Systems and practices

The technical work has followed the interpersonal simply because the available technical tools and standard practices are designed for another context (as described above). As we have discovered, relational ways of working demand a different understanding, design, and use of:

Decision making methods
With an overt, agreed understanding of roles and responsibilities, individual ownership of decisions and the degree of involvement in the process can be made clear. Knowing the difference between ‘formal’ decision-making requirements (projects, process change, etc.) and ‘informal’ decision-making as part of the flow of daily activity (links through interpersonal to meeting methods, managing conflicts, communications, etc.).

Meeting methods
Conscious design of meetings, managing expectations, ownership of roles, responsibilities, and accountabilities.

Contracts
Making contracting into a designed set of expectations and agreements.

Roles and role descriptions
Being clear on ownership of and inhabiting both inner and outer roles; monitoring for consistency of holding or breakdowns; managing missing, duplicated, or overplayed roles; permission for role changes.

Managing conflict and resolutions
Holding conflict/disagreement/differing perspectives as positive contributors to greater involvement, effectiveness, and efficiency in conjunction with meetings behavior, decision making, holding roles, wider communication, etc. Engage with individual emotional intelligence and team emotional intelligence, and filter through the Trust Equation, openly addressing toxic communication patterns, and having a relational awareness-based process for significant conflicts.

Financial management: Shared responsibility and accountability (relating to roles and responsibilities, above), using financial information as an enabler (see earlier distinction between source of information and being a controller).

Programme management
https://belonginplymouth.org.uk/thoughts-on-how-we-work

Communication
In tandem with roles, develop distinctions between need to know, nice to know, want to know - with individual agency and responsibility to choose. Communications filtered through the Trust Equation and with full regard for emotional intelligence.