Dennis Ellmaurer's - TEC Blog

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Armed & Dangerous



I settled in to prepare for a meeting of TEC 44 last month. I intended to review the issues the group's members wanted to bring to the table and other agenda items that needed to be covered during our meeting.

As I got ready, I noted a flurry of e-mails suggesting the group had taken control of the agenda. Two members sent written copies of their "issues" to the group. One member advised he was ill and unable to attend. Two others sent their "accountabilities" from the prior meeting. Everyone sent their Z-Factor Score. I was left with very little to do.

At the TEC meeting the next day the members of TEC 44 continued to take control of the process. The group introduced a new accountability protocol. The members worked a remarkably difficult issue without much intervention from the chair. They remained after the meeting ended to discuss what they had experienced during the day.

TEC 44 had become "Armed & Dangerous." Armed & Dangerous is a concept developed by TEC Resource Specialist, Don Schmincke. Schmincke segmented TEC groups into three categories of health. The least effective segment, the "Seminar Club," almost totally relied on the leader to create value. An improvement was the "Shared Destiny" group which took a modicum of responsibility for its own performance, but continued to rely on the chair to provide value. According to Schmincke, the Armed & Dangerous group was the highest performing group, taking full responsibility for group health and effectiveness.

In addition to TEC groups, Don Schmincke's concept of group behavior applies to management teams and groups of all forms. If you are interested in an outline from Don Schmincke on how to create teams that are "Armed & Dangerous," please let me know. From a group leader's perspective, it is way less work and way more productive.