incomplete notes

Mapping Team Relations

A somatic tool for auditing and managing team dynamics

tetrahedral topologies | shared values quest | relonic mapping

This tool springs from the work of Bert Hellinger, a German Pyscho-therapist who developed methods known as 'Systemic Constellations' in the 1980's.
Practitioners of psychotherapy treating personal and family issues initially used his methods.
The methods of Constellations and ‘Hidden Orders’ have since been developed to encompass organisational and wider social systems (Hemming, The Nowhere Foundation ).
The method was formally introduced to the m21 research team by Terry Ingham in September 2007 who worked as an external consultant on team dynamics and co-creative methods whilst we were interrogating ways to adopt systemic constellations as a tool within metadesigning.
The term ‘’Positional Value’’ was coined by Dinur, B. 2007 for a PhD thesis and is based on ideas from Capra, 1997, Næss, A. 1989, Waldrop, 1992 and Lovelock, 1979. It was introduced to the m21 research in 2007.

Constellations offers a method to discern patterns and characteristics of a system and diagnose where an imbalance or blockage may reside.
It is a phenomenological approach that can help reveal hidden dynamic and interdependent relationships that exist in a system, between people including their environment.
Furthermore it helps understand the relational and positional values that each participant provides to the organisation.
It is a tool that enables change through acknowledging historical events as well reflecting the present context.
It aims to create more effective structuring and organisation of social relationships.

All human systems are influenced by principles or 'systemic forces', in systemic constellations these are referred to as 'Orders', which are: time, belonging, space and exchange. (Horn and Brick, 2005, Nowhere Foundation, 2007)
In collaborative practices it happens that some team members feel underestimated or that their contribution is being overlooked stirring tensions and emotions that hinder the group to work well as a whole.
A successful outcome is that the team/ organisation re-aligns itself and each team member understands its position and value in relation to the team and the system they operate in.

This process can reveal tensions and emotions and must therefore be guided by a facilitator and neutral person, preferably an experienced constellator.
The 'orders' for each and every system is context dependant.
It usually starts with aligning people in a circle from 12 o’clock where either the eldest, the founder, the one with longest seniority etc. is positioned. Then it goes chronologically backwards to the youngest or newest arrival.
The choice of 'orders' to be ranked can be chosen by a given team, within its particular context at a given time.

What pictures / instances / case studies would help the reader? (specific and detailed – give context for use)