How Can Your Team Reach Its Full Potential?

Gaining the competitive edge in today’s global market requires building teams where the strengths of each team member are focused and utilized in a collaborative approach. How a team works as a whole is what determines its success. In other words, a well-designed and coordinated team that synergistically communicates and collaborates well typically achieves better results than individuals working alone or in parallel.

Communication within a team is by far the most significant factor in a team’s success. When essential bits of information are not explicitly exchanged among team members, the decision-making quality of the team is degraded.The problem for many teams may not be that they are not communicating, but that they are not communicating effectively. The method in which the information is conveyed is just as important as the message itself. Individuals perceive communication and messages differently, so in order to communicate effectively, teams need to know other team members’ perceptive preferences so that the message is received in the way it was intended.

The most highly rated team effectiveness factors all ultimately impact communication in some way. The top factors, in order of importance, are:

 •    Trust among team members

•    Collaboration among team members

•    Handling interpersonal conflicts within the team

•    Adaptation of the team to rapidly changing environments

•    Role clarity within the team

•    Problem solving success of the team

•    Interdependence of team task and/or goals

 Personality assessments put emphasis on helping teams and individuals recognize and adapt to multiple delivery styles. We use The Birkman Method team-building process to open up the lines of communication so the team can better work together.

 The Birkman Method helps team members and leaders:

 •    Understand and adapt to communication styles and differences

•    Establish more effective ways to manage diversity of thought and behavior

•    Deploy people into the roles where they will be most personally effective

•    Set appropriate challenges, goals, and rewards for the team members

•    Onboard new team members more efficiently and effectively

 In studying groups, there has always been the debate whether if, when it comes to decision quality, the group synergy will outperform the quality of the best person in the group. Research has demonstrated that in order for the group’s work to surpass the quality of the best person on the team, all members’ information must be communicated appropriately, efficiently and effectively for the decision to be operationalized and executed properly and accurately. For teams to be successful, they must practically address and master the subtle communication obstacles and challenges that most significantly impact them. Understanding and utilizing their different communication styles and preferences are the best way to help them to do that.

 About Birkman

 Birkman International, Inc. is a developer and publisher of online testing and assessment to support individual development, leadership development, team building, career management, and conflict management. For more than 60 years, millions of people and thousands of organizations from around the world have used Birkman to increase, personal, team, and organizational performance. The Birkman Method is used in North and South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa. www.birkman.com