Goal-oriented team development based on the Common Ground principle
Four steps on the path to becoming a successful team
Most of the time, people as a team work together well and successfully without external support. But how can a good team, with external support, transform into a high-performance team?
One important lever: improving processes of group dynamics whilst, at the same time, dealing with specific topics and targets which will have to be met by the team, anyway. The key to success lies in a purposeful design of the Common Ground, the shared team and working culture. Team development based on the Common Ground principle has nothing to do with playing team games. Instead, in the context of a Common Ground process, the group/team follows four very specific steps with regard to content, targets and cooperation:
Step 1 | Perceiving and analysing
In the initial phase, our experts focus on the existing team and working culture. They proceed by working on questions regarding key successes and challenges, the team history, shared values, the team’s explicit and implicit rules and rituals, and similar aspects. The analysis highlights common patterns as well as (sub)cultural differences. Subsequently, together with the team, we carry out a joint intensive workshop. Based on the results presentation, it begins with a common process of reviewing, complementing and commenting on the results.
Step 2 | Visualising
In analogy to teams of top athletes who not only work on their physical but also their mental fitness and, as a tool, imagine their future successes in detail and visualise them again and again, in the workshop, the team uses this central and powerful step for the development of their common vision of the future. They do so by means of effective creative and visualisation techniques.
Step 3 | Implementing specific targets
Based on a strong vision of the future, generally, in the last part of the workshop, developing efficient levers and implementable measures for the achievement of objectives, runs like clockwork.
Step 4 | Follow-up
In targeted team development measures, the biggest risk of failure lies in the momentum of the usual routines of everyday work. For their successful implementation, things that were powerfully visualised and specified in the workshop need continuous practising in everyday life. Regular facilitated follow-up meetings substantially increase the odds for the desired result.
