Getting Started with Team Dynamics

Learn how to get to Team Dynamics

What is Team Dynamics

Purpose

The Team Dynamics page is designed to allow all members of a team to learn more about how their team works together.  

Intended Audience and Type of Team

Any team member can access and find value in Team Dynamics - meaning it's not just for team leaders. The content on the Team Dynamics page is optimized for teams between 3 and 15 people. If your team has more than 15 people, the content is still valuable. However, it may become less relevant as distinct differences can get lost in the increased volume of Profiles.

Teams that can benefit the most from Team Dynamics are teams where members work together frequently and/or have shared goals. This can include more insular teams like a small engineering team to more independently operating teams like a group of executives.

Sections

Team Overview

This section gives you insights into how the overall constitution of your team can impact collaboration.

Size

Teams come in all sizes. And while there is no right or wrong size, the size of your team can impact how much each individual team member’s Profile can impact overall dynamics. For example, on smaller teams, each team member’s Profile and preferences have the potential for greater impact on overall team dynamics. On larger teams, each individual’s Profile and preferences tend to carry less weight.

Overall Range of Styles

The range of overall styles on your team can impact how easy or how difficult it may be to align and collaborate as a group. For example, teams with a larger range of Profiles likely bring a unique set of insights, able to look at issues from many different perspectives. However, they may have a harder time aligning on common practices or a shared way forward. Conversely, a team that has a smaller range of Profiles, may work together more easily. However, they may be more susceptible to “groupthink."

Dimension by Dimension Insights

Diving into each dimension, we look at three key calculations: primary style, any outliers, and missing perspectives. By looking at each dimension independently, we can zoom in on where patterns might emerge in how different work styles may impact team cohesion and effectiveness. This is paired with a snapshot of the team members’ Profiles (perfect for sharing screenshots!).

Primary Style

A primary style is defined as when a large majority of the team has a similar placement on a dimension. This is important because the majority can often dictate how a team operates and may unintentionally implement practices that exclude or demotivate those with a different style. This insight helps teams identify what biases they may have regarding behavior.

Outliers

Outliers are defined as a single team member who has a style that varies significantly from the rest of the team on a dimension. This is important because this person may be able to provide some unique insights due to this difference. However, it may also take some extra effort to ensure they feel included and respected on the team.

Missing Perspectives

Missing perspectives are defined as an area of a dimension where your team does not have any members. This is important because it represents potential opportunities for your team to challenge their own views and look at things differently, or approach tasks in a new way.

Strategies for Team Alignment

This section explores how to put everything together and align on a path forward as a team. Based on the team’s overall style and spread of Profiles, potential working agreements are generated in four key areas – 

1. Building Trust
2. Managing Meetings
3. Making Decisions
4. Giving Feedback and Resolving Conflict.

These areas represent common challenges that most teams face, and that are often discussed during a live debrief.

Collaboration Resources

Your team is provided with a list of activities and resources that they can review independently, or together as a team. Learning is a journey, and it’s important to keep these concepts top of mind in order to operationalize them in the long term.

Members

Here you can see a snapshot of all of the team members who are part of this team. This section also provides quick links for 1:1 comparisons with other team members. Team owners will also see pending members and an option to add new members; this is not visible to non-owners.

Limitations

Size

Less Than Three

Teams with less than three members will be able to see their chart, but not the insights. This is because two individuals are better served by a one-to-one comparison, which is always accessible from the Compare Profiles page.

More than 15

Teams with more than 15 members will be provided insights, but the content may feel less specific. If your team has more than 15 members, we recommend splitting that group into multiple teams of smaller, more compact working groups. 

Content

This content is human-written and calculated without any use of AI. With that said, some of the personalization that might be possible using an LLM is not provided as part of this product. If that is something you'd be interested in, please let us know at aperian.com/contact or by filling out this form. 

All content is written as guidance, and is not prescriptive. Every team is unique, and this page is meant to facilitate deeper discussion.