The assessment is applied 18 months later to determine how skills have changed. Likewise, Hewlett Packard has used TMS assessments to provide insight to individual team members about their work preferences and what is expected of them. Glaxo Wellcome, meanwhile, uses TMS indexes to help existing teams continually assess where they are, where they're going and how they are performing while Monsanto uses assessments to determine which linking skills are missing among team members. You have to make the data come alive through wonderful facilitation that drives discussion or provides a common experience. Combining experiential learning with follow-up assessments certainly generated discussion among Cynthia O'Brien's fellow team members.
Sailing is a wonderful metaphor for teamwork.
The exercise required us to match personal strengths with different roles on the boat. It also helped us determine what the costs and payoffs were for team members who wanted to work outside their areas of expertise. This led to talking about personal goals, team goals and setting priorities on the boat. The assessment tools later parlayed that discussion into how teamwork is similar in the workplace. While more companies are gaining confidence in using assessments as part of team development, too much of a good thing can be bad, experts acknowledge.