CASE STUDY
High-Performing Team Workshop
for Allianz Trade Executive Team
Introduction
We have been working with Allianz Trade on various leadership and coaching topics and were entrusted with facilitating a full-day high-performing team workshop for the executive team. This case study delves into the transformation journey of turning a collaborative team, inclusive of all its members, into a unified and high-performing unit.
Background
The team at Allianz Trade, which included a diverse group of individuals, were recognized for their effective collaboration skills. However, they acknowledged that their relationships could be enhanced. They shared a common desire to cultivate deeper connections and foster stronger relationships within their teams.
Objectives
The primary objectives of the workshop were to:
Enhance team connectivity.
Encourage open and transparent communication.
Enable the team to address challenges candidly and comfortably.
Strategies and Initiatives
To accomplish these objectives, we implemented a multi-faceted approach:
Leadership Assessment: We conducted a comprehensive leadership assessment and generated team results that allowed us to have facts-driven conversations during the workshop.
Workshop Design: The workshop was designed to target the five essential qualities of high-performing teams: trust, conflict, commitment, accountability, and results. The assessment results informed the workshop's content and structure.
Facilitation Approach: Instead of traditional teaching or training, our facilitator focused on practical guidance. This encouraged participants to navigate conversations that built trust, encouraged positive conflict, fostered a commitment to both team objectives and team behavior, promoted mutual accountability, and ultimately aimed for tangible results.
Challenges and Solutions
The workshop encouraged participants to delve deeper into their relationships and challenges. The facilitator posed probing questions and created a safe, non-judgmental space for team members to share both their strengths and the obstacles they faced. This process was pivotal in opening up channels of honest communication.
As the day progressed, the atmosphere within the team underwent a transformation. Reflective learning led to a deeper understanding of one another, which, in turn, facilitated the creation of a collective contract or roadmap for how they wanted to operate within their teams and across the organization. An important realization was that their immediate team, the top management team, requires a significant amount of attention and care before focusing on the individual leadership of their own teams.
Results and Impact
The results of the workshop were:
Shift in Atmosphere and Mindset: The teams exhibited a noticeable shift in the overall atmosphere and mindset. They evolved from being just a group of individuals working together to a cohesive and unified team.
Enhanced Cohesion: A new bond formed based on honesty and trust, which had previously been lacking. The team was now more than the sum of its parts.
Empowerment with Tools: Team members left the workshop equipped with tools and techniques to continue having the essential, albeit challenging, conversations.
Conclusion
The high-performing team workshop brought about a remarkable transformation within the Allianz Trade executive teams. It fostered a newfound cohesion and a commitment to honest, transparent communication. The bond created in just one day was based on trust and transparency, which had a lasting impact on team dynamics. The use of assessments to pinpoint areas for improvement was instrumental in guiding the teams towards their collective goals. This case study serves as a testament to the power of self-awareness and open dialogue in transforming a group into a high-performing team.