Team Role FAQs: Behavioural Goals

In an article on Team Performance Management, you say that one should start with the identification of behavioural goals. How can I identify behavioural goals that can be used as the basis for measuring behaviour?

There are various techniques that can be used to identify behavioural goals.

For general goals, one method is to produce a Team BARS (Behaviourally Anchored Rating Scales). This is a form of competency grid relating to team behaviours that can facilitate team performance management. The Team BARS would be produced by the team itself, usually under facilitated guidance.

Another method that relates directly to the MTR-i team roles, and that involves people outside the team, is based on the ITPQ, or Ideal Team Profile Questionnaire. This questionnaire asks team members, customers, senior management, peer groups, staff, etc. to give their views on what types of behaviour would make the team successful. The results are then aggregated, to identify the differing views of the various demographic groups. However, the final decision, on what behavioural goals should be set, remains with the team itself - the outside views facilitate a more informed decision, but don’t actually make that decision.

Once the team has determined it’s ‘ideal’ profile, it can then compare their current behavioural profile using the MTR-i Team Role Questionnaire. The results of the two questionnaires establish the basis for Team Performance Management:

a statement of the behaviours you want to be using, in order to be most successful
a statement of the behavours you are currently using

The team can then:

undertake a gap analysis between the ideal and current roles,
identify actions they can take to improve performance, by making more use of certain team roles, and less use of others.

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