“How do we make a good team better?”
This was the question from a recent client from the medical services industry. I was asked to work with the non-sales departments. This included Operations, HR, finance, IT, admin, regulatory affairs, and others. The focus was to be on improving teamwork and communication.
Their team had been together for some time, knew each other pretty well, and were performing at an acceptable level. But the team and the company leadership all knew things could be better. This is a very common situation for teams to find themselves in.
They had a full day available for this workshop and the event was held at Pullman Phuket Panwa Beach Resort.
Building a Better Version of Your Team
I was given full control over the workshop elements so I designed it to look at two major components; People and Processes.
First, we looked at how we can improve team collaboration at an individual level. What can each team member do to foster better communication, greater empathy, and more accountability?
Later we discussed ways in which their internal processes could be improved. How can we become more efficient and collaborative?
Taking a team from good to great is one of my favorite workshops to facilitate. The learning outcomes from a workshop like this are real. Teams leave with a list of concrete action steps that they can implement as soon as they return to the office. In this case, we were able to delve deep into the underlying reasons behind some of their issues. They knew what the problem was but could not yet identify the cause. That’s the beauty of an externally-facilitated workshop. We use exercises and techniques that can surface hidden issues and ultimately help to discover the ‘why’ behind them.
For me, there is nothing better in a workshop than guiding a team through a discovery process in which we find the root cause of a problem. Discovery is the first step. It highlights an underlying problem and gets it out in the open. From here, we can identify ways to deal with it. It’s an incredibly powerful tool.
By the end of the day, the team and its leadership had a clear mandate. An action plan. A directive. Whatever we want to call it, they were in a position to make positive change to themselves and their team as a whole. I wish them all the best as they move towards a better version of their team, a goal that each and every team member shares.