SENIOR MANAGEMENT TEAM BUILDING

When an organization builds its senior management team, the desire is to promote teamwork and develop a unified focus and direction for everyone involved. When the team is working well together, greater synergy and more creativity are developed. Organizations with an effective senior management team have open communication, mutual respect for each other, shared leadership, a willingness to encourage each other to grow and develop, healthy conflicts, etc. Ineffective senior management teams prevent the organization from achieving their full potential and can derail the organization.

Effective senior management teams do not just happen. They are built on a cornerstone of hard work, commitment, respect, encouragement, cohesiveness and collaboration. Only with mutual trust can the team aspire to its full potential. To nurture trust, the senior team must be able to talk openly with each other, and believe that each person is committed to the team's success. All employees look up to the senior team, and can feel whether the team is working well or poorly together. How the senior team works together impacts everyone.

When is Senior Management Team Building Recommended

There are specific times in the organization's life cycle when senior management team building is needed. For example, when executive teams have gone through the following situations, building the senior management team is highly recommended:

• Integrating a merged or acquired organization
• Restructuring
• Downsizing
• Changing the culture or vision of the organization
• Having a new management team
• Starting a new strategic plan

Also, when a team is not working well together, senior management team building is recommended. Note the following circumstances:

• A team that cannot get things accomplished
• Conflict among the team members
• Too much individualism and a desire to be more collaborative
• A poorly communicating team
• Dysfunctional and disruptive behavior by one or more members
• Poor general performance and accountability of the team
• A desire to change the team to achieve the team's full potential The team members lack job satisfaction and turnover is likely

Our Approach to Senior Management Team Building

We customize our approach to building senior management teams to match the unique demands and goals of the team and the organization. Generally, the outline below provides a flavor of our methodology.

We begin by talking with the senior executive about his/her desires for the senior team and the organization. Also, we hold individual meetings with each team member, creating a relationship with them, assessing their perspective of the team, and understanding their own desired outcomes for the team program. We present our findings to the executive and the team to help them appreciate our assessment of the current functioning of the team, and what we would recommend as a plan for improving the team's performance. This can include group sessions, individual sessions, and even retreats. An agreed upon series of sessions are then detailed and arranged. These sessions can be on or off premise depending on the desires of the team.

We act as facilitators for the team and help the team to talk openly, learn, and experience various aspects of teamwork. We help the team members relate back what they have learned through both individual and group sessions and incorporate new behaviors and attitudes that impact performance. We are practical in our approach so that the team can put their learning into immediate use. We meet regularly with the senior executive to keep him/her informed of our activities, findings, recommendations, and direction.

We are Involved With the Group and Individual Members

In group settings, we provide activities and tools for the senior management team to facilitate common goal setting, communication, as well as conflict resolution among other matters. Some of the specific activities we do with the senior management team include:

• Develop a vision and desired culture for the team and the organization
• Provide multi-rater feedback to each other
• Develop a senior team code of conduct
• Help clarify roles, responsibilities, and decision making authorities
• Develop trust among the team members
• Differentiate between "family versus partner" concepts and attitudes
• Compare personality and management styles for better mutual understanding

We also work with the individuals of the team in a coaching and development manner. We provide feedback to each team members for their personal growth and development. This process helps to focus the person on their own makeup, how they impact the team, and what they can do to be a more effective team member.

We Can Make a Difference

As management psychologists and consultants, we have over 24 years of experience in working with senior management teams. Please contact us so we can help you understand which of our services can best meet the needs of your organization and senior team. We look forward to hearing from you.