A Powerful Systems Framework for Team Working
We bring a number of ways of approaching the process and patterns of team development, but one that’s easy to research is Peter Hawkins’ model of systemic team coaching. It offers for most teams and groups a practical and powerful way to see and develop teams as living systems. At its heart is the understanding that teams don’t exist in isolation, they operate in dynamic relationship with their wider stakeholders, environment, and purpose. The model echoes many others as it invites us to look beyond internal dynamics and ask about purpose and achievement: What is this team here to serve? and How well is it doing that?
The framework identifies five key disciplines that teams need to attend to in order to be effective systemically (we love that Peter echoes aspects of the Seven Cs of the Oasis process for effective relationships and we’ve included the link to this below):
1. Commissioning (Context and Contracting) – This is about the why of the team. What is its purpose, and who has commissioned it? Often, teams jump into tasks without fully exploring or aligning on what they’ve been asked to deliver, or how success will be judged by their key stakeholders. Clarity here anchors the rest of the work.
2. Clarifying (Clarification) – Once purpose is clear, the team needs to define its what and how. What are its goals, roles, responsibilities, and ways of working? Without this, even high-trust teams can fall into confusion, duplication, or avoidable friction.
3. Co-creating (Contact and Contracting) – This is the how we relate. It’s about the quality of relationships within the team—the trust, psychological safety, honest dialogue, and collaboration that fuel high performance. A team that cannot co-create well will struggle to deliver, even with clear purpose and roles.
4. Connecting (Challenge, Choosing and Change) – High-performing teams stay connected to their stakeholders: customers, communities, partners, and the wider organisation. Hawkins encourages teams to look outward, build relationships across boundaries, and bring the voice of stakeholders into their day-to-day thinking. This keeps the system alive, relevant, and responsive.
5. Core learning (Re-contracting and Closure) – Lastly, systemic teams make space for learning and evolution. They pause to reflect on what’s working, what’s not, and how they can grow together. Learning isn’t a separate activity—it’s baked into how the team operates.
THE SEVEN STAGE MODEL - An accessible introduction to the Oasis Seven Stage Model for effective working relationships.
Why it Matters
This model brings a wider context perspective to team development. It reminds us that effective teams aren’t just those that work well together—they are those that are fit for purpose in a complex and changing environment. Giving attention to all five aspects helps teams move beyond internal focus and into a more adaptive, outward-facing, and sustainable cadence of performance.
In practice, using this model helps teams diagnose where they’re strong and where they’re stuck. It gives structure to development work and opens up rich, generative conversations about purpose, performance, and possibility.
What do you see differently when you look at you team as a system? What are your tendencies and no go areas? What could be a good next step for you and your team?
Nick Ellerby is a coach and Co-Director at Oasis Human Relations, one of a group of thirty plus practitioners working in partnerships across sectors as coaches, hosts, convenors, speaking partners, facilitators, researchers and changemakers.
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