Capacity Building
Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishment toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.
Pamela was recently promoted to the operations director for Next Steps Software*, overseeing a geographically dispersed team of 45 people. From her interviews, she knew that she had inherited a diverse team, half veterans and half with tenures less than two years, so she wanted to quickly build team cohesion. Pamela reached out to me to help her develop a transition plan that would lead to team success.
After a few initial conversations with Pamela, I started observing their manager meetings. I spoke to several team members at all levels. Pamela and I then identified the root issues of lack of clarity and mistrust between the managers. From there I designed a plan that would address these matters.
We put together a two-day visioning offsite with Pamela’s 10-member management team to establish a clear sense of team identity. I facilitated the time together, generating clarity and building commitment on the coming year’s strategic and tactical plans. The team members left the meeting not only with better rapport, but also with a clear roadmap, milestones, and deliverables for the next six months. As I continued to coach Pamela over the next couple of months, the people in her team say it feels completely different. Not only is productivity soaring, but other directors have noticed the results and have asked Pamela for her secret sauce.
*The names have been changed to respect confidentiality.
Here are common challenges I see during my Capacity Building work, potential solutions I use, and outcomes the team can expect as a result:
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Team Challenges
- Rough dynamics between team members, which leads to lower productivity
- New team with little experience working together, resulting in inefficient workflows
- Unclear roles & responsibilities and duplication of effort
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Solutions for Capacity Building & Developing Organizational Health
- Appreciative Inquiry
- Social Emotional Learning & Self-Awareness
- Strength-Based Coaching applied at the Team Level
- Guidance through Forming, Storming, Norming, and Performing
- Applied Transitions Management (William Bridges Model)
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Outcomes
- People believe in themselves, have clarity of why the department exists and how they contribute to the larger vision
- Increased productivity
- Positive Team-Identity
- Team Success