Distributed Leadership and Team Management in environments of uncertainty and complexity

Beyond teamwork, an organizational cooperation model.

Synergy is an experiential learning course structured around a behavioural simulation that carries the participants from an environment of uncertainty until another of complexity. The first is equivalent to situations of uncertainty and change, of crisis and chaos, mergers and takeovers, but also for growth and expansion, new businesses, restructuring and reorganization. The second is equivalent to mature, competitive, globalized, interrelated and interdependent markets.

During the evolution of the course, the organizational and personal needs are analyzed each time. Initial competences more focused on the exploration as the proactivity, flexibility, the ability to influence or learning are complemented by other subsequent more relational and focused on the team, such as motivation, communication, cooperation, shared leadership, delegation or coordination.

During the process of maturation and as a result of the search for the proposed objective, the group modifies its priorities in a natural way.

When the improvements achieved by technological advances are insufficient, begins a group dynamics where they learn to cooperate, they become aware of the whole and balance the achievement of the personal goals with the objectives of the organization.

A playful, powerful and experiential dynamic, gets a high emotional impact on the motivation and cohesion. At the end, the group has internalized and validated the final conclusion. In complex and interdependent environments where the individual is exceeded or dependent on others to achieve their goals, is the team that takes over. A new approach to management is necessary to manage the new situation, allowing the organization to continue a common strategy but act with local knowledge, creating synergies through distributed leadership.

The intensity of the experience next to a robust conceptual model of base open the door to subsequent personal developments and direct applications to the business or to the organization.

Introduction

“The  formation  of  a  new  team  of  persons  coming  from  different  business  areas,  and  even from other organisations, to take on a far-reaching project resulted in the need to develop a training program that would create a propitious environment for interpersonal knowledge and promote teamwork. But above all, it was necessary to clearly show the challenges and problems that we faced, which is the most novel aspect with respect to a training action. The experience with the Equilibrium Cone was simultaneously gratifying and successful, given that it combined fun aspects (games and simulators) and operational aspects (specific work projects) that satisfied the objectives  of  both  cohesion  and  efficiency,  respectively.”  

Ricardo Alonso Fernández Director of Corporate Banking Global Banking & Markets Santander Banking Group

Objetives

The current environment in which organizations must compete is increasingly complex. Firms must get along in a more interconnected world in which it is increasingly difficult to foresee what is going to happen.

The objective of the program is to develop the following:

Distributed leadership: Building self-organised teams that are responsible to themselves, thereby allowing them to develop initiative, to make decisions and to have flexibility and adaptability.

Teamwork: Knowing the teamwork guidelines beyond a mere attitude of co-operation.

Change management: Identifying the benefits of management based on teams in situations of complexity, interrelationships and constant change.

Personal efficiency: Identifying the behaviours to develop in order to improve the personal efficiency.

Synergy: Promoting the optimisation of resources through shared use.

Synergy is an attended seminar that, for two days, submerges the participants in a situation of growing complexity, uncertainty and change. With the use of a behaviour simulator, it achieves a high impact and generates emotional involvement such that learning through experience is assured.

A dual analysis – personal and business – allows seeing how personal abilities are key when promoting a culture of Shared Leadership and Teamwork in organisations.

Experimentation through Gaming and Simulation is an

attractive and motivating training methodology, with

constant changes of rhythm, which encourages interac-

tion and participation. The game appeals to the emo-

tive side of learning in the participant, bringing out a

positive attitude with high expectations, which is the

key to the process of learning and is directly related to

the level of efficiency of that learning.

“Participating  in  SYNERGY  was  an  intellectual  challenge  for  me  due  to  the  different  way of facing a known subject. The idea of breaking with schemes and not being anchored in traditional ones is perfectly clear. Learning to dominate my natural leadership in order to adapt it to good teamwork was another good practice.

Overall, an intense and very recommendable experience for people who want to learn different  methodologies.”

Jordi Ballesté Vice-President Angelini Group

Key takeaways

The dynamics of the course allow the themes to be internalised, which include the following:

Areas of analysis

How to tolerate frustration to permanent change. How to work in environments of uncertainty. From ambiguity (emotional) to the dilemma (emotional/rational) and from the dilemma to the

problem (rational). How to manage the anxiety produced in a situation of lack of control. Attitudes favouring Teamwork as an organizational response. How to communicate in symmetry (from equal to equal). Non-hierarchical leadership effects. Decision-making with vague information. How to prioritize alternatives on uncertainty. Controlled assumption of risks. Relationship between level of ambition, commitment and results.

The perspective of the participants is such that and extrapolation to reality is so high that participants are shown with all their strengths and weaknesses, which furthermore allows:

Filming the sessions in order to obtain personal video-feedback with an analysis of personal behaviour and individual impact on the group.

Planning subsequent coaching sessions. Complementing the session with subsequent consulting for the organisation based on the

model used. Defining an action plan for personal development.

Therefore, the program is directed at companies and organisations of a certain size and complexity. Specifi-cally, it is directed at companies that are in highly competitive environments or in changing situations.

Currículum

Step-by-step, a series of themes appear, which the group experiences and which, with the help of the trainer, they analyse and determine. The last part is dedicated to personal analysis and to projection at the company.

UNCERTAINTY

Exploration and proactivity. Mental schemes as a source of self-limitation. Objective identification and inverse definition of the roadmap. Use of information.

LEARNING

Experiential learning. The cost of the error versus the cost of the investment. Mental models to overcome.

DEVELOPMENT

From simple to complex. Information management. Building order through structures. Teamwork as a common need.

INTERRELATIONSHIP

From dependence to interdependence. From ambiguity to the problem. Shared leadership and alternating communication.

COMMITMENT

There are no results without emotional involvement. Equity is not efficacy.

SELF-COORDINATION

Decentralized self-coordination versus centralized coordination. Communication in symmetry and its effect on relational satisfaction, cohesiveness and conflict. Information management with imperfect information Definition, unification and alternative criteria.

“SYNERGY  is  an  intelligent  way  of  demonstrating  through  play  that  at  the  company,  we  are all necessary and that there is strength in unity. It is a side to transversality, and at Dannon it has been very useful for realising how important people are in all functions, each  in  their  own  role,  so  that  projects  advance  and  become  a  reality.” Robert Cosialls Director of Purchasing of Dannon for Southern Europe

Ricardo Zamora is Bachelor of Science in Business and a Masters in Business Management from ESADE, one of the top 10 European and International Business Schools.

He is Associate in the Advanced Management Program at ESADE Executive Education as well as other School of Business and at some Latin American Universities. He taught directly to global companies from USA to China.

He founded his own firm called Training Games in 1995, a training consultancy specialized in Simulation & Gaming, meaning gaming methodologies applied to learning. The creator of simulators such as Salesmanship, Carterbanc and Synergy, as well as games such as Teaching Cards, Fork, The 5 phases of the sale and Linker.

Zamora has specialized in the development of cooperative competences and applies his programs in large corporations with complex interrelationships. He is the creator of Synergy, an attended seminar that submerges the participants in a situation of growing complexity, uncertainty and change.

Large and multinational companies such as Dannon, Heineken, Unilever, HP, Arbora & Ausonia (Procter),

Ricardo Zamora

15 years of experience training teams with the cooperative model Cooplexity

Customers

University Partners ESADE: Management School of Business of Barcelona (Spain) UTD: University of Texas Dallas UAB: Universtat Autónoma de Barcelona Mass Consumption Cobega (Coca Cola Group), Dannon , LU (Dannon Group), Font Vella (Dannon Group), Heineken, Puleva Food, Mahou-San Miguel, Grupo Siro, Bimbo (Sara Lee Bakery Group), Unilever, Frigo (Unilever Group), Nestlé, Arbora & Ausonia (Procter & Gamble Group) Technology Telefónica, Hewlett Packard, Thales Information Systems, Adbraintage, Astra, T-System Pharmaceutics AstraZeneca, BDF - Beiersdorf, Boehringer Ingelheim, Farma-Lepori (Angelini Group), CibaVision (A Novartis Company), Novartis, Roche Diagnostics, Pfizer, Chefaro , Lilly, Medichem Sector bancario Santander Group, Banco de Sabadell, Deutsche Bank, BBVA, Caixa de Catalunya, La Caixa Construction, Real State Ferrovial-Agroman, Acieroid, Lafarge-Asland, Inmobiliaria Colonial Health Sanitas, Sanitas Residential, Mutua del Carme, Asepeyo Chemicals Kao Corporation, BASF, AKZO Chemicals Utilities REE (Red Eléctrica de España), ENDESA, UNIÓN FENOSA,AGBAR Group Textile, Fashion INDITEX, Dimodes, Nike, Venilia (grupo Solvay) Logístics DHL

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