Written by Milena Velez, Consulting Team Leader, Blacksmith

Ever felt frustrated when your team members or colleagues don’t approach things like you would?  Well, this is actually a really good place to find yourself, and the Team Management Profile explains why.

The Team Management Profile (TMP) helps you identify your own working style and better understand those of the people you work with.  The profile explains your preferences across four key areas: how you relate to other people; how you gather and use information; how you make decisions; and how you organise yourself.  It provides a common, non-judgmental language that opens the door to explore diversity in your team.

Here’s how it works.  After completing a 10-minute online questionnaire, the profile is generated for an accredited consultant to debrief either individually or with a team.  While it can be done for an individual, where we have really seen the value is when teams participate in a debrief together as part of a Leadership or Team Performance workshop to build appreciation of their own and their team mates preferences.

The TMP can be used as a stand-alone tool to build self-awareness and awareness of others and it can also be incorporated into a Leadership Programme or Team Performance workshop.  It’s useful for developing managers, leaders and teams, as well as managing change and valuing diversity.

We recently used the TMP as part of a one-day Team Performance workshop for a team of 14 people, including three who were new to the team.  Their Manager shared that “The Team Management Profiles were very illuminating and gave us a good focus for our discussions”.