What challenges might you face when forming a new team focused on tackling a daunting project? How might you navigate the complexity of working together towards a shared goal? The Personal Dashboard is a simple tool that teams can use to build a shared awareness of the personal interest each person has in the team and the project. It can bring forward the hard and soft skills that each person brings to the team and foster a discussion around the support that team members need from one another and can offer to one another. Finally, the Dashboard can be used to help identify gaps in the team that might not otherwise be apparent.
Design Phase: Include
Facilitator: 1
Activity Group: 3-8
Time: 1-2 Hours
Materials: Worksheets, Whiteboard or Virtual Whiteboard
Before the Activity
Create a Personal Dashboard worksheet based on the attached template. The worksheet should include 4-6 questions that ask what each team member is bringing to the team in specific areas and should also include at least one question where the team member can express what kind of support they will need.
In addition, the worksheet should include paired questions that ask other team members what they hope the individual team member will bring to the team in each area.
Questions should be selected, modified, or added based on the team structure and the goals the team is working towards.
Typical areas that might be included on the worksheet include professional background, working culture, hard skills (e.g., project management, statistical analysis, copywriting), soft skills (e.g., good communicator, creativity, organizing, social), team collaboration, innovation, support.
During the Activity
A good time to use the Personal Dashboard tool is when a new project team is forming or when an existing project team is bringing on new members or reevaluating how it collaborates. Set aside 1-2 hours, depending on the size of the team, to use the Dashboard tool and host a follow-up conversation.
- Gather the team and distribute a copy of the worksheet to each team member.
- Ask each team member to put their name at the top of the worksheet and then take some silent time to answer the questions on the worksheet about themselves (colored in white on the attached example worksheet).
- Team members should pass their worksheet to another team member. This can be done virtually using shared documents.
- Team members now take time to answer questions about the person named at the top of the worksheet in front of them. They should leave room for others to include their answers. If you don’t know enough to answer the question, leave it blank.
- Continue passing worksheets until each team member has had a chance to answer the questions on every worksheet.
- Pass the worksheets back to the person named at the top and open up a discussion around the following topics:
- What surprised you as you worked through the worksheets? Did you learn anything new about your colleagues?
- Where do you see our team’s strengths lie? How well are we poised for success?
- Looking at the skills and contributions brought by all team members, do you see gaps we may need to fill on the team to help us reach our goals? (Gaps could potentially be filled by hiring, by training or by other methods.)
- What kinds of support and assistance will our team need to offer to each other to be successful? How might we gain the confidence needed to call on our colleagues for this support?
- How does the knowledge we’ve brought forward in this exercise contribute to a better understanding of roles and responsibilities on the team?