We worked with Newport City Council’s Corporate Management Team between 2010 and 2015 to provide team development. The project included the following elements:
- Team building to ‘gel’ a new leadership team using the Team Dysfunctions Questionnaire and leading to a truly effective team
- Using psychometric assessments to understand personal styles and approach to conflict
- Develop a unified vision for the Council with clearly defined success criteria
- Creating greater collaboration, joint decision-making and prioritisation
The facilitator worked with the team to identify their desired outcomes and priorities for the development programme. A diagnosis phase followed that supported the team to understand their individual and team development needs:
Jung Type Indicator: This personality profile is similar to the more well-known Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and supports participants to understand their preferences in relation to working with others, attention to different types of information, decision-making and lifestyle choices. This tool helped the team to understand their differences and similarities and the impact this had on their teamwork.
Thomas Kilman Conflict Inventory: This tool supports participants to understand more about how they respond in conflict situations. The team looked at their individual preferences to understand more about how they constructively challenged each other to create positive debate and effective decision-making.
Team Dysfunctions Questionnaire: This questionnaire uses Patrick Lencioni’s Five Dysfunctions of a Team model. Each team member completes the questionnaire and the results are anonymously complied into a team report indicating where the team scores on each of the five ‘dysfunctions’: absence of trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability and inattention to results.
The outcomes of the team workshop included commitments and a structure for working together effectively, a process for prioritising key projects and workstreams, a strategy for engaging with the Heads of Service tier, a commitment to reconsider key elements of the budget to reduce conflict and increase shared responsibility.
Testimonial from Sheila Davies, formerly Strategic Director for Place at NCC
Working with Paul Chudleigh, and his team, really does bring “insight” into how we work as teams in the workplace.
Paul worked has worked with the Senior Leadership Team at Newport City Council, firstly to help us understand the dynamics of the team, when facing major political change, and in the past few months with the new Senior Leadership Team, to take us through our understanding of team dynamics, the dysfunctions of a team and how to build consensus and trust, with the focus on what it is we are trying to achieve, and how we deliver that together.
Whilst this was at times uncomfortable, the clarity of explanation, the discussion and openness encouraged, and the bringing together of consensus, with a clear focus on future actions and behaviour, was game changing.
I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Paul, to work with high level teams. If you want real dynamic change – the results are undeniable.