“Creating healthy and effective groups capable of responding to new challenges is perhaps the most important task facing the human community of today”

Susan Wheelan, from “Group Processes”, 2004

 

What is its purpose?

Through a modular programme and set of “tools” and techniques specifically dedicated to groups we support Organisations in creating and developing High Performing Teams, managing, in the most effective manner and attentive to the well-being of people, all of the phases of a group’s life cycle in the work context, from creation to termination.

 

Specifically:

 

• Using valid, predictive and reliable information we support the decisions related to people, external or internal candidates, who are added to an existing group or form a new Team, in order to ensure, as far as possible, productive and empowering interpersonal dynamics between all the members and between them and the designated leader;
• We support the Company (all of the Team’s Company stakeholders) and the Team Leader during the initial period of the life of a work group, through a rapid diagnosis and active consulting support, accelerating the process to build the Team’s identity and evolution necessary for achieving an initial satisfactory productivity level;
• We support the groups and the Team Leaders who are faced with impasses, dissatisfaction due to the quality/quantity of achieved results, clear or underlying conflicts, etc. through an expert diagnosis (On-line questionnaires available 24 hours in more than 20 languages) and a structured intervention that lets them once again undertake an evolution path towards an extraordinary level of performance and of well-being and motivation (like a real Team!);
• We prepare the Company and the group to face the difficult time of succession of the Team Leader or some Team members to ensure stability for performance and level of satisfaction and motivation of the entire Team;
• We support the Team at the time of its termination to capitalise on the successful experience and make it available to the Company and disseminate it through the members’ participation in future Teams or in the position of future Team Leaders!

 

 

 

How does it work?

The main steps:

• Acquisition of a clear and strong mandate at the highest level involved
• Half-day kick-off with the group and activation of useful diagnostics based on the group’s objectives and current situation (3 Possible prospectives: Evolution Stages, Collective Skills and Group Relationships);
• Holding a group feedback day (awareness) and activation of empowerment aimed at identifying specific action plans for development;
• Final meeting for sharing the most effective and sustainable Development Programme towards the full evolution maturity of the Team (“Generativity and Renewal” stage)

 

What tools are used?

We use some innovative and tested instruments for the diagnosis and an original model for orienting the group’s evolution path:

• On-line questionnaire for the diagnosis of the group’s Evolution Stage and focus on evolution challenges that the group has to face (“Evolution” Prospective);
• On-line questionnaire for assessing Collective Skills (“Skills” Prospective);
• Simulation tool that allows to “map” the quality and intensity of all the interpersonal dynamics present in the group according to the theories of Kurt Lewin (Group Relationships Prospective);
• The original TeamGlider® Model for the Evolution Programme through the integration of all the previous outputs;
• Several tools and techniques typical of Business Coaching and Performance Coaching adapted for Team Coaching.

 

How long does it last?

Around 3 weeks to activate, orient, empower and support the group in its commitment towards its evolution and improvement of performance and climate (following the shared Team Development Programme) – (maximum of 26 h. for the Team Leader, including the time spent with the group and maximum 15 h. for the whole group).

 

What is its purpose?

In an increasingly complex and uncertain competitive environment Companies need to balance their focus on short-term profit paying attention to continuity. The ability to correctly interpret all of the aspects related to Compliance, the ability to manage uncertainties and the risks connected with innovation processes and continuous organisational evolution are currently the key skills of every Management Team and, all in all, of the entire Organisation.

Therefore, Success Continuity ™ represent the project that was born from the cooperation between VERA Consulting and IAS Compliance & Coaching Academy. This project aimed to support Companies finding clear answers to those two fundamental questions:

1. What are the real “pillars” of Company continuity? In other words, what are the key conditions that govern the strengthening or weakening of a Company’s ability to extend over time and space?
2. What new, systemic and quick interventions could a Company launch in order to significantly increase its future success trend probability?

In order to achieve meaningful answers to these questions we designed and refined an action-research methodology able to guide the exploitation, enhancement and the development of the resources, already available within the Organizations, towards the Continuity goal.

 

How does it work?

The 4 Pillars

To ensure its Success Continuity™ a Company must be underpinned by four Pillars.

• Trust – Ability to gain a high level of Trust and to develop widespread well-being

Gaining high level of confidence of all the Stakeholders in relation to the Company/Brand (e.g. Employees, Customers and Suppliers, Consumer associations, Institutions and Citizen Representatives, etc.).

• Knowledge – Ability to develop Knowledge and innovation

Updating and development of technological, economic, organisational and social knowledge.

• Value – Ability to generate, over time, Economic-Financial Value

Being efficient in realizing its main purpose (cost effectiveness) and generating profit, Return on Capital and Shareholder value.

• DNA – Ability to transform its Distinctive Pillar (DNA) into actual long-lasting value:

The Company’s distinctive Pillar, essential element of the Company’s identity and one of the main success factors on the market so far (e.g. ability to develop innovation, attitude towards risk, ability to develop cutting-edge technology, etc.), represents the needed element of stability (“Strategy of Excellence”, “Organising Principle”, “Founding Value/Mission”, etc.) in designing a compelling evolution path towards a higher degree of Success Continuity™.

The 4 Factors

To ensure solidity of the Pillars over time, the Companies need to best manage the systemic relationship between the 4 factors:

• Processes & Systems

• Individuals

• Groups & Communities

• Compliance

 

 

Success over time is correlated with the harmony of the system generated by lively and effective relationships between the Pillars and Factors.

The intervention logic

The action-research methodology refined by VERA and IAS School offers a multi-perspective and multidisciplinary approach which fully guide and support Companies in the current evolutionary stage.

In particular:

• We will support Companies in starting a first verification process of the actual alignment of the Company itself to the requirements that guarantee Continuity through a rapid and extensive diagnosis on the “health status” of the Pillars. A concise expression of the “lively harmony” between pillars and factors is the Success Continuity Index™ that you can obtain (together with a first overview about the solidity of each Pillar) completing The Success Continuity™ Questionnaire (click the link below).

 

Take the Questionnaire

 

[In order to achieve a more objective and valid outcomes we suggest you to propose to or to share the Questionnaire with other top Executives roles within the company].

• We will provide accurate indications related to the Pillars-Factors where it is most opportune to invest to ensure to your Company a robust Success Continuity™.
• We will accompany the Company and the Management Team to conceive and implement opportune interventions to create the alignment necessary for guaranteeing the Success Continuity™. The possible interventions will involve one or more Pillars and will leverage from one to four Factors through different complexity and duration projects.

 

For example:

• Development Projects of High Performance Groups responsible for a Process/organisational Unit with monitoring and commitment to increase specific KPIs
• “Nudging communication” project to increase/guarantee fulfilment and adhesion to the expected practices aimed at individuals by leveraging the daily interaction with devices and company systems …
• Training programmes aimed at increasing the positive impact of Compliance culture and consequent behaviours on real processes that involve real groups that share the same business/support process, etc.