Programmes are designed to enable management team members to identify the development needs of their team as a team, and also as individuals, in order to support the implementation of positive change. Delegates are encouraged to think and act in a different manner, taking more consideration of others and with a good working understanding of what makes a successful team. By the end of the programme, the team and individual members will have created a new way of thinking and working, both within their executive team and also that of their subordinates, thereby allowing new processes and ways of tackling the problems of modern business issues to be developed. Programmes can be designed with you to address specific topics and to facilitate defined outcomes.
One typical team intervention is a 2 day Business Planing event and an example.
Characteristics of a Top Performing Team
Identify the characteristics of top performing teams. Review the key elements that make these teams great.
Mission Statement
Develop Mission statement. What is the purpose of this team? Agreeing the Mission statement can take half a day to get right. The key is to get full agreement not only on the words, but on the interpretation of them. Can feel like a slow start to the workshop process, but if this is right, all else flows naturally as everything else can be tested back against a common understanding of the Mission.
Critical Success Factors
What are the CSF’s? What are the things that, if not done, will mean that the team has failed? Be ruthless in defining and debating these. If there are more than 5, then they can’t all be critical!!
Process Exercise
Catalogue the actions required to deliver the business plan from the opposite direction – i.e. detail up rather than vision down.
Identify all the activities (sub processes) that the team/business perform now. Each person to write each activity on a Post-It and stick on the wall. Aim to fill the wall!!
Document
Map the sub processes into process groups into the job holder and align to the CSF’s.
Where activities do not align they should be challenged. At this stage it is unlikely that the CSF’s will change, so some unnecessary processes may have to go. You can also find jobs that change/structures to be challenged at this stage.
Team Review
Revisit the values of a top performing team that were developed at the top. How has this team started to develop these values over the last day and a half? What gaps are there to achieving greatness as a team? What lessons can be learned from the process to date?
Close
The most important bit. This is where the plan comes to life for the team as they assume responsibilities and accountabilities
Gap Analysis – are all the CSF’s adequately supported by business processes
Objectives – clear objectives for each manager will drop out of this process. This is also a further sense check that the organisation structure is right.
Targets – each team member to write his/her own business targets around the work done, and present back to the team.
Behaviours – what messages does each team member take form this programme? What do they contract to do differently when back in the office environment?
Products
- Clear vision for the team
- Clear understanding of role within the team – strengths and areas for development
- Defined statements on what success will look like
- Review mechanism for all new initiatives. If it does not support a CSF, then don’t do it!
- Clear goals, objectives and accountabilities for each individual
- Shared sense of purpose for the team
- Shared understanding of each others issues and problems
- [Everything the person “writing” the business plan needs, because it has all been done jointly through the workshop process!!]
Final Product
Agree how this is to be communicated to the rest of the employees – it is not right to spend two days out of the office and not explain what has been done to the people left to run the business whilst you were away!