Team Development

Executive summary

Team Development

Team development can be stated as the action or process of causing a group of people to work together effectively as a team, especially by means of activities and events designed to increase motivation and promote cooperation. For twenty years, Ms. Matteson has been working with teams to do just that—successfully increasing motivation and promoting cooperation and improving performance amongst hundreds of teams. Whether a team is in the forming, storming, norming or performing stages, Ms. Matteson provides tools and techniques to get to the next level. Team building is one of the foundations of organizational development that can be applied to groups such as project teams, leadership teams, intact teams, cross-functional teams, and virtual teams. Team building is one of the most widely used group-development activities in organizations today. Of all organizational activities, one study found team-development to have the strongest effect (versus financial measures) for improving organizational performance. Recent meta-analyses show that team-development activities, including team building and team training, improve both a team’s objective performance and a team’s subjective ratings. Our services for teams vary as much as the teams with which we work. It is our philosophy that there is no off-the-shelf teambuilding program that will fill all the needs of any given team, yet there is a process that we follow that allows us to provide the most effective tools and exercises to address a number of needs. Often, there is disagreement in understanding the priorities for developing a team. Whether a team is in the forming, storming, norming or performing stage, we offer experiences to help them get to the next level. Some team leaders are concerned with such problems as improving workflow, setting priorities or holding more effective meetings. Others see the prime purpose of teambuilding as improving relationships between team members. Whatever the presenting issue is, we work closely with team leaders and team members to diagnose the true issues and coach them and their team to success. We also know that team leaders provide one perspective and team members provide another. We gather as much data as possible both from team leaders and team members prior to conducting a session.

Almost all team building efforts must do the following: 1) Set goals or priorities (including mission and vision), 2) analyze or allocate the way work is performed (role clarification), 3) examine the way a group is working, its processes such as decision making and norms, and 4) examine the relationships among the people doing the work. Our services are for teams in any stage of formation. For example, an existing team gets a new leader or key team member, a new team is being formed, a team is experiencing difficulty in meeting its goals, a team with interpersonal conflicts, a team that just needs a boost, and many other scenarios.

 

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Service Methodology

From the first client interaction to the final close of a project, our service and methodology is tailored, client-focused, responsive, efficient and effective. Often, there is disagreement in understanding the priorities for developing a team. We work closely with team leaders and team members in diagnosing the major issues and coaching them along the way. Our methodology starts with the team leader and expands to the team members to assess, understand, and diagnose the situation before recommending any action. It starts with an in-depth interview of the team leader and other key stakeholders and progresses to interviews of each team member. Once the data is analyzed and the diagnosis is complete, it is shared with the team leader and key stakeholders for discussion and alignment. Key objectives for the team are then formulated and a strategy set to achieve them. Our recommendations can be as lofty as establishing the vision and mission for a team, to tactical in terms of how to run effective team meetings. The content is totally dependent on the assessment and diagnosis. The outcome of our programs are teams that want to be accountable and work together in an atmosphere of trust and accountability toward a common goal. They put aside turf issues and politics and focus on the tasks to be done. This keen focus overcomes barriers, helps to identify opportunities and builds a momentum that leads to three bottom-line benefits: better problem solving, greater productivity and more effective use of resources. Key follow up activities are documented with champions and timelines.

 

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Service Options

Companies can elect whether they just require Appleton Greene for advice and support with the Bronze Client Service, for research and performance analysis with the Silver Client Service, for facilitating departmental workshops with the Gold Client Service, or for complete process planning, development, implementation, management and review, with the Platinum Client Service. Ultimately, there is a service to suit every situation and every budget and clients can elect to either upgrade or downgrade from one service to another as and when required, providing complete flexibility in order to ensure that the right level of support is available over a sustainable period of time, enabling the organization to compensate for any prescriptive or emergent changes relating to: Customer Service; E-business; Finance; Globalization; Human Resources; Information Technology; Legal; Management; Marketing; or Production.

 

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Service Mission

Ms. Matteson is a seasoned team and executive coach that has successfully helped hundreds of teams to improve their performance at the Fortune 200 and beyond. With extensive experience working with senior leadership teams, Suzanne can identify opportunities for team and organizational improvement and design interventions to increase team results. With years of experience working mostly in pharmaceutical and biotech organizations in an ever changing environment, Suzanne brings a valued perspective and a wide array of skills to the table. Through team consulting engagements, coaching, corporate training, culture and change management work, Suzanne helps individuals and teams to accelerate their performance and build organizational capacity, preparing corporations for sustainable success in the rapidly changing 21st century.

 

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Service objectives

The following list represents the Key Service Objectives (KSO) for the Appleton Greene Team Development service.

1. Needs Assessment
   The first step in any team development program is a thorough assessment of the needs of any given team in order to determine whether a team development intervention is the proper service. An in-depth discussion with key stakeholders takes place garnering facts, history, an understanding of objectives, current state and desired state of the situation and outcome goals. If it is determined that a team development process will help the situation, we move on to the next step of data collection. If it is determined that this is not the case, we consult with the client to discuss possible other options and alternatives. Questions might include: describe the situation as you see it today, in your opinion, what are the major factors influencing the situation, what would you like to see different, how has the team achieved or not achieved results, what are your two to three most important outcome goals, what would success look like, what keeps you up at night when you think about this situation? This discussion may take place with one or more individuals.
2. Data Collection
   Assuming that it has been determined that a team intervention is part of an appropriate solution for the situation, further data is collected by conducting interviews of all or a subsection of team members. It is critical to gather different perspectives and frequently the responses vary greatly in the description of the team’s performance, relationships and productivity. We set the stage for a confidential, productive discussion by establishing rapport, describing our service, eliciting information about the person being interviewed, and answering any questions they have before we begin. The same set of questions is asked of each team member and the results are presented anonymously when the team development sessions take place. Questions that may be asked are the following: What is going well with the team? What are the team’s Strengths? What is not going as well with the team? What are the team’s Developmental Areas? What has been the impact of having a new leader/new team member on the team? What are the Barriers and Obstacles that prevent the team from doing the kind of work it should be doing? What is the team not doing that it should be doing? (Where are you missing out on an opportunity to have an impact?) What is the team doing that it should not be doing? (What are you doing that is unnecessary?) What can you accomplish as the XYZ Leadership Team? How would you describe the communication and effectiveness between team members, other involved parties and with the larger organization? How would you describe the level of trust between team members? What suggestions do you have for how the team can function more effectively? What would you like to see team leader do differently? The interviews close with an open ended questions to determine if there is anything else the person would like to share with us in a confidential manner.
3. Analysis & Goals
   Key points from the interviews are transcribed, summarized and presented to the major stakeholders in the team development process in order to determine the focus for the sessions. Each question is carefully analyzed and reported back. A discussion is held about each question and the implications of the responses. This discussion is usually enlightening for the team leader and other key team members and sheds light on the performance of the team. An in-depth discussion then takes place to determine what tools, exercise, discussions and other interventions will be most appropriate based upon the situation, interview results and outcome goals. We agree on two to three outcome goals as focus is critical in these events. Some outcome goals could be: establishing a common purpose or vision for the team, improving communication and trust between team members, ensuring clear roles exist between team members, establishing agreements for how to resolve conflict in the team, identifying the stage of development the team is in and how to get to the next level, ensuring mutual accountability exists on the team, and improving problem solving and decision making. Based upon the outcome goals selected, we determine the topics to be covered and a preliminary agenda to assess the amount of time to devote to the first session. Typically, a day and a half to two days is the time allotted to kick off the team development process for any given team. Six month follow up sessions then occur to test for progress, make any adjustments and cover additional topics or issues.
4. Program Design
   Now that the data has been collected, analyzed and discussed and it has been determined that a team development session(s) should be developed and the outcome goals and timing have been set, process/program design begins. Working with our client(s), we discuss the pros and cons of various exercises to address the outcome goals. Every company culture is different and some exercises may work well in some environments and not in others, e.g., physical, experiential challenges. The definition we use for Real Team, taken from the Wisdom of Teams, is “A number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable.” In all sessions, we discuss this definition and evaluate where the team is in terms of its development. Are they a Real Team, a Potential Team, a Pseudo Team, or a High Performing Team and what do they need to do to get to the next level or maintain their performance. We work hard to tailor our programs so that they will best meet the needs of the individuals, cultures and achieve the desired outcome goals. Very often, a personality assessment will be recommended and again, which type varies with our different clients. Two that are used frequently are the MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Inventory) and DISC. In our experience, the two instruments are similar, yet different. What they both provide is the ability for team members to understand themselves better as well as their fellow teammates and flex their style to better communicate and work with others. Other instruments that can be used are the FIRO-B, or Thomas Kilman Conflict Instrument. A typical design phase consists of thinking through different exercises, instrumentation and discussions to achieve the agreed upon outcome goals. This could include how to integrate a new leader or new team members, clarifying expectations and making agreements for how the team will operate, solving a simulated disaster, understanding different personality styles and/or different conflict styles and how to hold each other mutually accountable for the success of the team.
5. Implementation & Facilitation
   A typical start to a team development process is a 1.5-2.0 day session with all team members present. It is recommended that this session take place off-site in order to minimize distractions from the work place. There are a number of kick-off issues that are covered including objectives, ground rules for the session, belief cycle, roles of facilitator and team members, expectations from team members and an introduction from the team leader describing the process and agenda. The sessions are always highly participative and get team members involved in discussions and exercises early on. The results of the interviews that each person participated in are shared and robust discussions begin. Typically there are issues/challenges/opportunities that arise from these discussions and they are noted on a Parking Lot list. After going through the planned exercises (and often there may be unplanned exercises or discussions), additional issues arise that need action. At the end of the session we form Accountability Teams to address those issues. The topic of Accountability is covered and initial plans put in place for the Accountability teams to take their issue forward. Team members can choose the topic(s) for which they have the most interest to help ensure the topic will be addressed. Follow up meetings are held on a regular basis with or without the help of the facilitator. At a minimum, however at the 6 month point when the team comes together again, the progress of these teams is presented and any hurdles or obstacles discussed and solved for. The value and timing of ongoing face to face or telephonic sessions is discussed and negotiated at this point. Frequently, we are asked to do annual follow up sessions with teams with whom we work as so much can change in a year, e.g., team members, team leaders and goals for the team.

 

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Testimonials

Major Biopharma Company

“Thank you once again for facilitating a very productive introductory leader integration with my new leadership team. I find the summary you put together to be reflective of the dialogue and want you to know that after the session the team was very complimentary of you as well as shared with me that they found the session of value and look forward to continued work with you (as the team) on this subject”. – Head Field Medical

 

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Manufacturing Company

“Wayne told me what a great job you did for him and his team. He was very happy and extremely impressed. He’s never seen such strong teambuilding … yeah for you and us!!!!” – VP, Human Resources

 

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Major Pharmaceutical Company

“I have worked with Ms. Matteson for 12 years while in three different positions. She has helped my leadership teams and me to design and shape the culture of each organization, including our vision, mission and values. She has also helped to strengthen the teams by facilitating various team and leadership development modules. She has been an excellent advisor to me and acts as a sounding board for almost everything I do from an organization development standpoint. Ms. Matteson is an excellent listener, asks thought provoking questions and frequently thinks of things that I had not considered. I highly recommend her.”– Senior Vice President, Global Medical Affairs

 

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World-Leading Technology Firm

“Many thanks for customizing the teambuilding workshop for our team. You facilitated a highly productive session, and taught us what we need to know to make further progress on our own. And, your skill in adapting the agenda on the fly was put to great use!” – Vice President, Information Technology

 

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Pharmaceutical Company

“I am living proof of the benefits of Ms. Matteson’s executive coaching. In addition to being more effective in my present role, I am significantly more motivated to continue my career with my current employer.” – Senior Executive

 

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More detailed achievements, references and testimonials are confidentially available to clients upon request.

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Industries

This service is primarily available to the following industry sectors:

Pharmaceuticals

The pharmaceutical industry develops, produces, and markets drugs or pharmaceuticals licensed for use as medications. Pharmaceutical companies are allowed to deal in generic or brand medications and medical devices. Most recently, the industry has become increasingly competitive both from a product and access standpoint. They are subject to a variety of laws and regulations regarding the patenting, testing and ensuring safety and efficacy and marketing of drugs. Drug companies are like other companies in that they manufacture prod