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Team Development

Most people have been part of a team that spends too much time arguing, discussing options without making decisions or where team members have poor interpersonal relationships etc. The result is that the team is not as productive as it could be. This is because there are significant differences between a group of people who have been asked to work on something together and a team.

To create a team that is truly effective takes time and effort. "Teambuilding" events are usually fun and memorable, but to be honest they have little lasting impact on a team's performance. As such, we prefer to think of team development as the process of working with teams to develop their performance over a period of time.

 Organisations think about team development for a number of reasons:

  1. to generate some team spirit within the team
  2. to gain clarity and buy-in from team members around the purpose of the team
  3. to improve relationships within the team
  4. to improve specific aspects of team performance such as decision making, collaboration, conflict resolution etc.

Spending time developing teams will:

  • enable the ongoing development of the individual within the team adn the team as a whole
  • add value to the business by enabling the team to achieve better results
  • raise the team’s accountability for implementing ideas and getting things done
  • increase the level of ownership and accountability felt by the team for their results

We design and facilitate team development workshops which are customised to your needs. Our facilitation style is challenging, energetic, interactive and fun (click on the images below for a feel for what we do).

        

    

For us team development is partly about education and awareness, but ultimately about changing behaviour - if your teams continue to do what they always did, they will get what they always got!

A typical programme would be designed to achieve:

  • Alignment - everyone is working towards an agreed set of goals which do not conflict with personal goals
  • Clarity - who contributes what to the team, what are the key issues affecting the team and what do we need to do differently
  • Accountability - each team member does what they say they will and contributes as much as they can to the team
  • Learning - each team member learns something about themselves and their colleagues
  • Action - the team is applying their learning, doing things differently and achieving results

Click on the image below to see what a typical series of workshops could look like. A typical programme will include elements of:

  • diagnosis of the current issues within the team using a combination of surveys, individual discussions and psychometric tools. We are accredited to use the atpi (Aston Team Performance Inventory) which is a powerful tool for assessing team development needs
  • creation of the team’s goals 
  • input around team theory
  • feedback to the team as a whole and to individual team members
  • learning reviews and action planning
  • coaching to help team members implement their personal learning plans
  • evaluation of individual and team performance against the original diagnostics and the team’s desired future state