Team Health Check Action Guide

QUESTION 3
My strengths are recognised here and I put them into practice every day in my job.

Watch a brief video that walks you through Gallup’s take on their version of this question.

Helping people get into roles in which they can most fully use their inherent talents and strengths is the ongoing work of great managers. Learning about individual differences through experience and assessment can help the manager position people efficiently within and across roles and remove barriers to high performance.

Key Insights

  1. The need that sits behind this question is “Know me”

  2. A low score is the #1 driver of someone looking for a new job and most likely it will be the high performers

  3. Employees taking a CliftonStrengths Assessment will lead to a 7% increase in engagement.  A programme that integrates strengths into the organisation will increase engagement by 23%

Team Activity to Unpack

  1. On 3 post it notes/cards/paper, write three different answers to the question “What three things do you personally do best in your work?”

  2. Mix the answers up and pass out three to each person.  Have them read out one card and then have the group guess who wrote it

  3. Continue until everyone has read the first card and then repeat the exercise until everyone has identified the writer

  4. Brainstorm ways the team can use each other’s strengths to accomplish the work that the team is responsible for (it could be write one idea on a post it note, share, and refine with a buddy and then share back)

Additional Questions to Ask

  1. What talents or strengths do we have that helps us provide service to our internal and external customers?

  2. What distracts us as a team from being as productive as we would want to be?

  3. What do we do that makes us successful as a team in this organisation?

  4. Are we each positioned for maximum effectiveness, both individually and as a team every day?  If not what changes can we make?

Suggestions for Action

Get everyone to complete a strengths profile.  Instructions can be found here Discover Your Strengths

  1. Focus everyone on developing their strengths

  2. Conduct a time, task, and talent analysis.  How much time does someone spend on a task that uses their talents.  How do you increase this %

  3. Change the way your team tackles new projects (1) allocate tasks based on who would enjoy doing the task (2) who is good at doing the task

  4. Recognise individual improvements