Organisational development

Research shows us that overall team effectiveness and resilience is the result of a combination of a number of characteristics. A deficit in any one or a combination of these can reduce the effectiveness of a team and especially its resilience to ‘bounce back’ or deal with increased pressure. It is therefore important to be able to understand where a team might benefit from activity to strengthen or build particular areas.

The team effectiveness model provides a framework to do this and is accompanied by a number of tools and resources to support managers to improve their team effectiveness

Teamwork and collaboration is essential to achieving shared goals as well as having a significant impact on colleague’s day to day experience at work. Activity to support teams to work together respectfully and cooperatively, understand and value each others differences, and enhance cohesion can help both team and individual effectiveness.

• Teamwork and collaboration

Change is increasingly an everyday part of life. That does not necessarily mean it comes naturally. Ensuring that change is effective, and that it does not result in more issues than it was intended to address, requires it to be managed effectively.

• Change support for managers

Whether formally documented or not, we are all routinely involved in systems and processes every day in the workplace. Any series of activities and tasks which is intended to result in an outcome is a process. How all these collectively interact to come together to result in overall business outcomes is the overall ‘system.’ Sometimes processes can be slick and efficient, aiding overall effectiveness, other times they can be quite the opposite. Activity to understand and improve processes can therefore be particularly beneficial.

• Process

Effective leadership and management is an important resource when it comes to overall effectiveness of a team or department. Our learning and career development activity includes leadership and management development activities for individuals. OD can further complement this by

• working with leadership teams collectively
• undertaking 360 and other diagnostic activities to help inform development activity
• offering other bespoke interventions.

Effectiveness over the long term requires us to establish what we are aiming to achieve and the ability to develop plans designed to achieve those long term aims - a strategy. This includes an ability to understand where we are now and the environment we will be operating in. Involving people in this activity can significantly improve their engagement as well as helping to improve the overall process by bringing new ideas and perspectives. OD can support the facilitation of workshops and related activities.