Whenever I pose this question I get commitments to each of these options. Success-oriented individuals can't believe others would really privilege cohesion, while cohesion-oriented individuals are typically only too aware that some of their colleagues privilege success.
Thankfully there's always at least one individual who refuses to choose an option, who looks at me and says, "I want both - success with cohesion." I agree. Every day I work with teams with exactly that goal in mind - the formation and development of healthy teams that are both successful and cohesive.
Teamwork is not about the elimination of individual personality, strengths, preferences, outlooks, or ideas. It is about the integration of maturing individuals so that they maximize their influence in one another's lives and the world around them.
What if there were a tool for measuring individual strengths and contributions while, at the same time, measuring the health of your team? As of this month, there is!
The Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team pulls together an individual DiSC personality assessment with an evaluation of your team in five key areas:
Trust, Conflict, Commitment, Accountability, and Results.
(Click on the underlined report title to view a sample copy.)
Looking at the sample report you'll see 36 pages of insight and application founded on a detailed analysis of your team members' responses.
The DiSC insights and application are woven throughout the report (pages 8-10, 15-16, 20-21, 25-28, and 32).
The team assessment items for each of the five behaviors are reported on in multiple ways. There are mean scores (for example, page 5) as well as breakdowns of how many respondents selected each answer (for example, pages 6-7). This enables you to see where the team agrees in its self-assessment and where there is significant divergence of opinion.
My clients want to know two things: 1) Where are we today? and 2) How can we improve? This tool is an effective way to foster that improvement.
To use this tool effectively you need three elements:
- A functioning team and not merely a collection of people.
- A commitment on the part of the leader to the process and its objectives (i.e., the five behaviors of a cohesive team).
- A proven facilitator who knows how to interpret both the individual and team results, and who guides a conversation around those results to move your team toward success with cohesion. That's where we come in.
Remember: You need individuals operating from a sense of self-awareness (DiSC) and coordinating their efforts together to achieve the five behaviors of a cohesive team. There is a healthy version of "ME" in TEAM!
At Julian Consulting we help our clients assess health and strategize improvement so that they lead successful and cohesive teams. Call TODAY to determine how we can serve you in this process.
