Working Together Collaboratively: Work teams are not only an organization structure; more importantly, they represent how we get work done effectively and efficiently. All members of the work team have important skills to contribute and it is critical that all individual talents are harnessed to contribute to the team’s success. Engaging all employees in the success of the team does not happen automatically; there are many learned skills in collaborative goal setting, communications, measures, and many other areas that need to be well understood by the team members and team leaders. BSI Institute has a variety of offerings to help improve team effectiveness.

Conflict Management: In all work situations the potential for conflict exists. Some level of conflict is inherent and can even be productive to ensure all ideas are surfaced and considered. However, this conflict must be recognized and managed. Both teams and supervisors need to have skills in recognizing and managing through conflict.

Recognizing Strengths and Gaps: Every employee has strengths and gaps (or weaknesses). Learning to capitalize on each team member’s strengths and managing around their gaps can greatly enhance the effectiveness of the overall team. Discovering these individual strengths and gaps as a team brings a strong level of commitment to utilize this knowledge to the overall benefit of the collaborative team success.

Valuing Diversity: Each individual brings a unique set of characteristics and traits based on their individual experiences and on the lenses of how they view the world and how the world views them. Understanding where individuals are different and where they are alike can be powerful in promoting understanding and tolerance of individual perspectives.

Performance Planning and Management: Developing an effective and consistent performance management process is critical to managing and developing employees and ensuring managers are unbiased in their evaluations of employees. Realistic performance planning and effective feedback processes ensure employees understand how they contribute to the company’s success and promotes an open dialogue between employees and supervisors.