The Practice We Valued Most Was the One We Understood Least: Information Flow in a Team-Centered Organization

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1. The Practice We Valued Most Was the One We Understood Least: Information Flow in a TeamCentered Organization Sam Huang
2. Sam Huang, Senior OD Specialist, Titansoft Loves creating space for honest conversations between people, and helping teams discover more effective ways to work together — so the work itself becomes more meaningful.
3. We've tried building Headcount by Year (2005–2025) 400 350 • Co-create Vision, Mission, Values 300 250 • Core competency Model 200 150 • Structured training programs • Group facilitation & Coaching skills 100 50 0 2005 2008 2011 2014 However, our GM felt we needed a “framework” to see where we actually stood, and where we wanted to go. Agile Development 2020 Titansoft's Journey in Dialogue & Communication Participatory Strategic Planning (PSP) – Internal Book: «A Roaming Whale's Tale» Open Space Technology (OST) Sociocracy 2014 2017 2016 2017 Facilitation, ORID, Satir Coaching, Consent Decision-Making, PSP 2018 2020 Satir Iceberg Model 2021 2023 Org Restructuring (Re-org) Relationship Mapping (ONA) OVS 2022 Psychological Safety Coaching: the FLYING ProgramPSP – Client-facing 2023 2024 2025 OVS Scan & Follow-up Projects OVS Scan & Follow-up Projects “Building Self-Organizing Teams” The Critical Period: Opening Organizational Dialogue Exploring & Learning Tools and Methods for Organizational Dialogue Extending Our Dialogue Practice to Clients, and Realigning to Client Needs
5. 1. Selected Dimensions (management open for discussion) 2. Survey 3. Interview (selected across organization) 4. Generate report to management 5. Align desired state for the organization 6. Announce desired state & current state to all people in organization
7. Project 1 (2024): Team Communication Practices • The team was using Scrum, but its practices weren't “good” • More than 10 people joined Scrum meetings — but interaction only happened between fewer than five people • Two Product Owner roles shared one backlog, and they were not aligned before meeting with developers
8. What We Did • Shared observations with the manager as a sounding board — he split the group into two smaller teams (already part of his plan); meetings became more engaging and effective • Suggested the two Product Owners align before meeting with the team, so the team heard one consistent direction • At the project's start, suggested hiring a Scrum Master to address the “not-so-good” practices — one was hired, and went on to facilitate further improvements Source: thesystemsthinker.com
9. Lesson Learned When doing Scrum, learn good practices from other established Scrum teams in the organization, or hire an experienced Scrum Master. This tends to show up as an organization grows more teams — not every new team has the same exposure to the “good” practices that more established Scrum teams have already built up.
10. Project 2 (2025): A Trust Issue in One Department An employee engagement survey pointed to a trust issue in one department, not long after a new manager was assigned there. From the team members' perspective: From the manager's perspective: • Too many requests, without clear prioritization • Wanted requests completed faster, hence the reminders • Reminders before deadlines felt patronizing — as if they'd forget or not follow through • Wanted the team to become self-managed — but felt performance didn't yet meet the bar needed for that • Ideas shared for solving department issues weren't adopted
11. A Vicious Cycle (悪循環) Reminders and control erode trust → the team disengages → performance dips → more control follows
12. What We Tried • Used a causal loop diagram to visualize which behaviors increase or decrease trust • Held weekly sessions with the manager, suggesting: start with a smaller scope and looser boundaries; reduce or prioritize requests • Relayed team members' expectations back to the manager, alongside our own suggestions
13. What Happened • The manager didn't change her approach — she believed the suggestions wouldn't work • The department's KPI was already good, so there was little felt pressure to change • Her supervisor considered adding a trust-related KPI, but decided against it, believing it wouldn't create lasting change
14. Lesson Learned If we rely on teamwork, the leader must give the team space. • The manager had low survival anxiety (good KPI, no felt urgency) and high learning anxiety (unsure how to nurture a self-managing team) • In hindsight: we should have worked with her supervisor to increase survival anxiety appropriately (e.g., a trust-related KPI) while decreasing learning anxiety (step-by-step coaching)
15. Project 3 (2026): Merging onto a Single Visual Board for Two Teams • After a reorganization, one department split into two — the same restructuring shown earlier on the timeline • Handoffs were unclear, and neither side knew what the other was currently working on • As more members joined the two departments, the problem got more serious • We aligned the two managers on a shared daily co-working time — announced by the managers themselves, and adopted quickly • We introduced a single visual board and a matching workflow; a manager assigned a proactive member to build it
16. Lesson Learned Without management support, change doesn't stick. It's still in progress — but the managers and members already think the board is improving how they work together.
17. What Three Years Taught Us When initiating change, we can always think in terms of three levels: individual, team, and organization. Across all three, the deciding factor was never the quality of our diagnosis or intervention — it was whether the person with authority at that level visibly owned the change.
18. Takeaways for Your Own Organization Questions to ask before running a similar assessment How much resource are you willing to invest? An assessment like this isn't just a survey — it also requires aligning on the organization's desired state, and running follow-up projects to drive people toward that state. How to tell a stalled project from one that just needs more time If a project relies only on a change in people's mindset to create impact, it has a high chance of stalling. If it combines practices, tools, policies, and support from people in authority, it increases the chance of lasting, positive change.