Understanding work preferences is a critical component in developing individual, team and organizational performance. Team Management Systems' Team Management Profile Questionnaire is a 60-item assessment focused on enhancing understanding of an individual's approaches to work.

Based on responses to the profile questionnaire, the personal Team Management Profile provides constructive, work-based information outlining an individuals' work preferences and the strengths that an individual brings to a team.

Work preferences are explored in terms of:

• How an individual prefers to relate to others
• How an individual gathers and uses information
• How an individual makes decisions
• How an individual organizes themselves and others

The personal Team Management Profile highlights an individual's major and related areas of work preferences, including information focused on:

• Individual and leadership strengths
• Decision-making
• Interpersonal skills
• Teambuilding

....essential information for developing individuals and teams

In addition, Areas for Self-Assessment and Key Points of Note enable an individual to develop focused action-plans and improve performance.

Information on Linking helps team members understand how best to communicate with another.

Norm Data is included for comparison of individual work preferences with those of managers worldwide.

The Team Management Profile Questionnaire and associated Profile are used worldwide by leading companies in diverse applications, including:

• Team development
• Leadership development
• Talent management
• Reengineering
• Quality initiatives
• Management training
• Performance review
• Career development
• Diversity training
• Organizational development

Whether designing a new job or restructuring an existing one, the critical activities that the job holder will have to perform must be identified. This concept of criticality is fundamental to the Team Management Systems approach to job analysis.

Research has shown that while many of these critical job activities can be carried out by a wide variety of people, certain key activities need to be carried out by people with particular abilities, preferences, and skills. In most jobs there are likely to be two or three activities that are critical to successful performance. If these activities are carried out effectively, it can make the difference between high and low performance in a job.

The Types of Work Profile Questionnaire, a 64-item individual or multi-rater assessment, has been designed to determine those areas of activity (defined by the Types of Work Wheel) that are critical to success in a particular job.

Based on the fundamental question, "Does this activity make the difference between good and poor performance in the job?", the resulting Types of Work Profile identifies crucial Types of Work associated with a particular job or position. In indicating the extent that particular Types of Work impact the job, the Profile includes guidance and feedback to support analysis of the results, assisting in the processes of job design, performance appraisal, career development, and/or task allocation.

Gap Analysis: In addition to analysis of a job by the eight Types of Work, the Types of Work Profile can also match the demands of the job to individual work preferences (as assessed by the Team Management Profile Questionnaire) to identify gaps and matches. This is particularly useful in applications such as project team selection and performance appraisal.

The Types of Work Profile Questionnaire and associated Profile are versatile, allowing any of the following uses and approaches:

• Analysis of existing jobs
• Job design and redesign
• Individual rating of a job
• Multiple views of the same job

Extensive interviews with teams and team leaders throughout the world have highlighted the common elements responsible for integrating and coordinating teams into a coherent 'whole'. Team Management Systems identifies these elements as Linking Skills.

Research has shown that it is difficult for an individual to assess their own 'skills' accurately. A person can only be considered to have Linking Skills if they are recognized as such by others who interact with the person concerned on a regular basis. Team Management Systems' three Linking Skills Profile Questionnaires are multi-rater assessments through which a number of different people rate an individual's linking skills.

The Linking of People Profile Questionnaire is suitable for all team members and gives feedback on the six People Linking Skills.

The Linking of People and Tasks Profile Questionnaire is suitable for senior team members and gives feedback on the six People Linking Skills plus the five Task Linking Skills.

The Linking Leader Profile Questionnaire is ideal for team leaders and addresses all three sets of Linking Skills.

Ideally all Linking Skills Profile Questionnaires are completed by:

• The self
• Direct reports
• Peers
• Management

Respondents assess the extent to which the Linking Skill should occur, and the importance of the particular skill. The rater is then asked to assess the individual in terms of what actually does occur. The Linking Skills Profiles assess the gap between what should occur and what does occur and is reported in terms of satisfaction rates.

A graphical colored summary of the importance and satisfaction rates is presented for each Linking Skill, along with key text advice generated from the response by the raters to each question.

A quantitative report offers a detailed analysis of each Linking Skill, enabling the individual to develop focused action-plans to improve linking.

For high-performance in teams, ongoing assessment is a requirement. The Team Performance Profile Questionnaire and resulting Profile are tools developed to support this process.

The Team Performance Profile Questionnaire, a 54-item multi-rater assessment, focuses on assessing a team's performance in terms of nine team performance factors associated with high-performing teams:

• Advising
• Innovating
• Promoting
• Developing
• Organizing
• Producing
• Inspecting
• Maintaining
• Linking

Based on these nine team performance factors, the Team Performance Profile graphically illustrates satisfaction of a team's performance by various respondent groups:

• The core team
• Other teams
• Customers or clients
• Management

Respondents assess the extent to which each team performance factor should occur in the work of a team and the extent to which each factor actually does occur. The gap is analyzed and reported in terms of satisfaction rates.

In addition, the Team Performance Profile highlights differing viewpoints of performance from within the team.

A Narrative Report outlines opportunities for a team to improve its overall performance, highlighting specific team performance factors that require particular attention.

In addition, a Quantitative Report offers a detailed item-by-item analysis of each team performance factor, enabling the team to develop focused action-plans for improved team performance.

The Team Performance Profile:

• Provides an ideal entry point to an assessment of team performance by offering a common language and shared understanding of critical factors for high performance.
• Acts as a catalyst for team development and improved effectiveness by enabling team members to focus on areas requiring action.
• Is an ideal tool in any ongoing team development process - initial profiling of the team can be repeated at a later point to assess how team performance has improved.

The Opportunities-Obstacles Profile is a unique instrument measuring people's inherent approach to risk. It assesses the balance of energy they are likely to put into seeing the opportunities or seeing the obstacles. An Opportunities-Obstacles Quotient (the QO₂™) is calculated which enables comparison of team members' risk acceptance levels. The QO₂™ and related feedback is calculated from an individual's response to fifty questions. The information provides an effective starting point for discussions regarding personal and team development.

For most jobs it is important to have some sort of 'balance'. People who focus on the opportunities without seeing potential obstacles can make hasty decisions, whereas those who focus on the obstacles may never give the go-ahead to new products or ventures. It is this degree of balance within individuals, teams and organizations which can have profound implications on issues such as conflict resolution, goal setting, problem-solving, risk management and change.

The Risk-Orientation Model

Five subscales form the basis of the QO₂™ methodology and comprise the Risk-Orientation Model. All scales have undergone a rigorous research program and have high face validity and utility for managers and their teams. The five subscales are:

• MTG Energy - how much energy you put into 'Moving Towards your Goals'.
• Multi-Pathways - the extent to which you find ways around obstacles
• Fault-Finding - how good you are at seeing potential obstacles
• Optimism - the extent to which you expect positive outcomes
• Time-Focus - a measure of your psychological time and your orientation to the past, the present or the future

The Profile enables individuals to review their approach to work and improve both the way they seize opportunities and foresee obstacles. An overall score on the instrument is given together with data on the five subscales.

The Opportunities-Obstacles Profile is invaluable for:

• Personal development
• Team development
• Change management
• Conflict resolution
• Finding ways around obstacles
• Potential obstacle analysis

The Opportunities-Obstacles Profile and the Team Management Profile together give five-factor feedback to rival the best clinical personality instruments. The difference is the focus placed on work. You will learn how to harness your own uniqueness and to get the most out of your work life.

Values are concepts or beliefs which people use to guide their behavior in the workplace. Values will drive our decision-making and cause us to summon up energy to preserve what we believe in. They go beyond specific situations and determine how we view people, behavior and events. Often major sources of conflict and disillusionment are due to mismatched values.

The Window on Work Values Profile is based upon responses to 64 items where respondents rate situations or activities at work that they value. The results are then processed to give a hierarchy of importance arranged around the Window on Work Values. The feedback indicates which of the following eight value types are fundamental drivers of their behavior.

• Compliance
• Conformity
• Collectivism
• Equality
• Empowerment
• Independence
• Individualism
• Authority

One hundred percentage points are distributed around the Window on Work Values. If all value types were held equally then a respondent would have 12.5% in each sector. However this would be very unlikely. Most commonly, two or three value types will be significantly above 12.5% and two or three will be below 12.5%, resulting in a hierarchy of importance.

The Window on Work Values Profile Questionnaire gives an extra insight into the behavior of individuals and teams. It highlights potential conflicts within a team where, for example, some team members may value Individualism and Authority whereas others may value Collectivism and Equality. Values operate at a deeper level within the human psyche and often explain why people with similar work preferences, as measured by the Team Management Profile Questionnaire, may have difficulty in working effectively in a team.

The Window on Work Values Profile Questionnaire is an ideal tool for:

• Organizational values assessment
• Personal learning and development
• Values alignment interventions
• Development of team ground rules based on shared values

Information from the Window on Work Values Profile Questionnaire provides valuable information to add to individual and team data obtained from the Team Management Profile Questionnaire and the Opportunities-Obstacles Profile Questionnaire (QO₂™). The Profile typically contains 8-10 pages of valuable information describing likely patterns of behavior of the respondent.

Values are concepts or beliefs which people use to guide their behavior in the workplace. Values will drive our decision-making and cause us to summon up energy to preserve what we believe in. They go beyond specific situations and determine how we view people, behavior and events. Often major sources of conflict and disillusionment are due to mismatched values. The values that an organization has are usually an expression of the personal values of the senior management, which have impacted the organization over time.

The Organizational Values Profile is based upon responses to 32 items, where respondents rate their perceptions of an organization or part thereof. The questions relate to the eight value types on the Window on Work Values:

• Compliance
• Conformity
• Collectivism
• Equality
• Empowerment
• Independence
• Individualism
• Authority

One hundred percentage points are distributed around the Window on Work Values. If respondents considered that all value types were held equally by the organization then the Profile would have 12.5% in each sector. However this would be very unlikely. Most commonly two or three value types will be significantly above 12.5% and these will represent the main values expressed by the behavior of those within the organization.

The Organizational Values Profile Questionnaire can be completed by any number of respondents and the results collated into the one report. For personal development usually there is only one respondent, who has also completed the Window on Work Values Profile Questionnaire and a comparison can be made between the two Profiles.

For organizational culture assessment a large sample of respondents within a branch, division or department of an organization complete the profile questionnaire and the results are combined to present an overall Organizational Values Profile. When several of these are done within the whole organization a comparison can be made of the views held across the key business units. This is important information to underpin organizational development work.

The Organizational Values Profile Questionnaire is an ideal tool for:

• Organizational values assessment
• Organizational development
• Checking the alignment between espoused values and reality values
• Cultural change initiatives

Strategic Teams: An Eight-Step Plan

• Is your team's performance being hampered by conflict?
• Do team members know what is expected of them?
• Are team members being pushed for results, when there are too many skill gaps?

The Strategic Team Development Profile uses the High-Energy Teams Model - an eight-step process - to identify what issues are preventing your team from achieving maximum performance.

Rarely do you find a team that is performing so well it doesn't need any further development. But where do you start? This is one of the most difficult questions facing the HR consultant when planning a team intervention.

Using 360-degree feedback, the Strategic Team Development Profile will give a clear picture of where the team's strengths and weaknesses lie. From there, a consultant, facilitator or team leader can determine what intervention is needed to transform the team from mediocre to high-performing. This may include training and development, performance management, teambuilding or reward programs. Whether you are forming a new team or helping to rejuvenate an existing team, the Strategic Team Development Profile will enable you to pinpoint the underlying issues that make the difference between good performance and poor performance.

Through many years of experience, we've found that most teams fail because they have no clear picture of where they are heading or how they will get there. Successful teams need clear expectations and a common purpose. They need open communication and trust among team members. Individuals need to understand each other's differences and what each person brings to the team that adds value. And team members need the right level of skills in order to get the job done effectively, while being adequately rewarded for their efforts.

The Strategic Team Development Profile uses the High-Energy Teams Model to address eight fundamental areas that all teams need to resolve, in order to perform effectively.

• Who are we?
• Where are we now?
• Where are we going?
• How will we get there?
• What is expected of us?
• What support do we need?
• How effective are we?
• What recognition do we get?

The Strategic Team Development Profile provides an accurate road map for the ongoing development of any team. It offers a quick, reliable snapshot of the issues that matter for the group and the priorities the team needs to address.

This Profile can be used in combination with any other psychometric or Team Management Systems instrument, or as part of an already established development program. It is an essential component of any consultant or facilitator's toolkit!

Influencing Skills enable you to:

• Work collaboratively in changing environments
• Establish rapport and gain buy-in, support, and commitment
• Motivate others to "do more with less"
• Dissolve or overcome resistance
• Create positive partnerships critical for success

Building on the concepts of the Team Management Wheel, the Influencing Skills Profile Questionnaire and associated Profile have been designed to offer Team Management Systems Network Members an assessment to highlight successful communication strategies for working with others.

Based on the responses to the Influencing Skills Profile Questionnaire - a 40-item assessment of characteristics about a person with whom an individual interacts - the Influencing Skills Profile (ISP) suggests solutions for how an individual could develop communication patterns to improve outcomes with the other person.

The Influencing Skills Profile indicates the extent to which various characteristics occur in interacting with an individual. The Profile includes a comprehensive Narrative Report with information and guidelines on approaches to improving interactions with that individual through exploring seven key skills that form the basis of communication.

• Pacing
• Inquiry
• Diagnosis
• Summarizing
• Leading
• Proposing
• Directing

In addition, Key Points of Note offer an ideal starting point in developing a focused action plan.

In combination with the Team Management Profile, the Influencing Skills Profile offers the ideal resource for executive coaching, sales training, and any training and development program or consulting process focused on understanding and improving communication.