Neuroscience and Team Building
The cutting edge of neuroscience is offering increased levels of insight into the ways that individuals and teams will progress either well or poorly through the stages of team development.
An old, but proven model of Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing speaks accurately of the overarching process that a team may make along its journey, but laying deeper within the process is the human brain and emotions of each individual player within that team. What actuates their own unique journey in that team will vary from person to person, yet also share some remarkable similarities in terms of what they look for at each stage of the process. Collectively these deeper neurological drivers will also play out meaningfully as the teams culture forms and grows.
There are at least 6 major intelligence centres or systems within a human brain that directly influence an individual’s ability to perceive and develop effective relationships and networks with a team. Each unfolds in a relatively predictable pattern and order that will strongly influence the collective harmony and capability of that team as people all pass through those systems as the team naturally develops.
Whilst these tend to happen automatically at a sub conscious level, a conscious awareness of what these systems are, how each person relates uniquely to them and how we have collectively dealt well or poorly with them, allows team development to be accelerated and enhanced. People relate to and react differently to each of these unfolding neurological processes of team development.
In addition to the unfolding dynamics that are deeply embedded within the brain for forming and relating to networks of human relationships, are the cohabiting core belief types that are carried within the human neuro limbic system. These strongly held beliefs and corresponding traits vary across individuals and will emotionally impact themselves and others at each stage of a team’s development in equally varied but also predictable ways.
When these factors are well understood a team can expect better results and less unnecessary bias and conflict at each stage of their teams development.