Strengthening Team Cohesiveness

The key to understanding our model is that cohesiveness is built by focusing on compelling team goals, rather than cohesiveness for its own sake.  It is a residual outcome, not the primary goal.   The reason why most teambuilding efforts fail to have an impact is because teambuilding lacks a compelling purpose.  At best, there is a deeper understanding of one another’s differences, and a feeling of greater camaraderie that is short-lived.  Values differences are never surfaced and resolved.

To enhance cohesiveness while remaining strategically focused on the team goals, each team member receives 360 feedback reports, which identify how each member contributes to the sub-optimal impact of the team as a whole.  Peer feedback is restricted to the other team members so that team trust issues can be identified.  A 360 roundtable is facilitated wherein members summarize their feedback and commit to specific improvement goals, which will be measured through a mini-progress review 360 that is limited to re-rating the priority factors.  In addition, trust contracts that commit each member to specific responsibilities for enhancing team functioning are concluded and documented.

To demonstrate the importance of interdependence among team members, a Team Talent Profile is developed based on Gallup’s online Strengthsfinder Test.  An understanding of one’s own Signature Themes and how they contribute to the talent profile of the team makes clear the advantages of mutual accountability for team and functional goals.  The individual strengths of team members are also employed in the work of building cohesiveness as well as clarifying strategy, and sponsoring and directing cultural change goals.