A senior team for one of our financial services clients had recently been constituted following a reorganization. The team leader approached us with an interest in a team building exercise with an emphasis upon ensuring the team was up and running as quickly as possible. The intervention was to focus upon role clarity, effective team functioning, a team mandate and the "rules of engagement" to shepherd the team through its mandate.

We began a data collection exercise by conducting a structured interview with the team leader to validate his objectives and expected outcomes. We next moved to an assessment of each team member, including their leader, to understand each individual's preferred work style and normal versus stressed team behaviour style. We designed a structured one-day team kick-off meeting that focused on several components including:

• Developing or reviewing the team mandate and charter
• Clarity and feedback regarding team member roles and preferred working styles
• The rules of engagement - how to come to resolution/consensus, how to "break ties", the logistics and expectations of an effective team meeting, etc.

The result was an effective kick-off meeting resulting in increased understanding of the team's charter, expectations and effective working styles of each team member. The client asked us back on occasion to facilitate strategic team meetings or off-site events to ensure the team was achieving its intended outcomes. The team was able to meet its mandate before its scheduled delivery date.

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