Stakeholder Conversations Flashcards
INTRODUCTION TO STAKEHOLDER SYSTEMS - THE BOARD AS A SYSTEM
Systems thinking focuses on the patterns, relationships and independency between systems.
What is it guided by?
Systems theory also implies the concept of what?
How does this relate to the definition of board dynamics?
guided by the notion of interdependency, that every system is dependent on the subsystems within it, and the systems within which it is nestled
the concept of co-creation = the organism is shaped by its environmental niche but can also change and shape this niche
Definition = Board dynamics are the interactions between board members individually and collectively, and how these influence, and are influenced by, their wider stakeholder system
= the board is shaped by the stakeholder system it is part of, and this stakeholder system, in turn, is also changed by the dynamics that exist within the board
INTRODUCTION TO STAKEHOLDER SYSTEMS - THE BOARD AS A SYSTEM
What are the 6 different systemic lenses through which one can view board dynamics?
- the individual director (biology, personality, life role and director role)
- the inter-personal director relationships (Maister trust equation, and Berne transactional analysis theory)
- the board team relationships (Tuckman’s stages of group development, Lencioni 5 dysfunctions, Kantor 4 player model, CONFLICT & Bvalco how to challenge well in the boardroom)
- the board team tasks (4 Ps)
- the board’s stakeholder interfaces (mapping, 6 FRC guidance, and 10 ICSA recommendations for engagement)
- the board’s wider systemic context (PESTEL)
THE SYSTEMS INSIDE THE BOARD - INDIVIDUAL DIRECTOR LENS
What 4 key aspects must we understand within the individual system – that is, each individual director?
(1) Biology = each director can be seen as a biological system (the importance of physical factors (appropriate nutrition, sleep, exercise and stress management) to enable sustainable functioning)
(2) Personality = each director is a system of sub-personality types (e.g., emotional intelligence is a key attribute for team functioning)
(3) Life roles = assess each director’s ‘work-life’ balance and how their director role fits into/conflicts with other life roles
(Role conflict = time conflict (time 1 role interferes with another), strain conflict (stress from 1 role leaks into another), and values conflict (role misalignment with one’s life values))
(4) Director roles = each director has a sub-system of diverse identities within their director role
(How a director thinks about themselves as a board member)
THE SYSTEMS INSIDE THE BOARD - INTER-PERSONAL BOARD RELATIONSHIP LENS
What does the interpersonal board relationships lens look at?
How do we know when board director relationships are working well? (3)
BUILDING TRUST
Maister et al. suggest what 4 characteristics that contribute to trust? / what is the trust equation?
Which of the characteristic is the best place to start in terms of improving trusting relationships?
looks at the quality of the one-to-one relationships between directors on the board
(1) members mutually trust each other, (2) there is a degree of intimacy, and (3) they talk to each others as equals (adult-adult)
Trust = (credibility + reliability + intimacy) / self-orientation
Credibility = what you say and how believable you are to others
Reliability = one’s actions and how dependable you appear
Intimacy = how safe people feel sharing things with you
Self-orientation = whose interest is put first within an interaction - own or others’?
Intimacy
THE SYSTEMS INSIDE THE BOARD - INTER-PERSONAL BOARD RELATIONSHIP LENS
BUILDING TRUST
What are the 4 levels that build up to intimacy?
Does working through these levels guarantee that trust will develop?
- Ritual and cliché = hello, how are you
- Facts and information = going through an agenda (formal and structured)
- Values and beliefs = sharing personal values and disclosing more information
- Emotions and feelings
Only when relationships are paced and matched at the same level will trust develop
THE SYSTEMS INSIDE THE BOARD - INTER-PERSONAL BOARD RELATIONSHIP LENS
PARENT, ADULT, CHILD EGO STATES
The 3 ‘ego states’ that people can be in when they interact is parent ego, adult ego, or child ego. This is know as what?
Describe the characteristics of someone acting in each of the 3 states.
Transactional Analysis theory by Berne
Parent ego state = parent can be either (1) critical (autocratic leadership) or (2) nurturing (participative leadership)
When someone acts from the parent ego state, this invites the other person in the interaction to go into their child ego state
Child ego state = (1) passive/aggressive (2) creativity and playfulness
Adult ego state = more neutral and logical, able to examine data from both the parent and child, and act as a mediator between the 2 (chair and cosec who invite others to be adult too)
THE SYSTEMS INSIDE THE BOARD - TEAM RELATIONSHIP LENS
TEAM DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORKS
What are the 2 frameworks that can help analyse the dynamics of the relationships in a board team?
What are the 5 stages that groups necessarily and inevitably must move through in order for them to grow and deliver results?
(A) Tuckman’s stages of group development
(B) Lencioni’s 5 dysfunctions
(1) Forming stage = team meets and agrees initial goals (team will be task-focused and likely behave independent)
(2) Storming stage = people begin to voice opinions (any differences in personality clashes must be resolved before the team can move on)
(3) Norming stage = teams begin to resolve differences and unite around a common goal (shift from group to team = members take responsibility and accountability)
(4) Performing stage = establishing mission, vision, roles and norms, such that team members can focus completely on achieving their common goal
(5) Adjourning stage = team completing their task, breaking up, and ‘turning the light off’ as a team
THE SYSTEMS INSIDE THE BOARD - TEAM RELATIONSHIP LENS
TEAM DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORKS
What are Lencioni’s 5 dysfunctions and the associated team leadership roles for each dysfunction?
(1) Absence of trust = unwilling to be vulnerable within the group
Role of the leader: Go first
(2) Fear of conflict = seeking artificial harmony over constructive passionate debate
Role of the leader: Mine for conflict
(3) Lack of commitment = pretending buy-in to group decisions creates ambiguity throughout the team
Role of the leader: Force clarity and closure
(4) Avoidance of accountability = ducking the responsibility to challenge peers on counter-productive behaviour which sets low standards
Role of the leader: Confront difficult issues
(5) Inattention to results = focusing on personal success, status and ego before team success
Role of the leader: Force on collective outcomes
THE SYSTEMS INSIDE THE BOARD - TEAM RELATIONSHIP LENS
TEAM DIALOGUE
What is the Four Player Model by Kantor?
It is important that all roles are played within a conversation for it to be constructive.
What are the 4 players?
What are the positive intentions of each?
Individuals should be aware when they are becoming stuck in one particular role and develop skills in all roles.
a useful behavioural model for analysing group behaviour, and whether a team is exhibiting constructive and generative interactions
(1) Mover = provides direction (e.g., chair and encourage others to be movers)
+ intentions = discipline, commitment
(2) Follower = provides completion (e.g., director who supports a point, agrees with a suggestion, or takes accountability for a decision)
+ intentions = compassion, loyalty
(3) Opposer = provides correction (e.g., NED representing stakeholders)
+ intentions = courage, integrity
(4) Bystander = provides perspective (e.g., company secretary)
+intentions = patience, self-reflection
THE SYSTEMS INSIDE THE BOARD - TEAM RELATIONSHIP LENS
TEAM DIALOGUE
Isaacs overlaid a distinction between ‘inquiry’ and ‘advocacy’ onto Kantor’s Four Player model.
How does he define advocacy and inquiry?
What 4 criteria did Losada (1999)’s research look at?
From the results of the research, a high-performing team (HPT) meets these criteria how?
(i) Advocacy = the dynamic balance between moving and opposing
(ii) Inquiry = the dynamic balance between by-standing and following
(1) Connectivity / turn-taking between team members
HPT = extremely high connectivity = significant turn-taking = everyone given and takes the opportunity to speak
(2) Ratio of advocacy to inquiry
HPT = 1:1 balance is key
(3) Ratio of internally focused statements (self) to externally focused statements (others)
HPT = 1:1 balance = making one’s own points while equally being interested in others is key
(4) Ratio of positive statements to negative statements
HPT = 3:1 ratio = needs strong positive feeling in the boardroom = build on others’ points and show encouragement and support
THE SYSTEMS INSIDE THE BOARD - TEAM RELATIONSHIP LENS
BOARD CONFLICT - AN INTRODUCTION TO TEAM CONFLICT
A key issue related to interactions in the boardroom and across stakeholder groups is when tension and challenge turns to conflict.
What is the difference between tension and conflict according to ICSA (2017)?
What are the 3 main sources that conflict in teams can come from?
Are all 3 bad?
ICSA (2017) = Tension was seen as positive and necessary, while conflict was seen as disruptive and detrimental and fundamentally damaging to the dynamics of the board
(1) Relationship conflict = involves personal issues such as dislike among group members and feelings such as annoyance, frustration, and irritation
(2) Task conflict = related to differences of opinion on how the team should go about the task
(3) Process conflict = more about using resources, such as who has responsibility for which deliverable
Jen and Mannix (2001):
(i) high levels of relationship conflict = problems and less effective team
(ii) high levels of task conflict can be beneficial to DM up to mid-point of discussion
(iii) high levels of process conflict can be beneficial at start of task when team is forming
THE SYSTEMS INSIDE THE BOARD - TEAM RELATIONSHIP LENS
BOARD CONFLICT - BOARD ROLE CONFLICT
Pick’s research identified what 2 specific relational tensions on boards due to board members’ potentially conflicting roles?
What are the conflicting roles of NEDs and EDs?
How NEDs and EDs relate to each other around these conflicting roles will largely be dictated by what?
Overplaying one’s expertise in the boardroom may lead to the Drama Triangle. What is this?
(1) Relational tension that exists between NEDs and EDs
(2) Tension comprised of siloed expertise versus the team having a more cohesive voice (e.g., directors overly advocate expertise)
NEDs = (i) independent role, evaluating and managing governance, (ii) mentor role, advising and joint decision-makers
EDs = (i) reporting role, defending, (ii) joint-decision-maker role
dictated by the role-modelling of the relationship between the chair and CEO (if open, NED/ED relationship will follow suit, otherwise NED/ED take Chair/CEO sides!)
The Drama Triangle = a game that is played out when being overly parental
= always has 3 players: the victim, the persecutor, and the rescuer
THE SYSTEMS INSIDE THE BOARD - TEAM RELATIONSHIP LENS
BOARD CONFLICT - HOW TO CHALLENGE WELL IN THE BOARDROOM
The UK board review organisation Bvalco summarised a number of recommendations for challenging well in the boardroom.
Name 7.
(1) The chair should never start or finish a discussion with their opinion
(2) The chair’s role is to encourage evidence-based rather than person-centred challenge
(3) Get to know other directors individually and at a personal level to adapt style and approach so challenge is heard
(4) Encourage directors to agree the single most important thing the board must do
(5) Use the 3:1 ratio rule of appreciation versus criticism to promote resource for thinking and engagement
(6) Expect input to the agenda, so that directors arrive at board meetings engaged
(7) Instil a sense of team authority
THE SYSTEMS INSIDE THE BOARD - TEAM TASKS LENS
The team task’s lens is the usual starting point and domain of team leaders, board chair, and governance professionals.
What are the 2 lenses to recognise?
What is involved in clarifying team tasks? / What are the 4 Ps?
in the broader context, these tasks will already be clarified for the organisation as a whole. However, to become a team, the board need to do what?
(1) Dulewicz and Herbert (2004)’s 16 tasks of the board
(2) Wageman’s 3 factors of of getting the right people, the right vision, and the right structure in place
- Purpose (mission and values)
- Picture (vision)
- Plan (strategy, objectives and targets, systems and processes, charter, etc.)
- Parts (roles and responsibilities)
needs to consider which of these tasks are specific to their team, independently of the organisation
(NB: a working group has goals the same as the organisation’s overall goal)
THE SYSTEMS OUTSIDE THE BOARD - EXTERNAL STAKEHOLDER LENS
What is the definition of a stakeholder?
All interactions with external stakeholders can become internalised into the board dynamic.
A useful tool to understand the external source stakeholder dynamic is through what?
Stakeholder = any group or individual who can affect or is affected by the achievement of the organisation’s objective
Mapping them on the extent of their interest and power
(LI, LP = least consideration in DM)
(HI, HP = key players, involve in DM through regular engagement and consultation)
