Team Inquiry: Focus

A structured space for collective reflection and shared understanding

Exploring the questions that shape how your team works

Teams operate through relationships, expectations, responsibilities and established ways of working. These often develop over time, sometimes without being openly examined. Questions about decision-making, communication, leadership or shared responsibility may affect how a team works, even when members understand these questions differently. Team Inquiry: Focus provides a structured opportunity for a team to examine a significant shared question over three months. Drawing upon Paulo Freire's philosophy and pedagogy, we approach team development through dialogue, critical inquiry and collective learning. Rather than beginning with predetermined solutions or a standard team-development model, we work with the experiences, questions and organisational circumstances of those involved. The purpose is to develop shared understanding, critically examine the conditions influencing the team's practice and explore possibilities for action.

Organizations

Complete the enquiry form and we will get in touch with you.

Email Signup

Enter your email address below to be added to the notification list

Who is this package for?

Team Inquiry: Focus may be appropriate for:

Leadership teams examining authority and decision-making.
Management groups exploring shared responsibilities.
Professional teams seeking to understand recurring tensions or difficulties.
Teams navigating an identifiable organisational change.
Groups questioning established ways of communicating or working together.
Teams wishing to explore participation, relationships or collective responsibility.

The package is designed for a defined team or group with a shared organisational or professional context. It is normally suitable for four to eight participants, although other arrangements may be discussed. Sessions are online, although in person sessions can be arranged for UK-based teams.

What does team inquiry involve?

The first session establishes the purpose, boundaries and working arrangements for the inquiry. Together, participants explore the questions they wish to examine, consider the different experiences and perspectives within the team, and agree how the facilitated discussions will proceed. Subsequent sessions provide opportunities to investigate the chosen issues more deeply. This may involve examining organisational expectations, informal practices, relationships, differences in authority and the assumptions influencing how the team operates. Our role is to facilitate dialogue and inquiry rather than to impose a diagnosis or predetermined set of solutions. Where appropriate, the team may identify possibilities for changing aspects of its practice and consider what can be learned from these. The final session provides an opportunity to review the inquiry, consider what has been learned collectively and discuss possible next steps.

What's included?

A three-month facilitated team inquiry.
Six facilitated sessions of 2 hours, normally held twice monthly.
An initial team inquiry and contracting session.
Facilitated exploration of agreed shared questions.
Attention to team relationships, authority and organisational context.
Opportunities to consider implications for collective practice.
A concluding collective learning review.

Areas for inquiry

The particular focus will be agreed with the team. Possible areas include: Authority, leadership and decision-making. Shared responsibility and accountability. Communication and organisational silence. Relationships between managers and team members. Participation and influence within the team. Recurring tensions or contradictions in working practices. Significant organisational changes affecting the team's responsibilities or relationships. These are examples rather than a prescribed programme.

A participatory approach to team development

Conventional team-development activities sometimes concentrate on improving interpersonal relationships or building agreement without examining the organisational conditions in which a team operates. Our approach recognises that teams are shaped by institutional structures, unequal authority, competing responsibilities and wider organisational expectations. Meaningful inquiry therefore involves more than encouraging participants to communicate more effectively. It requires opportunities to question established assumptions, recognise differences in perspective and consider how the team might act upon its developing understanding.

Begin a conversation

If your team has a significant shared question that would benefit from facilitated dialogue and critical inquiry, we welcome a discussion about its circumstances and whether this programme would be appropriate.

Tell us about your goals. We will discuss the right approach with you before agreeing a package and arranging payment.

For teams seeking a longer period of collective learning and development: