Our team development initiatives are designed with one clear goal in mind: to enable the team to fulfil it’s potential and therefore maximise the results it delivers. The interventions required to achieve this will obviously vary from team to team and so, in advance of any team event, we interview each person in the team to discuss such areas as:

• The nature of the team: remote / virtual / cultural diversity etc
• The team’s purpose and goals
• The team’s strengths
• Reationships in the team / sense of “team”
• Current performance issues (process or interpersonal related)
• Business challenges
• Objectives and success criteria for any team event

The interviews are conducted very informally but in confidence, so team members can be open and candid about the things that matter to them. The external nature of the facilitation undoubtedly helps this and we gain an insight that an internal person, however trusted, is likely to hear .

We use the team’s feedback to design an event focused on what the team members themselves see as important.  The team’s thoughts from the interviews are fed back on a pooled basis, along with draft objectives and agenda for the team’s comments.  This sets the tone for an open and challenging event.  Commitment and buy-in to the event is enormously enhanced by this process and the results show this.

The event focuses on the team dynamic or process as appropriate; building on strengths and addressing any issues at play.  We observe the approaches of individuals and the team as a whole to tasks and to each other, and we deliver challenging and honest feedback throughout. We do not shy away from giving feedback on what we have observed and we will work through issues with the team to make sure that the event truly makes a difference.

Games, exercises and team activities are sensitively chosen and used only if they have a clear purpose which can be reflected back in the workplace. We also deliver the latest thinking on issues such as leadership, decision making, problem solving, resolving conflict, harnessing diversity; whatever is appropriate for the issues identified.

Our facilitators are qualified in a range of psychometric inventories and tools such as the well known Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and others. We use these to:

• Identify potential team strengths, development areas and potential conflicts
• Build and enhance relationships
• Provide feedback on style, strengths and development areas for individuals