In the period from February 2020 to December 2020, a U.S.-based real estate investment company commissioned us to conduct a Team Building & Coaching project for its leadership team in Colombia. The goal of the project was to improve the team’s performance by enhancing interpersonal dynamics and teamwork in order to achieve the five-year strategic goals, equivalent to more than 400 MUSD of investment, in a comprehensive manner and without delay.

Starting situation:

The baseline situation presented a loss of motivation and enthusiasm in the management team, delays in processing contracts and projects, and possibly dysfunctional interaction among team members. Using the Trust / Conflict / Commitment / Accountability / Results sequence, we identified the causes of the known problems and designed a work plan that included three phases.

Work:
Phase 1: Workshop

The first phase of the work consisted of a workshop in which the expectations and perceived gaps were defined. Specifically, the goal was to create greater cohesion among team members and improve communication and teamwork. To achieve these goals, increasingly complex experiential games were used in which participants had to cooperate to achieve assigned goals.

This fostered interaction and cooperation among team members, enabling them to better understand how other colleagues function and appreciate their contributions within the team. At the end of the workshop, an action plan was established for the team, which included the goals to be achieved and the actions to be taken to achieve them.

Phase 2: Individual and team coaching

The second phase of the work consisted of individual and team coaching sessions, in which work was done on defining roles within the team and managing conflict. In particular, Patrick Lencioni’s model of the Trust / Conflict / Commitment / Accountability / Results sequence was used to improve communication and collaboration within the team.

In this way, the causes of existing problems were identified and effective solutions were found to solve them. In addition, individual coaching enabled individual team members to better understand their role within the team and improve their performance.

Phase 3: Concluding workshop

The third and final phase of the work consisted of a concluding workshop, where the results achieved were evaluated and future actions were planned. Specifically, the progress made by the team in achieving the set goals was analyzed and an action plan for the future was identified.

During the workshop, discussion and debate among the team members was also encouraged in order to identify any critical issues and find effective solutions arising directly from the team’s reflections.

Conclusions and Results:

The first workshop had a significant impact on the team, which began to interact creatively and emotionally for the first time, becoming aware of existing problems. Through individual and team coaching, we then worked to improve interpersonal dynamics and teamwork, focusing on achieving business goals.

The result of the project was a success, with a very high ROI compared to the cost of the activity. After the first three months of operation, improvements in productivity and implementation of the business strategy have already been seen. The client expressed satisfaction with the work done, confirming our experience and expertise in Team Building & Coaching for management teams.