Team Effectiveness 

A team is a group of people who are organised to work together interdependently and cooperatively to meet the needs of their customers and fulfill their organisation’s purpose.

Team Effectiveness describes a planning process which, through the exploration of mutual expectations, is aimed at assisting a functional team to perform optimally by defining their vision/strategy, short and long term goals, critical success factors, roles and responsibilities. It also aims to enhance relationships by creating an improved understanding of working and communication styles and roles, thus building trust, team cohesion and congruency. Analysing individual and team strengths and weaknesses assists in identifying role duplication or gaps, and provides focus and direction.

Our expertise relies on 20 years’ experience, solid processes and a robust methodology which yield consistently beneficial results. As with all Connemara offerings, our approach to Team Effectiveness is custom designed to integrate with other OD initiatives, takes cognisance of the broader business context and values, and ensures strategic alignment.

Broadly, our approach is highly interactive, experiential and may include:

• A pre-work preparation phase, catalysing a process of self-awareness and reflection regarding the self and team; and
• A two-day Team Effectiveness process, often including an individual and group personality profiling assessment through Insights.

The process agenda may include:

• Assessing the organisational and/or team vision in order to define, refresh or review;
• Reviewing the team strategy;
• Defining critical success behaviours;
• Reassessing roles and responsibilities (individual and sub-team);
• Defining and agreeing short and long term objectives;
• Exploring/defining mutual expectations;
• Profile sharing and peer coaching using personality profiles to gain an improved understanding of individual/team strengths and weaknesses, and individual value brought to the team; and
• Creating value-adding, measurable individual and team action plans.

Following the workshop, all agreement and discussion is captured and sent to delegates as a working document. A follow up session is strongly recommended after six weeks to maintain momentum and provide support to the team. In addition, ongoing team coaching may be used as a parallel process for further reinforcement and sustained engagement.

The Insights Approach to Team Effectiveness

In the life cycle of any team, significant events occur which can have a dramatic impact on team motivation and performance. We call these "Defining Moments". These moments can have a positive or negative effect on the team. However, our experience suggests that, left unchecked, a decline in effectiveness is most likely to occur. For any team to reach its full potential, it must prepare for and respond to these "Defining Moments".

Examples of Defining Moments for a team include:

• A merger or takeover
• A change of leader
• Personality clashes and/or power struggles
• Loss of a major customer
• Team does not meet its targets
• Team completes a major project

The Insights Team Effectiveness model provides a uniques lens through which to explore the Defining Moments for your team. This model which encompasses the eight elements of an effective team enables us to highlight the most pressing and important issues for the team's development and provides a practical and accessible framework to address them.

This approach is underpinned by Insights Discovery and Insights Navigator, which explores the team's preferences and capabilities.

At Insights we improve team effectiveness in the areas of People, Purpose and Performance. Because we know that every team is unique, we consult with you to develop and deliver fully customised solutions to meet the specific needs of each team in your organisation.