It's Template Thursday again – here is another template from The Visual Agile Coach - a Visual Practices template that Olina Glindevi and Ben Walder have developed for their Teamwork Toolkit and the Storming phase of Tuckman’s Stages of Group Development.

What is the Team Bounce-back Template for?

Whether the disagreement is team-wide, team to team, or team member to team member this template provides a pathway for:

• Disagreements and issues, challenges, problems to be communicated
• Controlled discussion using the ‘5 Whys’ for root cause analysis and Non-Violent Communication techniques
• Checking in – are we all good or do we have more work to do to resolve the issue?
• Resolution and bouncing back to get back on track with clearly defined joint actions

How to use the Team Bounce-back Template

• Collate the disagreements and issues, challenges, problems in the funnel – either as a ‘written statement’ or through Visuals – or a combination.
• Prioritise – dotmocracy is a quick, clean and democratic way to surface the key disagreements, otherwise MoSCoW provides a clear prioritisation structure i.e. we must resolve…
• Breakdown the disagreement with 5 Whys or if its more of an interpersonal disagreement use the Non Violent Communication framework (Marshall B. Rosenberg, Ph.D), alternatively just listen by practicing using Nancy Kline’s Thinking Partnership.
• Take a temperature check and assess the disagreement status after analysing it – use the Thomas Kilmann Conflict Model for guidance.  Are you ready to collaborate (ideally), is the disagreement best resolved by compromising or by accommodating?
• Finally lets bounce back and set out some steps to get to a workable way forward - if the 5 Whys worked for you, why not try the 5 Hows?
• The process is completed when a joint action plan has been agreed.

Visual Tips

• Visuals are a great way to take the sting out of a difficult message when words both spoken and written can seem harsh
• Use visuals to express your feelings and emotions, when words may seem difficult to use
• Disagreements generally have two opposing side, use visuals to depict these in a way that words can’t or may do too bluntly
• Action plan with visuals, show what a path to a successful resolution looks like – try drawing the solution collaboratively to lock in commitment and (re)start collaboration.

Disagreements in teams are inevitable and as important as failures to inform team learning. It''s how you disagree and bounce-back that’s key.

I hope you enjoy using our 2^nd Visual Agile Coaching template powered by Drawify, inspired by Hyper Island’s Conflict Resolution Tool - bringing the Power of Visuals to Teamworking.