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Have you ever been in a situation where no matter how hard you work at putting together a team it all seems to require daily tuning? Let's face it, sometimes leading teams can feel like you are pushing a string up hill. Have you ever been on a team where everyone understands the goals and is being held accountable for results, but the effort seems to overtake the value?
I remember one time when one simple - deliberate - act made an incredible difference in the life of the leader and his team...
I once worked for a regional engineering company that was awarded a once-in-a-lifetime project. This project was implementing newer technology in very difficult construction conditions with skilled - but dramatically different staff. The bandwidth of the team ran from highly-detail oriented to detail averse. We had members that were uber-empathetic & some that were extremely apathetic. In short, we had a power-keg in the team that could ignite into disfunction in a moments notice.
This team was initially constructed to address the skill set needed to deliver on a highly-technical and fast-paced project. This team was initial formed with the typical problem-solving approach most managers adopt when trying to deliver value for their customer. However, our leader had the insight to do one thing that fundamentally changed the way the team worked. He was thoughtful enough to understand the underlying friction that might exist if he wouldn't have taken the initiative to do something different.
The Critical Difference - Using Spiritual Gifts Tests as a Tool for Communication!
As a standard operating procedure, the company I worked for used personality profiling to understand team dynamics. Each of us had previously taken the test. Our leader chose to have us go out to breakfast and share the results of our tests. During this breakfast we concentrated on potential blind spots & orchestrated various ways we would leverage one another's strengths. While this could have taken on an air of attack - focusing on weaknesses - it actually worked in the opposite direction. With the test results we could see how we helped one another & how the team could be stronger if we simply relied on one another.
Results Speak Volumes
The contract we negotiated included an incentive clause that allowed us to share in the profits of the project if we actively contributed. With our new team operations leveraging others strengths, we were able to share in over $200k in profits. What an amazing opportunity - knowing that our entire contract was only $2.2M. That is almost 10% in incentives - giving our team the needed cash to focus on taking better care of the client. Our reliance on personality tests & implementing them in our team dynamics produced more profit in one project than most of the projects in the office combined!
You Can Change the Dynamics of Your Team Through Personality Testing or Spiritual Gift Testing
Personality Testing - There are a number of tests that can be used. Some are free (our abbreviated DiSC test for instance) or they can run into the thousands of dollars. The personality test we used for our project was a PSR - which run about $650 per test - but the value is many times the cost!
Gift Testing - God has created each of us differently. This beauty of His creative process is that He has actually equipped different people differently to glorify Him. You can use a Spiritual Gifts test to understand this crafting and how it fits within your team. Using a spiritual gifts test gives you a unique perspective that goes beyond your skill set and allows you to understand how each of your employees has been wired to benefit your godly purpose. Acting together as the Body of Christ your team can exceed your expectations!
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