Increasing productivity through team cooperation and problem solving...

Increased competition, customer demands, changing technologies, and economic and market pressures put intense pressure on organizations. Excelling in this environment requires exceptional levels of cooperation and problem solving. Meeting this challenge requires teamwork. Unfortunately, teams that produce exceptional results are rare. When great teamwork does occur, it's more luck rather than the result of conscious decisions.

High Performance Teams Share Five Characteristics: Does your team have all of these characteristics?
  1. Honest two-way communication
  2. Clear purpose and goals
  3. Roles and expectations that are defined
  4. Clear decision-making and communication processes
  5. Constructive relationships

Why is Team Development Important?

Team development provides guidance for teams to analyze what is working, what is not, and to implement changes that achieve desired outcomes.

High-performance teams deliver results and make organizations prosper. However, most teams do not operate at their maximum potential. Difficult people, interpersonal conflict, and frustration arise – limiting desired outcomes. Unfortunately, these and other problems often get worse because most teams do not make an effort to correct what often becomes a downward spiral to low moral or unproductive efforts. Other teams may demonstrate strong performance, but are still not achieving the gains that result from a truly collaborative effort.

The Team Development Process

Every team is different. Thus, no single solution can meet the needs of every team. Engaged Strategies uses a customized approach that begins by working with the client to determine the specific results that the team is looking to achieve. Solutions are then tailored to deliver on those results. The two approaches provided by Engaged Strategies include:

  1. Strategic Team Development
  2. Team Building and Experiential Learning

Strategic Team Development

Strategic Team Development is a comprehensive approach that leads teams to identify and eliminate the barriers to performance and to implement group processes that drive immediate results. The solution is driven by what the team wishes to accomplish and balances this with the time the team has available for its work. We utilize a number of tools, assessment and simulations designed to build trust, cohesiveness and decision-making capabilities.

The Process:

  • Conduct confidential interviews with all relevant members to identify themes and key issues
  • Work with the client to design a realistic plan to address the specific issues identified (the designs often combine team assessments, experiential exercises, training, and facilitated discussions)
  • Schedule and implement the plan
  • Conduct an evaluation to measure results and prepare a follow-up report

Team Building and Experiential Learning

Looking to kick-off a quarterly meeting, enhance cross-functional communication, celebrate a successful project, improve moral, or develop a particular skill? Engaged Strategies helps select the tools, assessments, and learning activities to achieve your desired outcome.

A sample of the tools we utilize:

  • Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
    The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is powerful tool that provides insight into personal differences that can be the source of strength and misunderstanding in communication. In an MBTI team workshop, participants explore individual personality styles and learn how these styles affect the team's ability to manage conflict, deal with change, solve problems, and make decisions. The increased understanding of oneself and others results in greater cooperation, reduced conflict, and an enhanced ability to develop strategies to communicate more effectively.
  • Team Performance Assessments
    Team performance assessments are tools that measure each team member's perception of the characteristics of high-performing teams. It then helps to uncover barriers to a team's success by highlighting the gaps between the actual and ideal performance attributes. A development-planning section then helps the team to develop a clear action plan designed to improve performance.
  • Simulations
    Team members are faced with a real or hypothetical work situation and they must work together to resolve the situation under time pressure. Work related issues emerge as the team demonstrates its natural way of working together. These exercises help teams to better understand group process and develop skills including making consensus decisions, solving problems, managing different viewpoints, and identifying objectives. A professional facilitator helps the team to explore and apply the skills and techniques of high-performing teams.

Testimonial

"Engaged Strategies led the most effective team development workshop we have undertaken. We weren't sure how dramatic the impact was going to be, so we are delighted with the very positive changes it has made to our workplace. As a result of the Myers-Briggs workshop, cooperation has improved significantly between team members because we have a better understanding of how other people communicate and make decisions. My objective to break down barriers and enhance communication was achieved."
- Carolyn Aldigé, President and Founder, Cancer Research Foundation of America