Team Development
What do we need to achieve?
Sometimes teams benefit from having an external facilitator plan a process and facilitate a team meeting or workshop; as this can often lead to greater progress and commitment to the output.
The process always starts with agreeing the objectives for the team workshop. Then the planning gets underway and an outline for the workshop is developed. It may contain a mixture of large team, smaller group, and individual work.
Having an external facilitator enables all members of the team to contribute and commit to the output. The facilitator manages the process and flow of the day in order that the group achieve their objectives, and the leader can work with the team and be fully present rather than distracted by the process of the day. It can be hard work but satisfying to make progress and have a clear agenda for moving forward.
How do we work together?
Some teams work really well together. They have a clear view of what they are trying to achieve and the team works so smoothly together that it becomes greater than the sum of the parts. Other teams have all the components to be truly successful but aren’t achieving their potential.
MBTI is a tool to help teams work better together. The process can be adapted to suit individual circumstances and budgets, but generally each team member completes an MBTI questionnaire and has an individual feedback session. This gives them an understanding of the framework and their own profile, behaviours and potential challenges.
At a subsequent team event the team’s understanding of the framework is deepened, the team strengths, issues and potential blind areas are explored. This is then linked back into what the team is trying to achieve and what must be accomplished together.
The benefits of using this approach are:
- Each team member gets some individual development and insight.
- The team develops a vocabulary for discussing ongoing and future issues constructively.
- Insight into each other’s preferences helps individuals understand how to adapt their behaviour to get the best out of other members of the team.
- The way the team works together – its strengths and potential blind spots are identified.
- The event is linked back into the team’s objectives and a list of priority actions are identified
If you have a team who has the potential to either achieve more or work better together then please get in touch. The process outlined above can be adapted and tailored to suit your requirements.