Need to harness the strengths of your teammates? I recommend Team Management Profile

In today's world, we often need to work in teams to complete projects. A team can be defined as a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose and who are working independently to achieve specific performance goals using an approach for which they hold themselves accountable

Therefore, to fully reap the talents and strengths of your teammates, you would need to first identify and understand their strengths.

With this in mind, I attended the Team Management Profile Accreditation course last year to find out more. This is what I found out:

Hehe, I am a creator/innovator with minor roles of reporter/advisor and explorer/promoter. This makes me well-suited for my job as a consultant on innovation! Well, thank God I am able to make my passion my profession!

If you want to know more about TMP, here's more info:

The Team Management Profile, -Wheel and -Index (™) from Dr Charles J. Margerison and Dr Dick J. McCann constitute a method particularly useful for assessing work preferences in team context, and can also be used for assessing individual and organizational preferences.

Why work preferences in team context? Because people practice what they prefer so they become proficient in it and then, they take pleasure from it. Unlike MBTI, Team Management Profile (TMP) does not only provide information about an individual, about also in a team context.

Work preferences are measured in four main ways. First, preferences for extroverted and introverted work. Second, the balance between practical and creative work. Next, the influence of analysis and beliefs in decisions. Fourth, the extent to which you want to work in a structured or flexible way. These factors combined have a powerful influence on job choice, job satisfaction, motivation, teamwork, learning and development, and career moves.

This provides 8 team role preferences that people can perform in the Team Management Wheel (fig):

1. Reporter / Adviser. Supporter, helper, tolerant; a collector of information; he dislikes being rushed; knowledgeable; flexible.
2. Creator / Innovator. Imaginative; future-oriented; enjoys complexity; creative; likes research work.
3. Explorer / Promoter. Persuades, "seller"; likes varied, exciting, stimulating work; easily bored; influential and outgoing.
4. Assessor / Developer. Analytical and objective; developer of ideas; enjoys prototype or project work; experimenter.
5. Thruster / Organizer. Organizes and implements; quick to decide; results-oriented; sets up systems; analytical.
6. Concluder / Producer. Practical; production-oriented; likes schedules and plans; pride in reproducing goods and services; values effectiveness and efficiency.
7. Controller / Inspector. Strong on control; detail-oriented; low need for people contact; an inspector of standards and procedures.
8. Upholder / Maintainer. Conservative, loyal, supportive; personal values important; strong sense of right and wrong; work motivation based on purpose.

The Linking Role is shared by all team members. Work preferences reflect the psychology of the emotions and desires that you and others bring to the job. Where there exists a low alignment, or mismatch, then people tend to either adapt the job to their preference, or move to another job.

Usage of the Team Management Profile. Applications

Has been used by over 1000 organizations in more than 100 countries for:

• Teamwork improvement.
• Project staffing and management. Work allocation.
• Basis for continuing professional / individual development.
• Basis for leadership and talent management. Counseling.
• Cross functional teamwork communication.
• Recruitment and selection, career development and promotion.

Strengths of the Team Management Profile. Benefits

• Particularly useful for putting together and managing project teams.
• Strengths of people are leveraged in teams.
• While individuals should be encouraged to work in areas that match their preference, it is the responsibility of the team as a whole to make sure all types of work are covered.
• Understanding work preferences, both your own and other people's, are vital to successfully managing colleague and client relationship, and improving personal performance.
• What we prefer we tend to practice, and what we practice is where we tend to perform well.
• Focus is on personality in work, less on personality / life in general.

Assumptions of the Team Management Profile. Conditions

• Work preferences are important to people.
• People tend to practice what they prefer.
• People perform better in those areas that match their work preference.
• People do their best to ensure that these are satisfied in their jobs (or they will move on elsewhere).