Machnamh Development Pathways
Team Development Pathway
Eight ways of working describe how teams in regulated care develop — from the structured clarity of transactional working through relational and resilience-centred practice to the vision-shaping reach of transformational team working.
Stages (8)
Team Pathway — Stage 1 of 8
Transactional ways of working
Clear roles, coordinated tasks, individual accountability
The team operates through clear roles, defined tasks and managed exchanges. Coordination happens through supervision and individual accountability rather than shared purpose.
Key characteristics
- Clearly defined roles and individual responsibilities
- Coordination through supervision and reporting lines
- Establishing performance expectations and clarity
- Compliance with rules and procedures as the primary expectation
- Team collaboration beyond task handover
- Emotional Labour
Mode characteristics
Characteristics
Regulations, standards, SOPs, policies, procedures, documentation and compliance
Main focus
Performance and compliance
Strengths
Clear, structured, accountable
Limits
Can be rigid and reactive
Situational use
Situational fit
Directing / Mentoring / Supervision
Best used when
Clear rules, low readiness, close supervision needed
Explored further in
- Key policy, procedures and process and their legal and standard framework for social care (Policy and process focus foundations teams – Trust In Care; Dignity at Work; Protected Disclosure; Open Disclosure and Equality)
- The process fairness principles: Natural Justice principles, Balance of Probability, Identifying/Preventing Cognitive Bias and Process Bias; Weight and Sufficiency; Proportionality, Ladder of Assumption, Ladder of Inference
- Critical thinking and analysis processes and techniques
- See the equivalent leadership stage: Transactional Leadership →
Team Pathway — Stage 2 of 8
Learning ways of working
Reflecting, adapting, and improving together
The team actively reflects on its own practice, treats errors and audits as shared learning opportunities, and builds collective knowledge over time.
Key characteristics
- Regular team reflection and after-action review
- Psychological safety to raise concerns without blame
- Shared situational awareness and systems thinking
- Peer learning and knowledge-sharing routines
- The team improves its own practice, not just individual practice
Mode characteristics
Characteristics
Reflection, feedback, development
Main focus
Continuous improvement
Strengths
Builds adaptability and growth
Limits
May be slower in urgent situations
Situational use
Situational fit
Delegating / Supporting / Mentoring & Reflection
Best used when
Building skill, confidence, and capability over time
Explored further in
- Performance problem solving in supervision conversations
- Preventing problems, not punishment
- Learning person centred organisation assessment, findings to action
- Psychological safety and team development
- Problem solving as a teams process and techniques
- See the equivalent leadership stage: Learning Organisation →
Team Pathway — Stage 3 of 8
Authentic ways of working
Shared values and genuine trust
The team operates with shared, explicit values and relational transparency. Members bring their genuine selves to the work, and trust is built through consistency rather than position.
Key characteristics
- Shared, explicit team values
- Openness to differing views within the team
- Trust built through consistency between stated values and behaviour
- Reduced need for hierarchy to resolve everyday issues
- Stronger peer accountability
- Higher team cohesion and felt safety in disclosure
Mode characteristics
Characteristics
Self-aware, honest, transparent
Main focus
Trust and integrity
Strengths
Builds credibility and safety
Limits
Can become self-focused
Situational use
Situational fit
All styles
Best used when
Consistency, trust, and values matter at every stage
Explored further in
- Self-Awareness: Understanding your strengths, identifying potential blind spots, values, next steps development actions and your impact on others
- Balanced processing: Objectively weighing data — including views that challenge your own — before deciding, assessing and acting with clear empathy
- Relational Transparency: Presenting your authentic self; sharing information, creating space for relationship building and expressing true thoughts openly in a mindful, considered way
- Internalised integrity perspective: Self-regulation guided by internal values, not external pressure
- See the equivalent leadership stage: Authentic Leadership →
Team Pathway — Stage 4 of 8
Relational ways of working
Trust, connection and collaborative team working
Team functioning built on authentic relationships, trust, and the active inclusion of each member in shared decision-making. Teams in this mode understand that sustained performance depends as much on the quality of human connections as on individual competence or compliance.
Key characteristics
- Trust as the foundation of all team working relationships
- Strong emotional intelligence and empathetic communication across the team
- Open, genuinely two-way communication where every voice is heard
- Active inclusion of all members in problem-solving and decision-making
- Attention to team morale, belonging and psychological safety
- Peer coaching and peer support as primary team working tools
- Collaborative ownership of decisions and shared accountability for outcomes
Mode characteristics
Characteristics
Trust, communication, inclusion
Main focus
Team connection and collaboration
Strengths
Improves engagement and morale
Limits
Can avoid tough decisions
Situational use
Situational fit
Participating / Empowering / Coaching
Best used when
Collaboration, trust, and shared ownership are the priority
Explored further in
- Remembering and reviewing your emotional intelligence assets (Roche Martin ECR framework)
- Reflecting: On your signature emotional assets, identifying assets for attention and further development
- Reimagining: Identifying where your emotional intelligence assets can be enhanced with action, planning and taking action with a staged 30-to-60-to-90-day action plan
- Difficult conversations: Leading and supervising with enhanced emotional intelligence
- See the equivalent leadership stage: Relational Leadership →
Team Pathway — Stage 5 of 8
Resilience ways of working
Supporting one another through pressure
The team builds collective capacity to absorb pressure, support one another through difficulty, and recover from setbacks without relying solely on individual coping.
Key characteristics
- Mutual support and active peer check-ins
- Shared strategies for managing workload and compassion fatigue
- Restorative, not punitive, team response to error
- Team-level early warning signs for burnout risk
- Stable performance maintained under sustained pressure
- Wellbeing treated as a team responsibility, not just an individual one
Mode characteristics
Characteristics
Persistence, flexibility, recovery
Main focus
Coping with pressure
Strengths
Supports stability in change
Limits
May overlook root causes
Situational use
Situational fit
All styles
Best used when
Pressure, change, setbacks, or uncertainty
Explored further in
- Team-Based Resilience Roll Out workshop
- See the equivalent leadership stage: Resilience-Centred Leadership →
Team Pathway — Stage 6 of 8
Mindful ways of working
Aware of its own dynamics and patterns
The team develops shared awareness of its own dynamics — noticing tension, reactivity and unspoken patterns, and choosing a deliberate collective response.
Key characteristics
- Shared awareness of team mood and dynamics
- Structured pause-and-reflect practices in team routines
- Reduced reactive conflict; more considered team responses
- Attentive listening as a team norm, not just an individual skill
- A calmer collective response to pressure and change
- Improved quality of team decision-making under demand
Mode characteristics
Characteristics
Present, calm, intentional
Main focus
Awareness and judgement
Strengths
Reduces reactivity
Limits
Can seem slow
Situational use
Situational fit
All styles
Best used when
The team needs shared awareness and calm collective judgement
Explored further in
- Problem-Solving in Teams
- Mindful being: Breathwork practice; attentional techniques for noticing triggers and reactive patterns in self and others, supervising for mindful action of team and its members, rehearsed alternative to reactive patterns, written 90-day practice plan
- Personal ethics and effectiveness in working and living
- See the equivalent leadership stage: Mindful Leadership →
Team Pathway — Stage 7 of 8
Conscious ways of working
Understanding group dynamics and shared purpose
The team integrates a deeper understanding of group dynamics, unconscious patterns and collective purpose — supporting one another's growth as well as task delivery.
Key characteristics
- Awareness of team-level patterns, roles and 'shadow' dynamics
- Team development understood as part of members' own growth
- Capacity to hold disagreement and complexity without splitting
- A shared sense of purpose beyond the immediate task
- High differentiation — individuality respected within team cohesion
- Group maturity that supports difficult conversations without rupture
Mode characteristics
Characteristics
Self-aware, ethical, impact-focused
Main focus
Values and responsibility
Strengths
Supports ethical decisions
Limits
Can feel abstract
Situational use
Situational fit
All styles
Best used when
Ethical impact and wider system effects are the priority
Explored further in
- Working from within
- Working from within 1: Notice it; name it; co-regulation and team self-care; conscious decision making and action; building compassion – leader self-care and leader resilience under pressure
- Working from within 2: Conscious critical thinking; problem solving
- See the equivalent leadership stage: Conscious Leadership →
Team Pathway — Stage 8 of 8
Transformational ways of working
Co-creating vision and raising each other up
The team becomes a source of shared vision and collective ambition — co-creating direction, lifting one another's performance, and shaping the wider organisational culture.
Key characteristics
- Co-created vision and shared strategic narrative
- Mutual inspiration — members raise each other's ambition
- Individualised support for each member's development within the team
- Constructive challenge of assumptions and ways of working
- Team culture that influences the wider organisation
- Builds future team leaders, not just team output
Mode characteristics
Characteristics
Vision, motivation, change
Main focus
Inspiring growth and commitment
Strengths
Raises energy and ambition
Limits
Can be vision-heavy
Situational use
Situational fit
Delegating / Supporting / Mentoring & Coaching
Best used when
The team can engage with vision, growth, and change
Explored further in
- Co-creating transformation
- See the equivalent leadership stage: Transformational Leadership →
