Tuckman’s Stages of Group Development states that every team goes through 4 stages: Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing. Your team’s effectiveness is influenced by the stage it is in, with the end goal being to reach performing, where your team will be in harmony and working at a productive level. By spending time upfront determining your team structure and dynamics you can decrease the speed it takes to reach the performing stage.
A BI team must contain diversity of skills, experience levels and business knowledge. Once you have identified potential team members for your BI initiative, you should narrow it down to a group of 5-8 individuals. There are questions you can ask to determine who will serve on your core team and business area team in order to set your initiative up for success.
Core Team
- Do you have a broad understanding of each of the major business areas of the association and how they fit together?
- Are you able to say “No”?
- What do you believe will be expected of you in your role as a core team member?
- What is your understanding of the goals we have for business intelligence?
- Do you have professional development goals that relate to this project?
- Do you interact comfortably with all levels of staff?
Business Area Team
- What percent of your time do you spend with data, either managing or consuming?
- Do you have business questions you want answered, but are unable to answer now?
- Do staff often come to you with data-related questions?
- Are you comfortable working in a team environment?
- What is your availability?
- Do you make data-guided decisions now?
- What do you believe will be expected of you in your role as a core team member?
- What is your understanding of the goals we have for business intelligence?
It is important to ask potential team members questions like these in order to determine the best fit and to set expectations. Once your team is selected, the next step is to begin the journey of becoming a high performing team.
