and figure out what are the 'right conditions' for this particular team to start their team development.

Of course, it would be the simplest thing to create teams out of individuals who are of a similar background and belief systems. Just like addition polymerisation is the simplest way to create polymers.

However, just like addition polymerisation cannot create the toughest fibres or the most important polymers, so, too, homogeneous teams may not be the strongest or the most useful configuration for teams. We need 'condensation polymerisation' teams which embrace diversity and inclusion, and work to align disparate individuals towards common outcomes using healthy group norms.

It's not an easy job, but hey, that's what makes coaching fun right? Happy coaching! ??