Team
Development

Q. When is a team not a team?

A. Quite a lot of the time it turns out

We know that most people say they work in a team – but when pressed, they often describe a group of people working together loosely.  They’re often vaguely working towards a broad and slightly ill-defined goal.  (And they email each other a lot.)

We work with intact teams from a number of different perspectives – but our inquiry with them will be based around a single question – ‘What is your unique purpose?’   This can often be a harder question to resolve than it first appears – but is critical in building a good foundation from which to move on with more development.

We generally don’t build rafts or go mountaineering with teams – though wouldn’t necessarily write these off – if they were part of a coherent solution!  Instead, we focus on purpose and the connections within and outside the team.

We have worked with teams in lots of different ways – but our broad approach aligns with a Systemic Team Coaching approach.  This ensures that the team is required to balance it’s focus and attention to the needs of the team members – but also external stakeholders, and those who commission the work of the team.    The leader of the team is a critical player in this work – and our scoping and design process starts with them.   What’s special about this team?  Are they really a team?  Do they need to be a team?  What are they for?

Every team is unique – and so we start with a conversation – get in touch with us if you’d like to talk about your own challenges at the moment.