This workshop will focus on the Internal Permissions Framework (IPF) which includes examining both the internal and external permissions and associated processes that determine the level of commitment and engagement that individuals have with a team.

The IPF resulted from the efforts of the INSciTS Education and Training Special Interest Group (SIG) which started up the Broadening Competencies Working Group (WG). From this WG, rich discussions ensued around using team failures as a backdrop to better understand Team Science Competencies. Out of those discussions, a small team immersed itself in the literature around failures and mapped those failures to team competencies. Through this effort, we realized that a lack of team competencies could not completely explain team failures. That is, a team where members demonstrate strong competencies may still fail. This prompted us to examine the question, “What else is needed?” and the Internal Permissions Framework (IPF) emerged.

We first introduced the Internal Permissions Framework to the community in a lightning talk entitled “Exploring Entanglements between Team Competencies and Team Failures” at the 2022 INSciTS Conference.

The presenters have used the IPF to analyze their personal experiences of team failures and successes. We observed that IPF mapping and analysis uncovered team challenges and issues that were previously invisible. As a result, potential interventions and levers for change to address these challenges and issues emerged.

We believe that the Internal Permissions Framework (IPF) could be a powerful tool to improve teams. This workshop will enable participants to experience the IPF as a tool to better understand the non-obvious issues and nuances of teams - especially the level of commitment and engagement that may be present or lacking. The IPF also helps individuals understand their own level of commitment and engagement, which in turn can empower them to improve their role and experience with a team, including when it is time to leave a team. We think this information can be used to revitalize and strengthen teams.

The IPF needs more evidence-based efforts to better understand how to develop and use the tool to best support and foster team science. Individuals who are interested in this endeavor are also encouraged to participate in this workshop.

Importance/Relevance/Value/Interest to Broader TS Community:

Teams fail frequently, with a predictable and astonishing degree of regularity. The development of team science competency frameworks, assessment tools, and trainings has been part of the effort to address team failures by building capacity in these key areas. We agree wholeheartedly with the team competencies training approach, yet have found that the presence of competencies for teamwork, though necessary, does not sufficiently explain the landscape of highly effective teams. The Internal Permissions Framework emerged to fill that gap. We have been surprised and inspired by the way the IPF has transformed our own personal narratives of team failures and successes.

We want to know if engagement with the IPF will transform others who dedicate their professional lives to understanding teams and team successes and failures. We believe that a workshop at the INSciTS conference is the right place for us to invite the community to explore this question with us.

Should the IPF have a similar transformative power for others as it had for us, the developers, we believe it could add substantially to the body of knowledge about team science, which is the objective of INSciTS. Further, supporting teams on the path to success and empowering them to navigate pitfalls that might lead to failure is vital for all teams, but especially those working on pressing, global problems.

We are also clear that funding agencies rely on, and continue to promote, team science as a means to tackle humanity’s most challenging problems. We are excited to bring the Internal Permissions Framework to the InSciTS community in this hands-on learning opportunity, as we believe it holds great promise for identifying significant ways to create effective teams that can meet the missions and visions of these funding agencies.

Appeal to Audience (Content + Format):

Workshop participants will have the opportunity to engage with the Internal Permissions Framework through immersive, hand-on experiences and small group discussions. Participants will learn how to analyze pivot points in a team’s journey to see where critical internal/external permissions and processes are in action and identify possible interventions and levers for change to help support their teams. As a result of engaging with the IPF, participants will be able to apply this model in their workplace to create better teams and team member experiences – including enhancing their own personal experience on teams.

Teams need trust, commitment, and resilience in the face of challenges in order to be effective. We believe that team members giving themselves permission to be ‘all in’ or ‘fully permissioned’ to participate in their teams is essential to building that trust, dedication and energy to persevere. The Internal Permissions Framework is a resource for assessing team members’ ‘buy-in’ or internal permissioning as well as for revealing the external permissions and processes that together have the potential to empower radical change and get a team to: I’m all in!