Positive Team Psychology:
Developing Cohesive,
Trusting Teams
Iain McCormick PhD
Executive Coaching Centre Ltd
Auckland
Positive psychology
1.  Humans have the potential for
‘good’ and want to pursue a
‘good life’ (Linley & Joseph,
2006)
2.  Growth mindset, (Carol Dweck,
2007)
3.  Solutions focused, (David
Cooperrider, 2005)
4.  Strengths based (Tom Rath,
2007)
Positive Teams
1.  Stand up and find someone you do
not know
2.  Talk about the best team you have
ever been in for 5 minutes each
3.  Why was the team so good?
4.  Identify your top two characteristics
Teamwor
Fun
POSITIVE ATMOSPHERE
Mutual trust
Accountability
Clear Goals
DEFINED ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Effective decision making
Commitment to action
Reflection and learning
Shared leadership
Listening
Managed conflict
Seamless relationships
Open and clear communication
Diversit
Positive Team Psychology
A strengths-based approach used to build the
optimal functioning in a team on a broad range
of human functioning - trust, purpose
generation, goal setting, conflict management,
accountability, cohesiveness and so on.
(Apologies to Linley & Joseph, 2004)
What is a High
Performance Team?
High Performance Team
A team is a small number of people with
complementary skills who are committed
to a common purpose, performance goals,
and approach for which they hold
themselves mutually accountable
The Wisdom Of Teams, Katzenbach and Douglas, Harvard Business School Press, 1993.
Team Performance
Programme
•  Eight one-day team development sessions
over two years (once every three months)
•  Eight one-hour executive coaching sessions
over two years (once every three months)
with an ‘open confidentially agreement’
Positive team psychology using
Seligman’s PERMA
Positive emotion (P)!
Appreciation sessions, optimism,
kindness, gratitude
Engagement, interest (E)!
Character strengths, directly address
pressing team issues
Positive relationships (R)!
Build understanding, trust and feedback,
appreciative inquiry
Meaning, purpose (M)!
Accomplishment (A)!
Goals and values sessions
Demonstrate via the High Performance
Team Inventory, review and feedback
Focus for year one
1.  Nature of high performance teams, trust, roles,
appreciation
2.  Character strengths, goals and values, HPT Inventory
findings, decision making, team charter
3.  Optimism, feedback skills, change management,
4.  Appreciative inquiry, facilitation skills
Focus for year two
1.  Personal productivity, effective conflict, gratitude, hot
topics
2.  Death by Meeting, engagement leadership and EQ,
hot topics
3.  Adaptive leadership, holding others accountable,
maintaining team behaviours, hot topics
4.  ACT to deal with pressure, mindfulness, maintaining
team behaviours, hot topics
Examples
Trust
1.  Find someone you do not know
2.  Discuss ‘What is Trust?’
3.  Discuss a high trust team you have been in?
4.  What made it a high trust team?
5.  Talk together for 5 minutes
Results
Your Teams
Work in pairs to discuss some of the teams that you
belong to. How do they rate (Excellent, Good, Average, Poor, Terrible)
in terms of:
1.  Agreed purpose
2.  Defined roles
3.  Mutual trust
4.  Open communications
5.  Diversity
6.  Reflection and learning
Positive Team Psychology:
Developing Cohesive,
Trusting Teams
Iain McCormick PhD
Executive Coaching Centre Ltd
Auckland