Improve Team Effectiveness

Fortune 500 Financial Services Company

The Request

To improve the effectiveness of the team that was responsible for designing, planning and implementing a complex IT systems change.

The Context

The team was made up of consultants from a small independent consulting firm and employees of the financial services organization. There was distrust, lack of understanding, dissatisfaction with performance of players from both groups, there was role confusion and expectations were unclear. The people from the financial services organization felt they weren't getting their money's worth from the consulting organization.

The Challenge

The challenge was to separate the people from the problem, keep folks focused on their common goals and get them to free up time to address the issues in an environment that has deadlines, deliverables and dollars at risk.

The Approach

I coached project managers from both organizations to jointly own this problem and model collaboration. I also worked collaboratively with the financial institution's internal Organization Development person to work with the joint group. We held a day-long session with the team members from both organizations. We helped the team members get to know each other better as people, have some fun, discuss the issues, generate solutions, prioritize areas of focus for the future and clarify their expectations of each other in their respective roles.

I followed up with this group a few months later and provide on-going coaching to the project managers.

The Result

The joint team is working much better. Energy is available for their respective tasks. They are able to help each other appropriately and know what to expect from each other. They also have processes for dealing with questions or conflicts in the future.

Decision Making Process | Leadership Effectiveness Assessment | Team Effectiveness
Managing Organizational Change | Organizational Assessment