Stories and Case Studies: Team Building, Training and Development for Workplace Teams
Beyond Basic Team Building
An established team, with members located in three different cities came together for two days to build the skills and work on a development strategy to enable the team to work more cohesively and effectively. A confidential questionnaire prior to the workshop identified strengths, gaps, issues and opportunities for the team. This provided a clear set of objectives for the workshop.
Through facilitated experiential exercises and using the tools and processes introduced by Excellerate, the team continued with their self-assessment, drilling down to clearly define the obstacles and understand the causes behind the team’s performance challenges. They identified actions to improve existing systems and introduce new processes. The workshop gave team members an objective and methodical way to surface and deal with issues constructively – relational (interpersonal) and rational (task). They produced a workable team plan, which had the full commitment of all members. And while they agreed it had been hard work, they had fun too; by focusing on their common task they had also come together as a team.
New Business. New Team. Getting it Right.
A new business, a new team and a leader determined to avoid the problems associated with a start up.
Working closely with the owner Excellerate designed an intensive workshop to bring together team members who at that point had met each other only once. Working the insights and results of the Strength Deployment Inventory, and by guiding the team through a structured process, team members developed a deeper and more accurate understanding of each other, including individual strengths, potential areas for conflict and how best to mange both. Then, through a series of practical exercises they worked through the challenges they were about to face as they launched the business into a highly competitive market. They developed a shared vision, designed agreements and the intial systems required to manage the team successfully through the start up phase. The team were unanimous in their agreement; it had been “a fantastic way to meet each other”. The business opened with great success, and has gone from strength to strength.
The Value of Investing in Team Maintenance
Even effective teams need to step back and invest in basic team maintenance to sustain their performance and avoid the risks of plateauing. Excellerate designed a programme for a highly effective team that comprised several sub groups, each with different disciplines and areas of responsibility.
Working closely with the Manager, Excellerate introduced a step-by-step process which involved team members in a critical review of the team’s overall performance, the dynamics, interactions between the sub groups and the robustness of current team systems. This identified areas where collaboration and communication could be strengthened, and barriers reduced to improve service delivery. The process facilitated relationship building between the sub groups, an improved understanding of respective roles and functions, which generated renewed enthusiasm and more importantly commitment to the teams continued success.
Taking Responsibility for Team Performance
Several years ago the manager of a group of highly skilled professionals, who tended to work very independently, recognised he needed to pull the team together to work more collaboratively while encouraging each to take more responsibility for the team's performance. The resulting team workshop put in place the foundations and produced the team tools that are still being used today, to successfully bring on board new members and manage an even larger and more diverse team.
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