Recently conducted a team/planning intervention for a team with the results being less than I expected. On reflection, I did the necessary upfront scoping (one on one telephone interviews, team survey) followed by an analysis of needs. Put together the 1-day format which required defining team interpersonal and operational norms in the a.m. and planning in the P.M.
The results: the group attained the outcomes, but during an informal round-robin at the end some folks admitted that they were hoping for more planning time rather than teaming time. Results on the form varied from good -met my expectations (majority) to very good - exceeded my expectations. Now, I have to admit that the scores were good, however I got the sense that the client may have expected more on the 'planning' side. So what could I have done better? What was in my control?
In reviewing my process, there were some things I didn't do (yet I train all of my students to do this!). First, I should have ratified the 'outcomes' with the group. The agenda had been sent to them 2 days before the event (various reasons for this) which gave them little time pre-session to respond. I also didn't check out their 'expectations' for the day as I was concerned that time was tight. I might have heard upfront that the 'planning' was more of a priority than defining their operational guidelines (though in the long run, these too are important to planning). Knowing this would have led to a process adjustment, therefore lending more time to the 'planning' part of the discussion. Doing interim checks during the session to determine if the process was working for them would have helped too, though we did make some tweaks as issues came up.
Let me know if you have any further observations? This is part of my continuous learning objective!
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