TEAM DEVELOPMENT The influence of using a team development program on team cooperation and performance: Perspectives from team leaders

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the outcomes of an internal team development program from the perspective of team leaders in a global company based in Sweden. The focus is on how their team´s cooperation and performance developed after the program. The team development program is based on the Group Development Questionnaire (GDQ) team assessment. Theory The Integrative Model of Group Development was used for the main analysis of the results. Method: With a phenomenological approach, a qualitative study was conducted using semi-structured interviews. Nine team leaders were selected from the company for interviews. The results from the interviews were analyzed by a thematic analysis. Result: The analysis resulted in six main themes and 40 sub-themes. The results show that team leaders perceive their teams to have made several changes in their cooperation and way of working, which has resulted in better performance of the team in relation to their stakeholders. The team leaders also reported that the program gave both them and their team members’ insight into what they needed to change to improve their cooperation, as well as the changes they needed to make after the program to improve team performance.