Today’s energiser will focus on your arms. The purpose of this game is to reflect on how people work as a team. They can also reflect on how their work preferences influence their behaviour and the outcomes of the task.

Begin With A Simple Definition

Firstly, explain the characteristics of each construct: Structured and Flexible. Remember, no-one is always Structured or always Flexible. We can all do Structured and Flexible things, but the important thing to remember is that we don’t do them with equal enjoyment or comfort. It’s also important to stress that these constructs describe preferences, not skills.

“When making a decision of minor importance, I have always found it advantageous to consider all the pros and cons. In vital matters, however, such as the choice of a mate or a profession, the decision should come from the unconscious, from somewhere within ourselves. In the important decisions of personal life, we should be governed, I think, by the deep inner needs of our nature”.
                                                                                            - Sigmund Freud

People approach work in different ways. Sometimes these differences get in the way of effective interactions with others, especially in team meetings.

The session plan below uses the RIDO constructs to develop a list of 'Meeting Ground Rules'. This will provide a guide for behaviour and help to improve the team’s effectiveness and efficiency in meetings.

When introducing and working with the TMS concepts, it’s a good idea to follow the steps that Dick McCann and Charles Margerison took when they first developed the Team Management Profile (TMP). Dick and Charles developed the Types of Work Model, then the Work Preference Measures and finally the Team Management Wheel.

If you divide your introductory session into this order, participants have the chance to stay equally focused on their work through the Types of Work Model, their preferences through Work Preference Measures and finally their individual and team Profile through the Team Management Wheel. This logically leads to value added discussion around the impact the Team Management Profile has on performance and what the individual or the group needs to do to improve it. Many people find the graphic below helpful in illustrating how the Team Management Profile was developed.

As a trainer or facilitator, you need to make sure your learners are engaged. Otherwise they won’t get the message loud and clear, let alone transfer it back to the workplace. What better way to engage learners than by giving them what they want. But what do learners want?