The document provides guidance on building effective teams. It discusses the importance of self-awareness and communication between team members. Various exercises and models are presented to help teams develop, including using the "Stinky Fish" exercise to openly share concerns, the "Johari Window" model to understand self-perception, and providing constructive feedback. The stages of team development and the leader's role in guiding the team through each stage are also examined.

1. The essentials to nurture your team towards effectiveness.
the power ofTeams
Karina Solari x Hyper Island // 2018

2. understanding
yourself &
others
To nurture a team, it is vital to promote
and nurture self-awareness and learn
how to work and engage with teammates.
In the following section, the reader will
find relevant models to develop
mindfulness and tools to help the team
come together.

3. STINKY FISH
This is an exercise to drive at the beginning of a project; it
centres on open communication between team members.
Individuals share their concerns, fears, anxieties and doubts
associated with the project.
The Stinky Fish is a metaphor for "that thing that you move
around but do not choose to discuss; although the longer
you cover it, the stinkier it gets."
By putting your 'stinky fish' out on the open, members start
to correlate with each other and are more willing to partici-
pate. Remember, sharing unleashes trust!
HOW TO USE IT?
THE BENEFITS
Creates common ground and builds trust. It enables
engagement between team members.
Putting out your fears to the group allows you to relax and
become more receptive to the new learnings.
Allow 20-30 minutes for this activity
In silent, each member reflects on their worries and anxieties.
Come together again with your team and share!
When sharing, try to ask your teammates how can you help
them overcome their ‘stinky fish’ and what do they need from
the team to help on the specific topic.

4. johari window
model
Notknowntoothersknowntoothers
known to self Not known to self
OPEN AREA blind spot
hidden area unknown
ASKING FOR
FEEDBACK
SELF-
DISCLOSURE
Cultivating self-awareness and personal growth within a
group is essential. The ‘Johari’ window is a helpful tool used
to understand how we communicate ourselves to others and
to improve communication with members of your group. It
bases on two notions:
- Trust can be gained by disclosing information about
yourself to others
- Learning more about yourself from feedbacks.
Each individual is represented in this model by four quad-
rants / "window pane." Each quadrant implies personal
information, feelings, motivations, past experiences, fears,
and whether this information is identified or unknown to
ourselves or others.
(”What I know about me”)
(”What others do not know
about me”)
(Things I need to discover
about myself with new
experiences and
situations)
(”Things I am not
aware of”)
SHARED
DISCOVERY
OTHER’S
OBSERVATION
SELF-
DISCOVERY
Start in the Open Area. Make some notes about yourself.
For example: What strengths and weaknesses do you have?
What things make you comfortable/uncomfortable? What
are you willing to share with others? It is essential to be
honest, and clear about the things you identify in yourself.
HOW TO USE IT?
Request feedback from your team. It can be a group activity
or on a one to one basis. This is an opportunity to learn
more about yourself; it can lead to many discoveries!
STEP 1
STEP 2

5. THE WELL OF
KNOWLEDGE
This tool allows you to optimise your learning through reflec-
tion. It is called “The Well of Knowledge” to help demon-
strate the four layers one has to swim top-down to reach an
understanding.
HOW TO USE IT?
QUESTION 1
REFLECT
REVIEW
REFER
REPEAT What happened?
Summarise events
Critically evaluate
How did it make me feel?
What happened yesterday? Write a recap of the facts. You
can use a XY graph of your day to identify your high and
low moments.
QUESTION 2
How did each event make me feel? Try to be specific with
your emotions. Check with your body, where did you feel
these emotions?
QUESTION 3
What were my most powerful insights?
QUESTION 4
How will apply these insights to my life? Write tangible
actions for the future.
Take 10-15 minutes to reflect in a quiet space. Write down
your answers to the following questions.
Levels of understanding

6. GIVING
FEEDBACK
Giving feedback should not be a traumatic experience, try to
do it as positive as you can. The intention of giving feedback
is to improve a specific state or an individuals' performance.
Remember feedback is not about saying nice things only, but
it has to be fair and balanced with positive things and atti-
tudes, actions that represent an opportunity to grow.
BEHAVIOUR
OBSERVATION
MY
FEELINGS
MY
NEEDS
MY
WISH
21
3 4
TIPS & REMINDERS
Ask if the person wants to receive feedback
Own your feedback, speak from the “I”
Describe the behaviour, not the person
Start from the positive
Be specific, do not generalise
Strive for balance
Focus on things the person can change
Do it regularly
Use the “I message” Model
“When you said/did .....” “I felt .....”
“What I need is...” “I would like you to...”
THE “I” MESSAGE MODEL (SOURCE: MARSHALL B. ROSENBERG)

7. RECEIVING
FEEDBACK
Constructive feedback is a fundamental component of
personal and professional growth as well as strengthen-
ing relationships. Even though obtaining positive feed-
back feels nice, constructive feedback can be invaluable.
DENIAL
DEFEND
EXPLAIN
UNDERSTAND
CHANGE
BEHAVIOUR
CHANGE
active
listening
say
‘thanks’
evaluate
it slowly
be
mindful
When receiving feedback, practice these four attitudes:
When someone receives feedback they will answer in
one of five ways, depending on where he or she stands
on the Feedback Steps.
1. Denial: “This has nothing to do with me.”
2. Defend: “No, that's not what happened.”
3. Explain: “Yes, but...”
4. Understand: “I hear you and I understand...”
5. Change
Team members should aim for is to ascend throughout
these steps and ultimately reach "Change" and remain
there.
The Feedback Steps

8. improve with
reflection
The goal of doing a team reflection is for the members to
share their experience, opinions and sentiments about a
shared experience within the team and project. This benefits
and empowers the team as it builds trust and open communi-
cation and helps reach learnings for the future.
HOW TO USE IT?
Assign 30-40 minutes for this activity.
Choose a peaceful space for the session and start with a
check-in.
Next, the facilitator should explain the purpose and ask the
members to engage with active listening and mindfulness.
Introduce questions for the members to reflect on their own.
Give them 10 minutes approximately.
Come together with the team and take turns to share. Encour-
age members to participate and go more in-depth on their
reflection. Also, other members can ask questions to under-
stand better.
Finally, close wrap-up the session with a concise check-out and
make sure the team has a short break before the following
STEP 2
STEP 3
STEP 4
STEP 1
STEP 5
Consider the following questions for the reflection session:
What insights or conclusions can I draw from what happened?
What occurred throughout the experience?
How did I feel and what were my responses?
What actions can I take based on what I discovered?
What happened that affected me?
What did I hold off from doing? What stopped me?
How can I support my learnings to support the team culture?
Consider the following questions if your team is new:

9. Nurturing
your team
“Teams that are succesful spend between
70% and 80% of the time talking about
goals and tasks”
- Susan Wheelan (2012)
In this part, the reader will find considerations
for putting together a new team, tools to
identify the teams stages of development and
the role of the leader. Finally, the author
presents techniques to promote alignment
within the work group.

10. EMBRACING
DIVERSITY
THE FOLLOWING LIST WILL HELP YOU DETERMINE WHAT TYPE OF SKILLS (HARD & SOFT)
YOUR TEAM NEEDS
- Facilitating meetings
- Building alignment
- Solicitating and giving feedback
- Open communication
- Resolving conflicts
- Negotiating skills
- Motivating others
- Emotional intelligence
- Influencing others
- Networking with other people
To get everyone working effectively
together, attract members who are
great at:
To aacomplish specific tasks,
you may require people
who bring:
- Relevant functional knowledge
- Industry experience
- Technological skills
- A thirst for research
- The capacity to analyse data
- A writing and presentation skills
Putting together a diverse team (gender, races, nationali-
ties) is the key to boosting innovation and enabling
high-quality workgroups. A diverse workplace will help the
members reconsider facts, question their assumptions and
prevail objective. Embracing diversity shows more innova-
tion and high-quality work.
Each team member should bring some unique blend of
skills and experience that will help build a great work.
Note the skills and types of expertise required to tackle
the responsibilities related to the team performance, not
just whats needed to accomplish the work to promote
collaboration.
HOW TO USE IT?
Working with individuals similar to you might be more comfortable and
easy but “by breaking up workplace homogeneity, you can allow your
employees to become more aware of their own potential biases —
entrenched ways of thinking that can otherwise blind them to key
information and even lead them to make errors in decision-making
processes.”
- HBR
TIPS & REMINDERS
Diversity without inclusion does not work. Leaders need
to make sure all voices are heard and recognise and credit
members success.

11. FROM GROUPS
TO TEAMS
Counterdependant
& Conflict
Trust &
Structure
Dependancy &
Inclusion
Performance &
Productivity1
2 3
4
Stage 1: Dependancy & Inclusion Stage 2: COUNTERDEPENDANT & Conflict
Stage 3: Trust & Structure Stage 4: Performance & Productivity
THE OVERLOOKED FIFTH STAGE: TEAM TERMINATION
Developing a team demands time, and often the members
go through different stages. They start by being a group of
strangers to an integrated team with shared goals.
The author Susan Wheelan identifies four stages in teams:
dependency and inclusion, counter-dependent and con-
flict, Trust and Structure, Performance and Productivity.
Every phase can resemble a stage of human development:
childhood, adolescence, adulthood and maturity. This is
why leaders need to recognise and adjust their leadership
approach at each stage to manage his/her team effectively.
Various teams will arrive at this stage eventually because
of re-allocation, or project finalization.
What is the leader's role?
The leader is expected to communicate the importance to
have a closure of the team experience: promote the values
of growing and reflection. The leader could also promote
and suggest ideas to stay in touch with each other after
the project.
Group members expect the leader to
take charge and make decisions. It is
usual to notice members agreeing on
ideas and finding difficult expressing
different points of views. Being in a new
environment can be difficult, and mem-
bers want to feel included. As a leader,
set personal talks with the members and
promote open communication.
The group starts to release itself from its
dependency on the leader. Members now
know each other better and tend to fight
about final goals execution approaches
and even compete among them. It is
essential to build trust; the leader needs
to be cautious and avoid personal
conflicts to maintain the team spirit.
Organise feedback sessions and remem-
ber to lead by example!
INTEGRATED MODEL OF GROUP DEVELOPMENT.
If the group works itself through
conflict, trust and commitment will
increase due to the clarity of objectives
and the reorganisation of the team's
roles. Now, members know how to deal
with differences and appreciate each
other's strengths. Motivate the mem-
bers and encourage them to move into
the performance stage!
Teams become highly productive and
efficient. The team is clear about tasks,
objectives, roles and use effective
conflict management. A feeling of true
appreciation and sense of security is
created. During this stage, the leader
can delegate much more and focus on
developing team members skills.

12. STARTING POINT:
ESTABLISHING
THE TEAM
Alignment is essential to reach high performance because
it instils ownership and members responsibility while
reducing conflict and building culture fast. It connects the
organisations or teams goals with members personal goals
creating consistency between objectives and bringing
members on the same page.
The Team Canvas is the Business Model Canvas for team-
work. It is a strategic frame to assist team members
kick-off projects and align with less friction/conflict a
shared vision. Use it to start a structured dialogue with the
team and/or to shape the team's culture. Groups that
develop the Team Canvas sessions reach higher clarity and
alignment.
other similar tools:
- Point of departure (Hyper Island Toolbox, http://toolbox.hyperisland.com/)
- Team Purpose & Culture (http://toolbox.hyperisland.com/Hyper Island Toolbox)
- Team Charter Canvas (Design a better Business https://www.designkit.rocks/)
TIPS & REMINDERS
When embracing a new team member, use the Team Canvas
framework to make him/her feel welcome. It is a tool that
will help the new member learn about their teammates.
Give Post-its to every team member and ask them to write
and explain their thoughts for each quadrant. Take turns to
share and remember to encourage everyone to participate!
HOW TO USE IT?

13. BEING A TEAM
PLAYER TAKE TIME
TO LEARN
ABOUT GROUP
DEVELOPMENT
be
patient
Expect things
to be unclear
at the beginning
Expect conflict
and see it as
SOMETHING
POSITIVE
Help the group
limit personal
conflicts
Compromise
and help others
to resolve
differences
take
responsability
for what is
going on
Be supportive
with all team
members &
leader
do your tasks
on time
BE AWARE THAT
SUBGROUPS CAN
MAKE PEOPLE
UPSET
SET TIME
FOR TEAM
REFLECTION
ALWAYS
SHOW
UP
Susan Wheelan identifies attitudes and behaviours
that could help the team develop better. Individuals
can make the difference and make the process more
enjoyable.
Being a team player is not overlooking your personal
needs, or going along with an idea /opinion when you
do not understand or believe in it. To support the
team always be honest with yourself, your teammates
and the team's leader.
While communicating with team members – whether
supporting or challenging their thoughts – remember
it is imperative to stay assertive, appreciative and
respectful.
TIPS & REMINDERS

14. CHECK-IN/OUT
This is a simple tool for promoting open communication
and sharing in the group. Daily check-ins and check-outs
set a beginning and end to the daily process symbolically.
It encourages each member to be present and to be
recognised and heard by sharing their feelings, thoughts
or a reflection. Check-ins/out increases commitment within
the team and empathy.
HOW TO USE IT?
Assign 15-20 minutes for this activity.
Gather your team in a circle standing up
Ask the team to check-in/out with, for example:
- How am I feeling today?
- What attitude am I bringing today?
It also can be something fun, like: What animal represent
me today and why?
Repeat this activity daily!
STEP 1
STEP 2
STEP 3
checking in
checkingin
checking out
checkingout
Need some inspiration for your check-ins/out? got to http://hej.today/

15. roles &
expectations
When defining roles, it is essential to clarify roles and their
extension. This activity proposes to discuss every role and
encourage team members to speak out their expectation
about them: ‘What do I need from this role to make work
better.”
Role 1 Role 2 Role 3
Expectation
Expectation
Expectation
Expectation
Expectation
Expectation Expectation
Expectation
HOW TO USE IT?
Assign 30 minutes for this activity.
Have all the roles of the project displayed in a wall
Gather your team in front of the wall and give them some
Post its and a marker.
Ask them to write in each Post It what they expect and
want from their teammates roles to help them perform
better.
Take turns and discuss each Post It within the team and
seek to clarify every expectation.
STEP 1
STEP 2
STEP 3
STEP 4