When you encounter a situation working with new colleagues do you finish a session and come away with a sinking feeling that things could have gone better? Developing good working relationships is a process. Don’t get discouraged when things don’t click right away.

I recently had an experience working with a student group for a limited time and I needed to quickly accomplish three goals: gain their trust, teach them new skills, and foster leadership development among the group.

It took time, but I felt our relationship move from a place where students were skeptical of my expertise to a place where we developed a sense of camaraderie and teamwork.

It got me thinking about how our relationship progressed over the course of a few days. We seemed to move through stages that led us toward developing success as a group. I found it helpful to label these stages, so I referred to them as the “levels of ownership” for the group.

Understanding these levels may be useful to us as we work to advance and improve working relationships. While the first level may seem frightening or intimidating, if we are familiar with the process, we can maintain a positive attitude and create a step-by-step path toward success!

Read on and let me know if you agree.

Leader / Team Member Levels of Ownership:

Distrust / dis-ownership

Here is where we begin. This level is recognizable by the healthy dose of skepticism displayed by team members. Questions like: “why do we have to?” and statements like: “we always do it this way” are the norm. Behaviors are contrary to expectations with late arrivals, inattentiveness and boredom.

Acknowledgement

The leader is recognized, both as a person (with a name and title!) and as a professional possessing a certain degree of expertise. Questions now become: “How do we do this?” Participation takes root. Team members are now less self-aware and are liable to discuss the subject at hand as they begin to help each other out.

Once the first two levels were reached, our goals should turn to these final three important points:

Trust: Belief in the teacher/leader

Team members recognize and accept goals, seeking assistance to attain those goals. Questions are concerned with details and creativity: “can we also try this?” Time and attentiveness issues vanish as team members “buy in” and recognize and accept an obligation to improve. Pride takes root!

Responsibility: Belief in the self

There is an increased level of interest in building skills in order to become a more valuable team member. Questions are about finding additional information on a subject and statements indicate that research on the subject has been done: “Look what I’ve found!”

Ownership: Belief in the group

The leader steps back and acts as a guide. Team members communicate among themselves, and questions are often directed toward each other rather than toward the leader. The leader provides the necessary information to get the task done, identifies and encourages team leaders, and communicates and manages expectations. Team members feel safe, supported, and in charge of their own success.