Unlocking Team Potential: The Power of Using Meta Programme Analysis In Team Development 

Introduction:

In the current business landscape, teamwork has emerged as one of the most acute factors in achieving success. Teams with diverse skills and perspectives often outshine individuals who work alone. However, unlocking a team’s full potential requires a deep understanding of the individual thinking styles of individual members. By having this awareness, leaders can leverage the strengths of each member and overcome any weaknesses, leading to better decision-making, higher productivity, and superior results.

Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP) has been widely used in business for quite some time now and has proven to be a valuable tool for development. With the rise of technology and innovation, various NLP tools are available to practitioners to help them facilitate individuals or teams to achieve their desired outcomes. One such tool that is underutilized in NLP is ‘Metaprogrammes’ or thinking styles.

Many professionals still prefer using personality assessment tools that tend to categorize individuals into only four descriptors or points and provide an overview. This approach can be too restrictive and usually does not consider the complexity of an individual’s thought process in different contexts. Metaprogramme analysis fills this void. 

In NLP, we learn about the importance of modeling behavior. One key aspect is understanding our values, beliefs, thought processes, and perceptions in different situations. By examining our metaprogrammes, we can analyze and uncover the underlying cognitive diversity that influences how we think and behave in particular contexts. I have met many NLPers who don’t understand the power of metaprogrammes, and to be honest, I was one of them. 

Identifying and applying metaprogrammes unique to each individual requires active listening and observation of verbal and nonverbal cues. There are online tools available to assist in this process. By understanding cognitive styles, practitioners can help individuals achieve peak performance. Unfortunately, many people tend to oversimplify metaprogramme applications and ignore the dynamic nature of their context-specific use.

Understanding Metaprogramme Patterns:

Using metaprogramme analysis helps individuals obtain a deeper understanding of their cognitive preferences, values, and motivations. With insights into problem-solving, decision-making, and interpersonal interactions, thinking patterns empower individuals to unlock their full potential and achieve their goals.

One of the significant advantages of utilizing metaprogrammes for team development is that they enable organizations to gain valuable insights into the collective mindset of their teams. By analyzing the collective metaprogrammes, teams can identify their strengths and weaknesses and devise strategies to enhance team dynamics and communication.

When working with teams, avoiding technical terms like ‘metaprogrammes’ is a good idea, which can be unclear for some people. Instead, using more familiar terms like ‘thinking patterns’ or ‘cognitive styles’ when referring to the same concept is better. This helps to ensure that everyone on the team is on the same page and can understand the discussion without feeling left out particularly when explaining no one pattern is better than another but all are required with teams at different points. 

The Power of Thinking Styles in Team Development is:

1. Enhanced Communication:
People with varying thinking styles may have distinct ways of interpreting information, which could lead to misunderstandings and hinder collaboration. By recognizing and appreciating these differences, teams can develop more effective communication strategies that cater to the unique needs of each individual. 

2. Improved Problem-Solving:
By bringing together individuals with different cognitive approaches, teams can tap into various perspectives to analyse challenges and develop innovative solutions. Thinking patterns help teams leverage diversity to solve problems effectively and better understand strengths and weaknesses in different situations.

3. Increased Adaptability:
By recognizing each team member’s unique preferences and strengths, leaders can allocate tasks and responsibilities within their teams that best match their abilities. This approach also builds trust and respect, fostering a supportive work environment. 

4. Conflict Resolution:
Recognizing that different team members may have unique approaches to handling conflicts and acknowledging these differences allows for strategies that cater to individual preferences to be developed. 

5. Strategic Planning:
By analyzing team members’ cognitive preferences and thinking styles, leaders can gain valuable insights into their team. This information can then align tasks and responsibilities with individuals with the most relevant cognitive strengths, improving the team’s role satisfaction and overall performance. 

6. Team Cohesion and Trust:
Thinking patterns provide insight into how individuals perceive the world, including their values, beliefs, and motivations. When team members trust and respect each other’s thinking styles, they are more likely to work together effectively. 

7. Skill Gap Identification and Strategic Recruitment:
Integrating thinking patterns into the recruitment process enables the creation of targeted job profiles and the assessment of candidates based on the team’s requirements, ensuring new starters are a better fit for the team and addressing skill gaps more effectively. 

8. Communicating with impact
Every word we use has the power to either uplift or harm people. By understanding the communication style of our team, we can leverage language to guide them towards positive change or adaptation. By understanding and working with each team member, the leader speaks and acts for the entire team’s benefit.

How We Do This: 
Enhancing team performance encompasses three elements providing:  

• Decoding and giving feedback to individuals. 
• Conducting a Team Day- to enable team members to decode each other.  
• Devising a coach in the room profile. 

Providing individuals with one-on-one coaching and feedback on their metaprogrammes helps them share their thoughts, opinions, and perceptions. This feedback allows them to understand themselves better so they can understand others. Accurate analysis of metaprogrammes allows individuals to identify their weaknesses and areas for growth, which enables them to form strategies to improve their skills.

Conducting a Team Day

By prioritizing understanding of others, team members develop a better understanding of each other. 

During the Team Day, everyone works through a personalized booklet that contains relevant information and exercises related to their work. Each team member has a quick reference guide to access the various thinking patterns and their definitions easily.

The facilitator, will guide the team through the booklet, providing insights on approaching and communicating with others to motivate and inspire them. 

During the session, individual criteria or values are explained, each metaprogramme  and groups of metaprogrammes are explained and described in body language and verbal language giving the impact of each.  Specific exercises are undertaken as a group to deepen the team’s understanding. 

Cooperation is gently enhanced by understanding team members’ cognitive styles. For example, a manager and a colleague may have different thinking styles. Still, they can find ways to complement each other by acknowledging and appreciating their differences in communication and motivation. They can then discover their combined perspectives are more effective.

Individual team profiles are displayed in the room. These are usually anonymized to help the team focus on the profile rather than the individual. The primary task of each participant is to comment on each poster regarding the profile’s strengths, areas for improvement, how that profile can help them grow, and potential frictions and irritations they may have with these profiles. 

The day also includes activities to understand the department’s behaviors and the customer’s needs. 

Outcomes for the participants for the day:

1. Understand my purpose and why I do what I do: 
This will help participants understand how their work aligns with their values and purpose.

2. Understand the impact of our department and company on our customers and consumers: 
This will help participants understand how to improve processes and deliver better results.

3. Understand what motivates me and how I communicate: 
This will aid participants in gaining a deeper understanding of themselves and how to communicate effectively with colleagues and customers.

4. Identify potential areas of conflict and learn how to prevent them from arising:
This will enhance team collaboration and productivity.

5. Learn how to transform conflicts into opportunities for growth and support: 
This will foster stronger relationships with colleagues and customers, creating a more positive work environment.

6. Network with other individuals: 
This helps participants broaden their understanding of the industry and develop innovative approaches to their work.

Devising Coach in the Room poster 

The team are left with two posters: one showcases the team’s collective thinking patterns, and the other is a coach-in-the-room poster. 

The coach-in-the-room poster highlights the team’s weaknesses( although the better term is blind spot). When they come together, they can refer to the poster to remind themselves to ask the questions they might not usually ask.

The ongoing benefits of the day and the posters are:

1. Enhanced Understanding:

Team members can gain a deeper understanding of their own and their colleagues’ cognitive patterns. This awareness can lead to better communication and collaboration, as team members can adapt their communication styles to align with the preferences of others.

2. Improved Questioning Skills:

Understanding metaprograms enables individuals to ask more insightful and targeted questions. This can be particularly valuable in problem-solving and decision-making processes, as team members learn to approach challenges from different perspectives.

3. Annual Review and Continuous Improvement:

   The practice of metaprogram analysis can be incorporated into annual reviews, fostering continuous improvement within the team. Team members can reflect on their metaprogramme preferences, identify areas for growth, and set goals for personal development.

4. Team Dynamics and Composition:

  The process encourages teams to consider the diversity of metaprogramme profiles within the group. This awareness can be used when forming teams or adding new members, ensuring a balanced mix of cognitive approaches that contribute to a more well-rounded and effective team.

5. Prominent Display and Constant Reminder:

 Displaying team profiles prominently serves as a constant reminder for team members to be mindful of their cognitive preferences and those of their colleagues. This visual reinforcement can help maintain focus on understanding and adapting to different communication styles.

6. Networking Opportunities:

Encouraging team members to network with individuals who have different metaprogramme profiles or complementary strengths can lead to a richer exchange of ideas and perspectives. This diversity can stimulate creativity and innovation within the team.

In summary, metaprogram analysis can be a valuable tool for fostering self-awareness, improving communication, and optimizing team dynamics. The ongoing nature of the process, coupled with its integration into team practices, contributes to a culture of continuous learning and development.

Conclusion:
Achieving optimal team performance is a game-changer for any organization. The key lies in understanding the power of thinking patterns (metaprogrammes). It assesses individuals’ thinking styles and helps them understand how they perceive the world and react to different situations.

By leveraging thinking patterns (metaprogrammes), you can help teams communicate, problem-solve, adapt, resolve conflicts, plan strategically, and work towards common goals. This knowledge can enhance team performance, morale, and collaboration.

As businesses evolve, it becomes imperative to understand different thinking styles and utilize them appropriately. Doing so helps teams and organizations stay ahead of the curve, optimize their output, adapt to new challenges, and achieve sustained success.

Recognition needs to go to Dr Jaime Leal’s approach to enhancing team performance through the F5 Team refresh, to Jaap Hollander, who developed MindSonar (online metaprogramme analysis) and Shelle Rose Charvet for LAB profiling.

Only a few weeks ago I was reminded about diverse thinking. I coach Colts Rugby and had, for my sins, agreed to help the under 7s team. Being prepared for herding cats, I planned a session to finish with a game. One 7-year-old explained how I could improve the game. I reluctantly entertained his idea and it was a hit. I had fun, the kids had fun and we were more productive in achieving the same outcomes of evasion, pace and teamwork.  

So let me ask you to stop and think. Yes, stop and think.  How many people do your clients have in their workforce that look like them, agree with them and act like them? The other rugby coaches did not question the game I had proposed. They look and sound similar to me.  

A lot has been written about diversity in the past 25 years and much has been concerned with demographic diversity. That is, diversity which is based on colour or race, sexuality, gender, age and culture.  Rightly so.  Demographic diversity is a must. It has been proven many times that an organisation that does not actively engage in diversity can limit ability and productivity. Organisations with a diverse workforce have the ability to be more productive. The Royal Academy of Engineering identified research into culture and inclusion in engineering and found that ‘inclusion benefits the performance of individual engineers, with 80% reporting increased motivation, 68% increased performance and 52% increased commitment.’

Failure to engage with people who are diverse has led to well documented disasters such as the 9/11 bombings in the USA. The CIA at the time was populated with highly intelligent men, ‘the best of the best,’ white, Ivy-League educated men. They overlooked the warning signs of a terrorist attack. Why? Because they could not perceive the threat or signs of build-up in terrorist activity. Despite the high entrance examinations and psychological assessments to become an agent for the CIA they lacked diversity and reference experience beyond their world. They lacked understanding of an impending problem. Their perception in the context of attacks in the USA was: it will never happen, they cannot win.  The CIA agents were all from a similar mould and this had served the CIA well. 

However, while the agents lacked demographic diversity and reference experience to a problem, it has also been argued they lacked understanding and had little cognitive diversity within their group. As MindSonar® professionals we can explain the measurement of others against ourselves as thinking differently or being cognitively diverse.  We know this in simple terms as how you think and what you value, what drives or motivates YOU is different to ME. Neither is good or bad, it’s how that style serves us at that time in a specific context.  Our cognitive style, as we know, is not our personality. Our style is not fixed but it is flexible.   

Let me give an example that might prove helpful for clients.  You know when you have experienced a problem and you have contacted a friend or called a wise parent who has provided new insight to your approach because they experienced the same or a similar problem before?  I suspect you can recall how grateful you were for their input and how much time it saved you. Imagine doing this always in the work environment.   Imagine if the CIA had access to MindSonar® measurement for building a team of diverse thinkers?

So back to our problem: the skills of MindSonar® can help – instead of dialling a friend or colleague, why not advise a client to dial internally and ask some questions about what approach would be more helpful from referenced experience? What options or steps could be useful here? What could go wrong or what do they need to solve this? By using the opposite of your meta programmes you gain access to a range of new answers. Jaime Leal uses this approach with teams by leaving them with a MindSonar® coach in the room poster – a set of questions that a team can ask of themselves to manage their blind spots. 

It would be fair to say fostering demographic diversity gains different views, but it is not targeted at thinking differently.  Yes, we may gain some advantage if we have people from different backgrounds but if they attended the same school, and the same training programmes, they are likely to act like each other.  So demographic diversity only partly meets the world of change we face with artificial intelligence which poses many challenges to our work. 

With complex problems we need a variety of views on how to approach and understand information or to solve problems. Price Waterhouse Cooper identify that we are living through a fundamental transformation in the way we work. Automation and ‘thinking machines’ are replacing human tasks and jobs and changing the skills that organisations are seeking in their people. These momentous changes raise huge organisational, talent and HR challenges – at a time when business leaders are already wrestling with unprecedented risks, disruption and political and societal upheaval. 

Now we know the problems, it is fair to say we have one of the best solutions available: MindSonar®.

If we are going to meet the demands of the future, we need to share how we can develop understanding of  a workforce in others so that workforce can be more productive, solve problems more effectively and challenge each other to gain results. Perhaps we need organisations to develop a change in what they ask when seeking the right people for the roles they have. Instead of asking: who do we need? Perhaps we could encourage organisations to ask: what do we need in terms of thinking style and values against our long-term needs and gaps in the organisation?

Organisations by their nature in these unprecedented times and rapid development want success regardless of their motivators and the quickest way to gain success is by harnessing the right workforce to do the right job at the right time. The workforce that understands and harnesses different styles through understanding will be the workforce that lasts and WE  have the key to unlock their success.  

After over 20 years of coaching rugby, a diverse, uninhibited thinker, aged 7, brought fun and energy to my coaching. Cognitive diversity in the workplace to meet future demands is so important because #thinkingmakesitso when we use MIndSonar®