Anette Dielmann spent a week in our South African office in September, leading both a team development workshop as well as a workshop in Transactional Analysis in Cape Town. Find out more about her team development with a Non-Profit organisation and about her thoughts on the needs regarding Organisational and Human Resource Development in South Africa.  

In September 2009 I had the opportunity to work with a team at a Non-Profit Organisation in Cape Town. The organisation offers programmes in townships to equip people for modern life in South Africa. Programmes offered by the organisation range from Sports and Recreation , Arts and Music, Health and Safety, Reading and Greening Programmes.

In the past years the diverse activities of the organisation were largely financed by regular donations. However due to the overall economic situation, the organisation now has to actively raise more funds. These funds are available, but require effective management of processes within the organisation, and proof of the utilisation of the funds.

This means that the employees of the organisation – who directly work with the children and teens in townships – have to document their activities and proof of successes. This is a new concept for most of them, and is not a particularly attractive task, as their core competency and ‘heart’ of their work lies in the direct work with the children. This leads to tensions with the team leaders and the General Manager, as they have to document and justify the activities for the donors. Management of the organisation realised that the time of pleas is over and decided to enter a team development process.

Layo Seriki from CIELARKO, a cooperation partner of CONTRACT South Africa, and I were invited to work with the team (staff coordinators) for one day, and to initiate the Kick-Off for new processes.

In our briefing with the team leader and HR manager we found out that the team is heterogeneous – it consists of people who have been with the organisation for very long or only a very short time, of Blacks and Colours, of men and women. We also found out that there were tensions between the team members.

Our goal was to create a feeling of curiosity and of ‘YES LET’S GO’ for the new ways of doing things within the team. We had two hypotheses: that the team members had possibly not yet fully realised the meaning of the financial change for the organisation, and that the different groups within the organisation did not feel adequately recognised and seen for their contribution to the organisation. This was the basis for the development of our agenda.

Looking back, we realise that it was good to let the team members be active, thus to

• have an introduction round in which they ‘speculated’ about each others’ personal resources and challenges at the organisation;
• to have them recognise the force fields of the organisation; and to
• define and formulate their personal contribution to change.

The workshop was a particularly intensive examination of my own fears. I could physically feel the team’s enthusiasm for their work as well as the existing tensions within the groups, connected with the urgency from management to introduce the change within the organisation.

This made me realise once again that truly far-reaching change can only be realised with respect for the experiences as well as the frame of reference of all people involved. For us as consultants this means to move between the poles of the powerful and the members of an organisation. In particular, this means

• to create transparency regarding the background and interests, as well as to pay attention to ‘what is important right now’, and
• to constantly have an eye on creating respect and acknowledgement between all parties involved, in all communication and points of contact.

I left Cape Town feeling that what we saw and did in the organisation represented what is needed in many organisations in South Africa – concepts of integration, and an attitude of acknowledgement, acknowledgement, acknowledgement. Realising that old behaviours might have seemed ‘the best solution’ at the time, but that we now need to consciously re-learn our behaviour patterns. Specifically, this can mean to ask for ‘favourite behaviours’, and to then ask for the required change. And regarding the change: to focus on how the change can be handled best, but to also realise that there is no real change without instability and irritation.

And what can consultants and facilitators learn from this? To make sure to really be in contact, in touch with people, and to gain knowledge about what was. Have people tell stories, have them paint, question, dance, sing!

Thanks to the organisation and to South Africa for this wonderful experience!

Anette Dielmann