Thirty KeyCorp leaders, each responsible for a major initiative to improve organizational effectiveness, were enrolled in leadership training through The Weatherhead Leadership Institute at Case Western Reserve University. As the leaders formed their working groups and began to tackle their initiatives, Weatherhead looked for a way to efficiently and economically evaluate the effectiveness of all these groups. In particular, Weatherhead wanted to provide feedback and tools for the team leaders while the projects were in midstream, so the leaders could act immediately to improve results.

The leaders of the thirty initiatives each completed an online Performance Leaders survey designed to assess the group's performance challenge, success in executing against team "fundamentals", and level of investment in collective output. The assessment results, processed by the Performance Leaders system, provided the basis for a workshop conducted by Katzenbach Partners consultants. The workshop presented a framework for team effectiveness and provided insights based on the assessment results for all the leaders, showing how leaders might benefit from redirecting their groups or adjusting the level of investment in collective processes and work products. The individual leaders were then given detailed reports regarding the dynamics of their own groups and the relation of these dynamics to performance. These reports were generated automatically by the Performance Leaders system and could be accessed online, along with a wealth of follow-up tools, as the team leaders determined the right next steps to move their groups forward.

• How can an organization ensure the success of a large number of internal teams?
• What tools can help team leaders manage their group's development?
• How can leadership training more strongly impact participants' business results?

Leaders are equipped to increase team effectiveness at an early stage

Through the Katzenbach Team Assessment, KeyCorp leaders received timely, actionable feedback on how to make their teams more effective. The midstream evaluation was conducted quickly and inexpensively. The results were presented within a useful model for team processes that keeps the focus on performance, and were made available to each leader as a tool for ongoing development. The results highlighted specific group processes currently affecting results, and did so in time for leaders to redirect teams or reallocate resources as needed.

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