Building on Foundation of Strengths

The appreciative inquiry process can be utilized effectively as a team building process. One of the key first steps is to establish an affirmative topic such as "Build an effective team" that can be used in a team building effort. The next step in any change process is to develop a current state. In the AI process, the first step is to Discover the strengths of the team members and the accomplishments of the collective team even if dysfunctional.

An excellent process to identifiy and celebrate the strengths of the team is to take the Gallup StrengthFinder evaluation. Tom Rath and the Gallup organization has developed a book that uses the strengthfinders results to speak to speak to leadership and how to leverage different strengths of the team members into a team leveraging those strengths. Strength Based Leadership  Tom Rath

The basis for using these strengths into a team building function comes from the belief: "Although individuals need not be well-rounded, teams should be." Some of the key finding of the book are:

• The most effective leaders are always investing in strengths
• The most effective leaders surround themselves with the right people and then maximize their team
• The most effective leaders understand their followers' needs

Research has shown that there are four domains that group the specific 34 themes inside the domain.

• Executing
• Influencing
• Relationship Building
• Strategic Thinking

The steps for utilizing the strength finders into a team building process is:

• Take the evaluation
• Use the book as a resource
• Compile the team themes and place in domain
• Use the data as a foundation to the team building

There have been several different aspects of team building that these steps have led to successe:

• Senior leadership - the application of strength finders into an AI team building process where the team were senior managers at a location who reported into remote executives resulted in an appreciation for each others roles and developed a common language and bond to work together despite the reporting relationship.
• Team leadership - used as a team building tool to improve team communication between the leader and the team as well as between team members. Specifically identified that each indivudal had a different lens to the challenges and needed to see the other's point of view.
• Team building - utilized within a team to improve working together. Specifically allowed the AI process to start from a foundation of strength and celebrate successes together and mutual unqiue contributions to the common good.
• Strategic planning - strengthfinders also helps form the foundation of a group of different individuals placed together to think about the vision and strategic plan for the organization.