Based on many years of experience and participation in a number of projects where teambuilding was an essential element, Stratos, LLC has developed the Stratos Team Development Process. This process utilizes a consulting rather than a training paradigm. The consulting approach means that Stratos consultants work closely with team leadership to craft a teambuilding process that will meet the specific needs of that team. This customized approach has proven to have a more lasting effect on the performance of the team.

The Stratos process is based on some underlying concepts and principles. These concepts include:

• Every team is unique. The team development process for each team must be adjusted to the needs of that team.
• Teambuilding is a process not an event. Although the process may be driven by several team development meetings that appear as “events,” teams progress only by integrating elements of the process into their daily work.
• Team members are the best source of information about a team’s effectiveness. The Stratos Team Assessment process relies first on information gathered from one-on-one, confidential interviews with team members.
• Teams are dynamic. Changes in membership, direction, or roles can dramatically affect a team’s functioning. Periodic assessments or “health checks” can provide insight into the changing internal dynamics of a team and highlight the need for specific interventions.
• Clear sponsorship by management of any team development effort is essential to its success. A team development process should never appear to be “consultant driven.”
• Team development activities should be integrated into (and not distract from) the actual work of the team.
• Team improvement efforts should be delivered on a “just-enough,” “just-in-time” basis.
• Team development efforts need to be consistently applied throughout a project, department, or company.

Every Stratos Team Development process is customized for a specific team based on information gathered from team members, team leadership, and team customers. The basic development process, however, usually contains these phases:

• Initial contact – establishment of scope of work
• Direction meeting with team leadership
• Assessment of current team functioning
• Design of team development process
• Validation of team development process with team leadership
• Development and scheduling of initial team engagement
• Initial team development workshop
• Team development activities integrated into team’s work
• Follow-up team development meetings (as identified by team needs)
• Team assessment at intervals
• Team self-evaluation process
• Benchmarking and lessons learned process

Based on our experience of working with many teams on a wide range of endeavors, Stratos has identified eight essential components as essential to the functioning of an effective team:

• Direction
• Talent
• Work Process
• Roles/Accountabilities
• Team Process
• External Relations
• Team Norms
• Reinforcement

Typically, some teams do well in some areas and less well in others. The components can also vary in their relative impact on a team. Clear Team Direction, for example, is essential for every team while External Relations would vary in importance according to the team’s relationship with other entities. The team assessment identifies those team development areas that a specific team should address. A more detailed explanation of each of these components is provided as one of the Stratos Free Tools in the Tools and Workshops section of this web site.