The Team Style Optimizer: Discover Your Team's Natural Teamwork Preferences to Harness Their Productivity (Execution Leadership Collection)

https://morph4sys.com/tso?wpam_id=1

The Team Style Optimizer looks like a great book.  What can you tell us about it?

Sure. The Team Style Optimizer book presents an assessment that team members and leaders can use to better understand the different work styles on their team.

The book explains WHY a clear understanding of the dynamics and interplay of different work styles is essential for improving team effectiveness.  It lays out WHAT information and insights the assessment will provide those who complete the assessment included with the book.  Finally it walks the reader step-by-step on HOW to complete the assessment and interpret the results.

Once everyone on the team has completed the assessment and compiled the results, they can see the different work styles they bring to their teamwork.  Each work style has strengths and weaknesses.  Team composition - in terms of the similar or different work styles among team members - also affects team balance.  

The book can help leaders and colleagues better plan and manage teamwork, reduce misunderstanding and miscommunications, and develop a productive rhythm for executing tasks and accomplishing objectives.  This type of knowledge lets everyone feel engaged and enthusiastic about team collaboration, and that leads to stronger team results.

This is a DIY book.  It requires no outside expertise and allows teams to create greater clarity, alignment, focus and momentum by understanding and acknowledging each colleague’s distinct work style preferences.

 

Any plans to turn it into a series?

Yes, we do! We are planning to create other titles as part of “The Executive Leadership Collection.” We don’t have a specific timetable for adding titles yet, but will create and add them as we find time to create high quality resources for interested readers.

 

Can you tell us a little about your target market for the book?

Our target market for the book is anyone interested in reducing drag and friction that often characterizes teamwork.  Teams are usually part of organizations in different sectors, e.g., business, not-for-profit, government, education, etc. 

Another way of thinking about our target market for the book is leadership.  Leaders don’t always have a title, but they are usually part of a team or organization. We developed this book for those people who want to help their team function better. They are the ones who realize that while they have a solid team, stronger teamwork could make them amazing.Tthe book can also help any member of a team who thinks they are not achieving their potential better understand what’s going on “under the hood” when it comes to teamwork.

 

What section did you have the most fun writing?

Writing Section 4, Team Member Styles, was a lot of fun. Each of the five team member styles has strengths and each has drawbacks. Setting that all out in an easy to understand way was challenging and satisfying. There is no one right way to be a good team member like there is no one way to be a good human. Understanding what each person brings to the table is critical for effective teamwork. Knowing how to best communicate with one another is also key. Being able to articulate these concepts and informing team members that their mates aren’t intractable, they just don’t communicate the same way is like handing these teams a gift. We are able to help these teams we will never meet.

 

What inspired the idea for the book?

My co-author and I have over seventy years of combined experience working with leaders and teams.  We were discussing that the biggest barrier for teams to realize their full potential is not in the qualifications and credentials of the team members, but in their (in)ability to understand the structure, mechanics, and dynamics of their unique everyday teamwork.  We wanted to place a simple but effective DIY tool in the hands of leaders and teams to enable them to raise their game and bring to life the saying “the whole is greater than the sum of the parts”.

 

How did you come up with the title for the book?

The title was the culmination of the writing process. After we had nearly completed the content and were happy with the results, we struggled initially to come up with a title that would explain exactly what readers could expect when they open the book. After a lot of brainstorming and some pretty mediocre ideas we came up with “The Team Style Optimizer: Discover Your Team’s Natural Teamwork Preferences to Harness Their Productivity.”

 

Did anything stick out as particularly challenging when writing The Team Style Optimizer?

One of the challenging things was making sure to include complete explanations about various terms and concepts. When developing, testing and using the assessment, my co-author and I would explain things as participants asked questions. The same issue arose when creating the written instructions for taking the assessment. We needed to be cognizant of the fact that people using the assessment on their own or with their team would need complete and specific instructions included in the book.

 

Where can readers find out more about your work?

On our websites, www.morph4sys.com and https://www.sanaghangroup.com/  and our LinkedIn profiles https://www.linkedin.com/in/avikroy/ and https://www.linkedin.com/in/pat-sanaghan-7075071/