How can one build an efficient and effective team from a small department in a company?

cooperation, team building

The challenge

To reset the company department to work based on cooperation.

Background

The design department of a property development company comprised five designers, two assistants, and one manager. Tasks were distributed between the designers, and each of them worked individually, with the help of the assistants if necessary. There was no need for organizing meetings for the department as a whole. The workload of specific designers was uneven. From time to time the designers would support one another, along the lines of helping out a colleague. On the one hand, company management expected more efficient operation, while on the other there was a strong feeling in the department that, as a team, they were performing inefficiently.

Diagnosis of the problem

An assessment was obtained from the board and the organization’s managers of the way in which the design department was functioning, and this indicated reserves in terms of productivity and the level of cooperation.
The level of cooperation was diagnosed in regard to the functioning of team goals and the organization of work in the team.
Additionally, the level of cooperation between the design department and the rest of the organization was analyzed.

Solution

We conducted workshops for all employees, aimed at building cooperation by:
drawing up departmental goals matching the organizational goals,
identifying tasks necessary for achieving the departmental goals,
working on an increase in the uniformity of attitudes towards matters of importance for the department.
We provided consulting support aimed at achieving the departmental goal of “increasing the department’s role in the preparation of offers and their negotiation”

Results

Introduction by the team of weekly meetings aimed at analyzing and optimizing ongoing tasks
Improvement of the task workload in the team
Designer team representatives included in the team preparing offers for clients as consultants
An increase in the number of ongoing projects

“As a team, we feel less stressed, and it is easier for us to handle larger workloads”

Let’s meet up!

We’d be happen to hear about the challenges your organization is facing and how we might help you.

Let’s meet up