Case Study: From a Dysfunctional to a Highly Functional Team

A recently-promoted CEO in a medium-sized business knew that if his C-Level team didn’t work together, he wouldn’t be able to create the kind of culture change he sought in his company.  His team had two legacy members who had been there for between 10-20 years, included the former CEO who was now the Board President, and another member who had been a part of the team for 6 years.  The legacy members had long working relationships with each other – not all positive – and many habits of communication that were resulting in poor idea sharing, a lack of participation in decision-making, and a risk-averse mentality.  This group was not yet thinking or operating as a team.

Highly Functional team

We helped this group by:

  • Interviewing key members outside of the team to understand the performance of the team as well as its members, to gain a better understanding of the history and context leading to
  • Interviewing each member to understand the history, context, and hidden issues that might be hindering team cohesion and performance
  • Designing and delivering a 3-day teambuilding event that
    • helped the group establish a new way of talking and working together
    • formed agreements for their meetings, working through conflict, and improving their processes
    • formed goals, strategies, and action steps that were the basis of  their strategic plan;
    • helped them strategize a communication and change management plan for continuing the work with their staff.

This group became a long-term client who continued their efforts towards better teamwork within their team as well as with and within their staff.  They reported that this initial teambuilding allowed them to “clear the air” and start fresh in a way that significantly – and positively – influenced their ability to work together.

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