Motivational Maps as a Relationship Accelerator Series: Navigating Tensions in Teamwork - Part I

For an introduction to Motivational Maps, click here to read the first article of our series.

Maps, a tool to navigate through tensions in teamwork

How tensions can lead to distress and demotivation

Anyone who has experienced strife with a subordinate, a colleague or their leader would agree it can cause them significant stress. The feelings may vary from silent irritation at someone’s else way of doing things to anger and disdain. Regardless, the strain will be felt not only by those involved but all members of the work team. It may even affect those in contact with the team, including the clients they are serving. 

The people in leadership/management roles don’t have the option to look away. The energy, time, and attention needed to address the discord may feel overwhelming amid the many other demands of the supervisory role. However, if not addressed, the risk is that the situation will escalate, and the stress will turn to distress. 

“Another critical impact on organizations (in distress*) is the level of employee engagement. Engagement refers to employees’ motivation and commitment to an organisation. The impact of distress on an employee’s engagement can be severe.”

*Source: Organizational Distress, Leadership and Communications, Hy Pomerance, IJCO, link to the PDF at the end of the article

Conflicts can become toxic and affect the emotional well-being of everyone in the team and their satisfaction with their work which in turn lessens their motivation. From there, one can predict the impact on organizational productivity.  

People who loathe disharmony and don’t feel they have the tools to deal with the situation may seek employment elsewhere to escape the situation. With the attention given to retention in our current workforce environment, it is another crucial reason to attend to the situation.

Keeping distress at bay in teamwork  

So how do we create a harmonious and respectful work environment where a diverse team of people with differing worldviews, perspectives, and personalities, can express and work out their differences to generate new possibilities and solutions?

This two-part article explains how the Motivational Maps Model can support creating such an environment and keep distress at bay. First, by gaining a deeper understanding of each other, including what we value, what drives us, what triggers and irritates us, etc., we can more quickly know each other and have open conversations on ways to collaborate and complement each other. In addition, learning a common language will facilitate our discussions and enhance the quality of our communication when tensions arise.

Part I will center on the nature of tensions that can arise, specifically between the three clusters of motivations. Part II will look at where these are more likely to emerge in the nine motivators.  

Tension: friend, or foe? 

You may be relieved (or not) to learn that we, in the field of Motivational Maps, view potential tension among team members as part and parcel of teamwork. As we highlighted in the introduction article to our series, diversity in motivational profiles makes for better decisions.

In an episode of the series Annika, the main character, a Detective Inspector in the Scottish Police, 'breaks the fourth wall' (in cinema speak, talking to the audience) delivers a monologue about bridges. In the scene, Annika, in a cab driving over a bridge, tells us that a bridge exists in an ever-ending struggle between tension and compression. Two sides are constantly pulling away from the other, and if the engineers didn't manage the demands of these two opposing sides, the bridge would buckle and collapse completely. Annika muses about not knowing much about physics but remembers thinking that some tension is clearly important, just not too much. 

The same is true of organizations. Tension exists when we welcome a diversity of ideas, talents, and motivations. Tension is not the problem; the problem occurs from how we react to tension when views or ways of 'seeing, being, doing' things differ from ours.

We react to tensions with our in-built neurophysiological defense system, which triggers a “fight or flight’ response in our primal brain. We inadvertently make things worse by stepping in emotionally charged or choosing to do nothing, hoping it will resolve itself or go away. This leads to what is called motivational conflicts rather than personality conflicts.

Once in the ‘fight or flight’ response, our human brain can no longer access its executive functions and emotional control center (prefrontal cortex) to choose a healthier response to the tension mindfully. (For more on the neurophysiology of “the brain closing off once triggered”, we invite you to view the teaching by Tara Back, Ph.D., psychology).

In summary, there is ‘no shame, no blame’ in reacting to tension; we are neurologically wired to survive. The good news is that neuroscience has taught us how to ‘calm the brain’ and mindfully choose a response that will resolve a conflict rather than aggravate it. 

 We reiterate:

Tension is not the problem in a team; the problem arises as we react to it as a threat, with our in-built fight or flight response causing tensions to develop into motivational conflicts. These conflicts, when not addressed, can lead to distress, causing "cracks in and collapse of" a team or an organization, impacting productivity, employee engagement (motivation), and overall performance.

Motivational Clusters and Tensions

The Motivational Maps model refers to a motivational conflict rather than a personality conflict. To explain why these can occur, let us bring you back to a foundational principle we shared in the introduction article in which we presented the three motivation clusters: the Growth Cluster, the Relationship Cluster, and the Achievement Cluster (Figure 1). One of the major causes of tension is that each cluster functions at a different rate of change and speed. More specifically, this relates to the speed at which a decision is made (from fast to slow), the amount of information needed to make decisions (from the bottom line to lots of details), the level of risk tolerance (from high to low), and their openness to change (from open to resistant).

Based on the diagram in Figure 2, one can see how potential tension can occur between those motivated by the needs of the Relationship Cluster (slower) and those in the Growth Cluster (faster). As the former seeks security and predictability, it does so by being detail-conscious, vigilant, and careful, and it ultimately requires more time. It's also more focused on efficiency. The latter, Growth, is called to big-picture thinking, innovation, and autonomy, and being more effectiveness driven, moves faster. Teams often consist of a mix of these energies, giving rise to the potential for the tug-pull between "faster and slower."  

Generally, people who share the same primary clusters (similar rate of change & speed) have less potential for conflict. However, people whose primary cluster is Achievement may face potential tensions as they tend to be more competitive.

A supervisor’s experience

Let's apply the theory to a real-life situation with Sarah, the team supervisor who engaged in a team profile activity using Motivational Maps. At one of our follow-up coaching conversations, she shared her aha moment with a colleague.

Sarah's profile showed us a high need for the Searcher motivator (Growth) and a high Expert motivator (Achievement). Not surprisingly, she gets things done quickly and efficiently. In her call with a colleague from another Division responding to her request to create a product, she started to feel irritated. He asked her numerous questions, wanting lots of details as she thought, "Why does he need to know all this information?". Later, when he presented her with the final product, she was blown over by the quality of the work the person produced. It was even better than what she had envisioned. There it came, her aha moment as she remembered the difference in people's needs for details learned in our work together. Although we didn't know her colleague's profile, we surmised he might have a dominant Relationship Cluster based on how much information he needed and the attention to detail he demonstrated. We surmised his top three motivators might include Defender (details matter, get the right specs, don't want to make mistakes), Friend (don't want to disappoint, will go the extra mile) along with, possibly Expert (produce high quality).

Regardless of not knowing her colleague's Maps profile, what was crucial for Sarah was that she 'got it'; that other people had different 'speeds' and needed more details than she did. She gained this understanding with the Maps framework, using concepts and terminology to integrate it. She felt that this would help her be more patient in these situations, including with members of her team who have higher Defender and Friend energies, both part of the Relationship Cluster.  

Let’s also point out that levels of tension that cause increasing disharmony and distress affect people regardless of their primary cluster. However, employees who score high in the Relationship Cluster would likely be the first affected by the dissenting vibes in the team. Their needs for security, stability, a sense of belonging, and collaboration would be compromised, negatively influencing their satisfaction and motivation.  

With this new knowledge and insights, there is more capacity to navigate the choppy waters of human interactions when people are triggered. Employees can build more robust structures to bridge their communication when the going gets tough by co-creating strategies to support a healthy working environment that is self-aware, compassionate, and forgiving. 

There is much more to know about the clusters and potential  tensions, and this article can only offer you a glimpse at the information you can garner from the Motivational Maps. You can learn more should you engage in an individual and team profile development activity with a Certified Motivational Maps practitioner. 

In summary…

Tensions at a healthy level reflect a team’s diversity, which is needed more than ever in our workforce. The tension is a form of stress that can spur the team to meet its goals. The danger is that tension escalates to a level of distress which can produce ‘cracks’ and collapse of a team structure. Under these conditions, a team’s satisfaction and motivation will spiral downward, fuelling an even more significant loss of productivity.

The good news is that we can prevent this dire outcome. Being aware, having a sound understanding of the potential and existing tensions in your teams, and choosing to be proactive will fuel your team's motivation to be engaged and energized.  

In part 2 of this article, to be published in March, we will look at where potential tensions can emerge among the nine (9) motivators.

* To view the article "Organizational Distress, Leadership & Communications", Hy Pomerance, The International Journal of Coaching in Organization (IJCO), copy and paste link in browser: file:///C:/Users/suzdr/Downloads/Organizational%20distress%20Leadership%20and%20communications%20by%20Pomerance%202009%20(2).pdf

Pour accéder à l'article en français

Suzanne Drouin is a Certified Integral Master Coach, Professional Certified Coach, ICF, and Motivational Map Practitioner based in Ottawa. You can reach Suzanne at suzdrouin.coaching@gmail.com

Marie-France Lefort is a certified Motivational Map practitioner, coach and group facilitator based in Hamilton. You can reach Marie-France at mariefrance@mariefrancelefort.com