Team Development

High performing teams need intentional investment

Being a highly effective team takes purposeful effort. Through research and experience of working with leadership teams around the world, we know that teams with a clear, shared purpose, trust and candor, close, informal connections, and a diverse mix of members outperform other teams

On aggregate, teams with these qualities are more productive, creative, and collaborative. Conversely, performance and engagement suffer when colleagues feel isolated from team members and are pulling in different or opposing directions.

Team development with MindsOpen

We work with executive and leadership teams to improve performance by helping team members better understand each other, leverage individual and collective strengths, build trust and collaboration, and know their collective purpose. Through our team alignment engagements, we identify the issues that are hindering team effectiveness and work with teams to find solutions to address these challenges.

Our work is informed by our High Performing Team model, which explores how team members:

  • Relate to one another, connect with each other, and work through conflict.
  • Solve problems and make decisions together and continually improve performance.
  • Prioritize and align on their purpose, goals, and objectives.
  • Leverage the diverse mix of talent on the team, balance their contributions, and learn from mistakes.

Our team development offerings

Team diagnostic

Using a range of evaluation tools including our High Performing Team survey, we identify the strengths and limitations of a team.

Team alignment

Exploring team dynamics and collective team behaviors, we help teams build trust, deepen understanding, and improve performance.

Team purpose

We help teams identify and execute their purpose and the habits by which they want to operate.

Team learning

We facilitate topic-specific upskilling sessions for teams, such as Engaging with Candor. We also run debriefs to learn from successful and failed business initiatives.

Let’s talk more about team development

When should we partner with you to develop our team?

Building and sustaining high performing teams is not a singular activity. Rather it’s a mindset and an intentional, ongoing practice. Leaders and team members should take shared responsibility for consistently investing in being an effective team.

We add value working with:

  • Newly formed teams to identify their purpose and priorities.
  • Divided teams with competing or different agendas.
  • Underperforming, demotivated teams experiencing interpersonal tension, mistrust, apathy, avoidance, a lack of collaboration, or unhealthy conflict.

What’s your approach to team development?

While each engagement is tailored to your needs and situation, we:

  • Engage with you at the outset to fully understand your desired outcomes, current team dynamics and performance, the broader organizational context, and business imperatives.
  • Gather insights from each team member about their leadership style and the way they contribute to the team dynamic. We combine our inquiry skills with the use of psychometric questionnaires.
  • Create psychologically safe spaces to explore the team’s strengths and their known and unknown barriers to team success.
  • Put our candid observations and insights into the room live with the team to have honest conversations about the issues.
  • Align the team on the behaviors and practical next steps they should take to be a higher performing team, drawing on our experience and knowledge of what makes an effective team.
  • Debrief with you, sharing our feedback, insights, and recommendations for next steps.

What are the benefits of your team development work?

The team and team members:

  • Are better equipped to lead the business and drive the organization forward.
  • Have greater trust, understanding, and honesty which improves collective problem solving and decision making.
  • Are equipped with the insights and tools to get the best out of each other and work together more effectively.
  • Apply the learning to their own teams, positively impacting engagement, innovation, and productivity.
  • Are more aligned on their purpose and priorities, making better use of their time and energy.

What do clients say about our team development work?

MindsOpen knew us better than we knew ourselves on first evaluation, quantitatively and qualitatively. They not only accurately assessed the functional health of the team but also identified where our communication gaps and behaviors were present, and how they could play out if left unaddressed. From MindsOpen we got astute insights, observations that rang true, and most importantly, tangible and actionable solutions that would change the dynamics and behaviors of our team for the better. K.W., Senior Executive, Technology Industry

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MindsOpen takes the time to understand the root issues. They have a way of connecting with different types of leaders to get the most out of them in a group and in individual interactions. They approach their work in an authentic way that draws even the strongest naysayers in. During a complex team engagement in the business I support, our MindsOpen coach had a way of eliciting the participation of a couple of people I was not sure would open up to the process. They knew how to push people just so. The assessment tools they utilize offer a round understanding of the individual and help to push forward interesting dialogue and insight about other team members. MindsOpen is a fantastic partner, always available to offer insight/suggestions and they have helped me in my approach significantly. You feel like you are working with the very best when engaging MindsOpen. D.G., HR Executive, Real Estate Investment

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The direct style is appreciated. They see into your soul. Other providers are too fluffy compared to MindsOpen. They deliver feedback in a concise and calm way. They see through all the barriers to get to the essence of a person or team. They make a meaningful difference to individuals and teams that go through the rigor of the customized plan. The best I have seen at cutting through the BS and identifying the core of the issue(s). Hence, people learn and grow quickly. CEO, Food and Beverage Industry

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Their work with individuals, teams, and our organization has had and continues to add tremendous value and real impact. They listen and understand, and have a keen and nuanced sense of people, issues, and solutions. They adapt to the diverse needs of clients, drawing on a deep reservoir of techniques, with practical and actionable steps that raise the quality of outcomes. Their time with us has consistently provided essential support to each of us individually and collectively to help move us forward together toward becoming a fitter, healthier and higher functioning team. Having experienced many such engagements, their comparative and absolute value is beyond compare. Worth every dime and minute of investment, I will and have recommended them to others without reservation.  M.S., Chief Operating Officer, Financial Services

services

Executive
Coaching

Our insight-driven executive coaching helps leaders evolve at a pace that outstrips the demands of their role and make lasting breakthroughs.

Team
Development

Leadership teams we work with are more effective by better understanding each other, leveraging their strengths, and knowing their collective purpose.

Leadership
Development

With our learner-centric approach, leaders better understand their behavior and impact. They grow by practicing new ways of responding to real-world scenarios. 

Executive Assessment and Succession Planning

Having assessed thousands of leaders, we give you with a reliable and accurate profile of new hires and current executives. Our succession planning work identifies key priorities, leadership capabilities for success, and development pathways.

Organizational Change and Culture

We partner with you to define the changes you need to make, to align your executive team, to engage your people, and to drive successful change outcomes.
What our clients
say about us

MindsOpen takes the time to understand the root issues. The coaches have a way of connecting with different types of leaders to get the most out of them in a group and in individual interactions. They approach their work in an authentic way that draws even the strongest naysayers in. During a complex engagement with a team in the business I support, our MindsOpen coach had a way of eliciting the participation of a couple of people I was not sure would open up to the process. They knew how to push people just so. The assessment tools they utilize offer a round understanding of the individual and help to push forward interesting dialogue and insight about other team members. MindsOpen is a fantastic partner. Our coaches are always available to offer insight/suggestions and they have helped me in my approach significantly. You feel like you are working with the very best when engaging MindsOpen.

D.G., HR Executive, Real Estate Investment

They understand nuance, organizational difference, and don't try label individuals or companies, or define people as a "type" in relation to what or who they are. Their approach is a journey. It does not feel like you are being led to a certain point but are facilitated in finding your way. They are clear on objectives but very agile on how you get there. For the first time, I enjoy my coaching sessions. My coach has a very good style. He is challenging but empathetic; listens and understands well; is highly astute; and brings people out of themselves to create an open and candid, but safe environment for teams to engage. I also just felt a connection, trust, and liked him. He is very human in his approach and creates space for me to be vulnerable and honest.

K.S., Chief Operating Officer, Global Law Firm

Their direct style is appreciated. They see into your soul. Other providers are too fluffy compared to MindsOpen. They deliver feedback in a concise and calm way. They see through all the barriers to get to the essence of a person or team. They make a meaningful difference to individuals and teams that go through the rigor of the customized plan. The best I have seen at cutting through the BS and identifying the core of the issue(s). Hence, people learn and grow quickly.

M.T., CEO, Beverage Industry

Leadership journeys today are incredibly complex, intensely demanding and ever evolving. Neil’s style - rooted in enduring principles and concepts; challenging yet caring; highly personalized - is well suited to this environment. His coaching has transformed the way I think about and practice leadership. It’s benefited me in innumerable ways, professionally and even personally. More importantly, it’s benefited the organization I lead and the next generation of leaders coming through it. That ‘multiplier effect’ is priceless. We would not be the organization we are today without him.

Martin Whittaker, CEO, Just Capital

After working with MindsOpen, our leaders have been much more aware of their blind spots and are more self-aware in general. They have improved in their leadership abilities and have also built their confidence. It's been great that our leaders can choose from a few different professionals to ensure they are comfortable with their coach. We have really appreciated the rigor of the psychological insight being taken into consideration. We also love the balance of the customization for each individual with the consistency we are able to gain across leaders. The MindsOpen coaches keep in mind the different needs, skills, and abilities of each of our leaders. That’s been really wonderful for us.

M.K. Head of HR, non-profit sector

MindsOpen is a great way to summarize my coaching experience. My coach’s ability to combine psychological rigor with significant global experience across a broad range of industries has unlocked my leadership potential and significantly accelerated my personal development. Senior executives and mentors recognized this evolution and promoted me from a high potential “diamond in the rough” to a successful leader leading a multi-billion spend, global transformation program. My leadership brand became visible to others through a clearly defined set of characteristics that guide my behaviors every day, resulting in me successfully engaging the wider organization to act and create value for the business. My coach helped me identify and shape these characteristics in line with my past, present, and future, which makes it very natural for me to include them in the way I lead.

J.V., Global procurement executive, Food Industry

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