Designing powerful teams with Ruth Wageman
Small teams that can take effective action in alignment with many other teams are the building blocks of great organizing. Yet many “teams” never quite get off the ground, struggle to develop appropriate norms and work practices, and accomplish little, or even disband.
Fortunately, decades of research has identified six conditions that can be deliberately designed into a team to make it more likely that great teamwork emerges.
The 6 Conditions framework has been applied in countless teams around the world, including teams organizing around elections, climate, health, and many other causes.
Watch this recording of Ruth Wageman, one of the leading experts on team effectiveness and author of “Senior Leadership Teams: What It Takes to Make Them Great”, to learn how you can put in place the conditions that make it more likely a team will be great. The framework and recommendations in this video apply to staff and member/volunteer teams.
This presentation was recorded in March 2022.
Learn more
Behind the Scenes of Sunrise’s Volunteer-Led Phone Bank Program - Learn how Sunrise Movement staff and volunteers designed and supported eight teams of volunteers that led one of the largest voter contact programs in the 2020 elections.
Reflections on Sunrise Movement’s Strike Circle Program: Learn How We Created Hundreds of Local Teams - Learn how Sunrise Movement created hundreds of local teams that organized climate strikes at their schools.
Senior Leadership Teams: What It Takes to Make Them Great - Although this book is focused on senior leadership teams in corporations, senior staff teams in progressive organizations and activist/member teams face the same challenges. The methods in this book work in our contexts.
6 Conditions for Team Effectiveness Certification - Join the community of consultants, coaches, learning and development practitioners, and team leaders who are using the 6 Team Conditions to foster brilliant collaborations in their teams. Getting certified provides you access to knowledge, tools, and a global community of supportive practitioners.
We’re a Nerdy Movement Study Group - Learn evidence-based methods for recruiting, retaining, and mobilizing volunteers, activists, or members in this six-week online program from PowerLabs and become a better organizer or campaigner.
Powerful Teams - Learn an evidence-based framework for designing, launching and supporting healthy and powerful volunteer or staff teams in this intensive online training from PowerLabs.
Presenters
Ruth Wageman is one of the foremost scholars studying and working with teams, especially leadership teams. Ruth’s research, teaching, and practice are focused on the conditions that influence superb team performance. Ruth especially focuses on teams whose purpose is to solve complex problems and lead system transformation. She builds collaborative leadership capacity within and across organizations, especially with multi-sector leadership teams working to transform health and society.
Randall Smith is the founder of PowerLabs. He specializes in helping clients use evidence-based strategies and tactics for high-participation people-powered campaigns. He is a leading expert on team effectiveness and has coached and advised senior leadership teams and member teams at Dream Defenders, Sunrise Movement, People’s Action and many other organizations. Randall has supported organizations to launch and support over 2,000 member teams using the 6 Team Conditions framework.
Randall is certified to support teams to increase their psychological safety through the Fearless Organization External Practitioner Certification and has the highest level of certification from 6 Team Conditions to improve overall team effectiveness.
How can we help you?
If you are interested in collaborating, get in touch soon. It’s never too early. We typically book engagements six months or more in advance.
Some of the projects we worked on recently include:
Supported Dream Defenders, MN350, Pilipino Workers Center, Sunrise Movement, and other organizations to design, launch, and support teams of members
Coached leadership teams at Alabama Arise, People’s Action, Sunrise Movement to improve their effectiveness
Advised founding teams of several new organizations in the US, Canada, and Europe on how to grow a powerful and healthy organization