Enterprise Team Assessment
Service Definition
Description
A consultancy-led assessment of the effectiveness of a team or department that provides clear actions and strategies for improved customer satisfaction and effectiveness.
The assessment helps managers of teams that are falling short of expectations to understand what is going wrong, and provide focus for established teams that are ready to progress to the next level of excellence.
The deliverable outputs from this assessment include:
- Executive summary
- Comprehensive report of current team and process performance
- List of specific actions for immediate improvement
- Roadmap of targets that will increase effectiveness over the medium term
- Checklist that can be used internally for continued monitoring
Benefits
Periodic reviews are best practice for most organisations, as they provide a rare opportunity to step back and see the bigger picture. Benefits reported by Storm’s clients include:
- Opportunity to raise customer satisfaction
- Shared platform for understanding and discussion with stakeholders
- Identify potential risks and future threats that may impact performance
- Determine the team’s effectiveness in forecasting and delivering results
- Identify indicators of value and drivers for metrics
Service Delivery
Storm’s Enterprise Team Assessment comprises 6 distinct activities:
- Agree objectives and brief the team
- Observe team activities
- Validate the business process
- Conduct one-on-one interviews
- Analyse data and present findings
- Team workshop
The assessment is carried out on-site, and is led by a Principal Consultant, who is supported by 1-2 other Consultants depending on the size of the team.
The activities are explained in more detail below.
Setting objectives
Experience shows that people are willing to participate fully and openly when they understand the purpose and reason for an activity.
If the point of the assessment is to confirm the current situation with a view to finding and making improvements, then that must be shared as the goal. If the purpose is to identify cost-savings which could include re-assigning roles, then that too should be disclosed. Transparency is a core tenet of Agile.
Objectives are agreed with the sponsors of the assessment. The team briefing follows and marks the start of the service delivery.
Observing team activities
Meetings are at the core of most team activities, be they planning, assignment or review meetings.
The way team members interact with each other at these meetings is a key determinant in the team’s overall effectiveness. Often there are issues which are well-known to everyone, and it takes an external voice to facilitate acceptance and recovery from these situations.
Core business process
Some departments are better than others at documenting processes. The official version sometimes differs from common practice; team members sometimes have a different understanding of key values; and the process itself may be inefficient.
One on one interviews
Successful teamwork is intensely people-based and experience shows that providing your team members and customers with the opportunity to discuss work issues in confidence, has significant and often immediate benefits.
Each interviews takes approximately 1-2 hours and can be conducted remotely for off-shore team members. The number of interviews conducted affects the price of this package.
Analysis and sponsor agreement
This stage of the process represents Storm’s “unique value proposition”.
Our Consultants synthesise the mass of data gleaned through observation and elicitation, filtering-out the “noise” and producing meaningful information. They further distil that information into focussed findings and valuable action points, which are presented to the sponsors of the assessment in the form of a written report which delivers the assessment over three key areas[1].
The content of this report is specially codified so that the assessment’s sponsors are able to monitor and assess future performance using the established and understood measures.
The sponsors agree the items that are to be presented to the team.
Reports are strictly company and sponsor confidential.
Team workshop
The closing engagement brings the entire team together in a workshop setting in order to set the process of change in motion, through ownership of change.
The findings of the assessment are presented, then attendees get the opportunity to work together in small groups to develop their version of better collaboration, information, customer service, and overall satisfaction.
“People don’t mind change, they resist being changed.”
Conclusion
This is an independent and objective assessment of a team or department. It reviews the team’s processes and performance against the expectations of customers and stakeholders.
The outputs of this package provide an opportunity for change and improvement that will lead to cost savings, process efficiency and increased customer satisfaction.
[1] Reporting areas are the intellectual property of Storm Consulting and may be available on request.