Case Study

Learning the importance of teamwork

Oxford University's Learning Institute delivers one-off workshops and structured courses to help the Universityand college staff in the development of their careers – topics covered include leadership and management,student supervision, finance & personnel issues, and personal & career development. But the Institute has alsofound some interesting ways of using the Team Management Profile with the University's students, to help themwork more effectively with others. Negotiating differencesEach year Oxford University’s student bodyelects a group of officers to represent them innegotiations with the University, and to helpstudents with welfare issues. Although theofficers are supported by a handful ofadministrative staff, and have finished theirstudies, it’s quite a challenge for young peoplewith no management experience, little time tolearn, and no real budget behind them.

“They come in only for a year and have very littletime to get themselves organised and up andrunning before they have to deliver," saysJonathan Wyatt, Head of ProfessionalDevelopment at the University’s LearningInstitute. "Very quickly they have to find a way offunctioning well together.”

Recognising the challenge each year's studentofficers faced, a former union President decidedthat the officers needed support and training todo their role effectively. This included trainingaround leadership and management (somemanage volunteers such as those on the studenthelpline), a greater realisation of how they couldfunction as a team, and how to be their mostproductive given their time and financialconstraints.

In response, Jonathan and colleagues introducedthe union to the Team Management Profile tohelp the student officers identify their individualpreferences, and any implications for their team,and to provide a language for talking about theseissues with one another. “They generally haven’tbeen through management or other training, and

have no formal awareness of group dynamics,”he says.

Four years on and use of the Team ManagementProfile is well established in each year’sinduction for the new officers as part of apackage of training.

Each year the student officers receive their TeamManagement Profiles, share their results, mapthem on the Team Management Wheel, andidentify any gaps and ways these can beaddressed. “It forms the basis of everything else

“ they’re surprised at what itreveals in terms of balance ofpreferences

Margerison-McCann Team Management Profile

University of Oxford - Case Study

Margerison-McCann Team Management Profile

that follows,” he says. “Although the students'work is intense and time-limited they’re usuallyvery bright and energetic and do the exercisesvery quickly.”

“They love doing it and find it enlightening.They’re surprised at what it reveals in terms ofbalance of preferences, and find it a usefullanguage for talking about how they might adaptor work differently to compensate for any gaps.”

And Jonathan is confident of the Profiles’usefulness on three counts: their applicability,repeat usage and the feedback received fromstudents.

First, students use the Profile results to helpstructure their meetings – as a team they tend tohave gaps around Inspecting and Maintaining –to ensure they cover all areas of the Types ofWork Model.

Second, the fact that each year's student officersrequest the training from the Learning Institutesuggests their predecessors have recommendedthe Profile to them. "The union is an independentgroup and could ignore us if they wanted,”Jonathan says. And although the Profiles aren’tused beyond the induction, he regards this “asan indication not that they don’t have value orimpact but that the students’ work just getsridiculously busy and they barely get time tobreathe.”

And then there is the positive feedback fromstudents. “It’s definitely useful doing the Profilesat the start of the year,” says Daniel Stone, whofinished his year-long appointment as theunion’s Vice President (Charities and Community)

in June 2012 after graduating with an MA inEconomics and Management in 2011.

“I found it really interesting and useful to thinkabout the way that I learn and approachdifferent tasks,” he says. “You tend to leantowards your strengths rather than thinking, ‘Isthere another way we could tackle this?’ TheProfile helped me to understand my preferredlearning style and that of others on the team,and how this affects negotiating style, whichhas relevance for my work.”

A matter of life and deathThe Team Management Profile is also used withthe University’s final year medical students –those in the second year of their foundationcourse as student doctors who are taking aspecial study module on management andleadership in the NHS (so looking to take on amanagerial role at some stage in their career).

“Although the students are not a team”, explainsBill Dunn, Professional Development Adviser atthe University’s Learning Institute, “the TeamManagement Profile is used to take themthrough the notion of difference, and to explorethe issues around managing people andmanaging teams before they become managersthemselves”.

"We use the Profile so they understand thenotion of teams and team dynamics: that theirviews may not be the same as others', and whatkind of situations can arise," says Bill. “We getthem to reflect on situations that might havehappened in the past, and to see where otherpeople might be coming from. We like the TeamManagement Systems model as it doesn’t try tolabel anyone, but instead says that peoplebehave in different ways," he adds.

Also keen on the Profiles is Renée Watson, afreelance trainer who delivers the medical

students’ two-week leadership programme onbehalf of the Learning Institute. “Bothpostgraduate and undergraduate students saythey find the Profiles extremely useful,” she says.“It is the last thing that they do before becoming‘proper’ doctors.”

And from follow-up research she’s done afterthey’ve started practicing as doctors, the medicalstudents say the Profile gives them a greaterunderstanding of the different teams inhealthcare – e.g. inter-disciplinary, multi-disciplinary and those involving patients –and to see how they fit into those teams.

“Introducing the idea and mechanics ofteamworking is very important to medicalstudents joining the NHS”, says Bill. "In someworkplaces, if teamworking breaks down, theoutcome may be that a report is late. In amedical situation it's a bit different – the stakesare more serious. Good teamworking there isvital; it can be an issue of life and death."

Elsewhere in the University, the TeamManagement Profile is used with researchers,admin teams in the University's developmentoffice and other administrative and academicdepartments. These are teams that are,compared to the student groups, more stableand have been working together for longerperiods. But despite these differences Jonathanbelieves there is transferability between the twoareas. "Working with the students is a bit likeworking with a team on a complex time-limitedproject," he says. Something all too common intoday’s fast-paced work environment!

Further information: www.ox.ac.uk | www.tmsdi.com

“ it doesn’t try to label anyone,but instead says that peoplebehave in different ways

© TMS Development International Ltd, 2012 - 2014

“ good teamworking is vital; it can be an issue of life anddeath