6 min read – like, share, comment!

First published in Polish by Barbara Habrych

Edyta Długoń, in her 2017 article on the Epale blog entitled Turkusowa przyszłość, described the key principles of teal organisations. These are based on "the paradigm of organising teamwork, enabling each employee to feel meaningful, enabling their personal development, and providing space for creativity and innovation" ^[i].  (If you are unfamiliar with teal organisation, I suggest you start by thoroughly reading this text). 

The article is followed by a discussion. Readers ask: Are we ready for teal in Poland? Is it possible to transform a hierarchical organisation into a turquoise one? Does it have to be built 'from scratch'?

The 'turquoise future'  is the present for LLidero, a company that develops and delivers effective e-learning solutions to support adult learning for businesses, governments, and academia.

I talked to Marek Vogt-Goliasz about building a teal organisation and working and teaching in self-managed teams.

^{Photo by Pawel Czerwinski on Unsplash}

Barbara Habrych: You have been with LLidero for 13 years, but it was only four years ago that it was transformed into a teal organisation. What has been the learning curve for you to be able to do this transformation?

Marek Vogt-Goliasz: Learning is indeed in our DNA. Our company is primarily involved in adult education in business, government, NGOs and universities. We learn from our clients by preparing projects for them and getting to know their needs, objectives and working methods. We also learn how to use the tools that enable us to deliver training: video editing, graphics, quiz tools and tests. We learn how to work together and deal with conflict as a team. We teach others, but we must learn to do it well.

Learning to self-manage our work was key in our transition to teal. At a certain point, the scale of our operations had grown to such an extent that it was no longer possible to manage projects in a centralised way. We are working in teams, each with an assigned client pool. The planning has moved to these teams. They organise themselves internally: they identify their strengths and work using the resources they have.

B.H.: Does this mean that when someone comes to work for your company, they already have to know their strengths?

M.V.-G.: Not necessarily. When you start working for us, you get to know what makes each team tick and see where you can fit in best. It also doesn't mean that once you've joined a particular team, you can't try something else in another team that happens to be busier. In this way, people move between teams.

In addition, each employee is responsible for their development and attaining the level of competence necessary for performing their duties. This is why they can choose the course or training they wish to undertake.

B.H.: That sounds very interesting. What are the methods you use to avoid chaos? Not to say anarchy?

M.V.-G.: We started by defining and writing down rules. The development rules state, among other things, that a person's development activities must match their area of work, such as methodology, multimedia or project management, and that new knowledge must be shared.

Decision-making principles were the first to be established.

They include four levels of decision-making:

1. Independent - when a decision affects only the idea's originator.

2. Critical Objection - asking the team if they have any objections.

3. Soliciting opinions—The more the decision affects others, the more I need to involve them and get their views, but as the idea originator, the final decision rests with me.

4. Sharing ideas and opinions - issues affecting everyone must be discussed widely.

Communication is key. I may want something, but does the team need it? Does it fit in with their current activities? I need to discuss this with the team.

However, the responsibility for the decision always lies with the author of the idea.

We also agreed that each team would have a profit and loss account. After a year's work, each staff member will have a share in the company's profit, provided a profit is made.

B.H.: I suppose it's a good way of increasing employees' commitment and sense of responsibility?

M.V.-G.: Absolutely. Transparency is another way of encouraging responsibility: employees can access information about our profitability and financial performance.

A sense of autonomy is just as important. Employees are given freedom over their work, working hours and where they work. They can try out different roles. Measuring working time is not about controlling employees but about the profitability of projects.

The employee determines the organisation of time and the way of working and answers the question: What is my responsibility towards the team and the client?

B.H.: Is working at a teal organisation only for self-confident people with a high level of the skills you mentioned? Communication, negotiation, cooperation, responsibility... Only a few people come out of school or university with a high level of these competencies...

M.V.-G.: Most of our employees are young; they usually join us as interns without experience and stay for good. I've noticed that if you create a certain environment for people—no competition, collaboration, or opportunities for mutual learning—even if you don't have these skills, you very soon absorb this atmosphere and learn the required behaviours in specific situations.

We are looking for a certain mindset or set of beliefs that people have. If someone wants a job with specific, repetitive tasks, where they are told what to do and can only focus on their own goals, then a teal organisation is not for them.

Also, the team will quickly give feedback on what they think of people who don't want to cooperate.

B.H.: Well, yes, feedback is a cornerstone of learning. How else do you support the teaching of new employees?

M.V.-G.: Anyone can take the initiative to run an internal training session or offer to share their best practice. We do this on a case-by-case basis. For example, if someone in a meeting with a client asks too few questions or makes a not-so-good presentation, we immediately discuss the situation and look for better solutions for the future.

B.H.: It also helps build a culture of learning from mistakes.

M.V.-G.:  Yes, this way, employees don't have to hide their mistakes and repeat them. There is an understanding that we will work together to find solutions rather than be judgmental.

In a supportive environment, the ability to be open to and benefit from feedback is a skill that develops very quickly. I see it in people I hired a few years ago. I watch what they learn on the job. We didn't need any external training for this. We know it from each other, project by project.

Employees are not left alone with their problems either. Former managers have become consultants. They are not members of the teams but support them with their advice and experience. They can also take on tasks from the teams according to their skills. I am asked to manage projects, sometimes to write texts, and, if necessary, to develop and implement new solutions, e.g. regarding the digital accessibility of training (according to WCAG) or the localisation of training for other countries. Michał oversees sales coordination, and Przemek is responsible for financial analysis and company strategy monitoring.

B.H.:  What elements of the teal transformation were the most challenging for you?

M.V.-G.: I had to deal with the loss of control. I used to know everything at every level, from client relationships to technical solutions and the status of every project in progress. Many team members are much better at these tasks than I am, and I am pleased about that. The bigger personal responsibility also helps us grow our business.

B.H.:  Has coming to terms with losing control given you new energy?

M.V.-G.:  Yes. I have learned to be more flexible. I have become more of a 'company commando' - a man for particular tasks. I can step in and support the teams wherever new challenges arise.