Unlocking Potential: How Tailored Workshops Enhance Team Collaboration

Understanding Team Collaboration

The Power of Tailored Workshops

Have you ever sat through a generic team building workshop that felt like a waste of time? You leave with a notepad full of buzzwords but no real changes in how your team works together. The problem? One-size-fits-all solutions don’t work for real people with real personalities.

People aren’t robots. We’re all wired differently and understanding those differences is the key to unlocking real collaboration. If you’ve read Surrounded by Idiots (Erikson, 2019), you’ll know that not everyone thinks, communicates or collaborates in the same way. That’s why tailored workshops designed around your team’s specific needs and behavioural types are the secret weapon for high performance teams.

Why Team Collaboration Fails

Collaboration isn’t about throwing people into a room and hoping they get along.

It fails when:

❌ Reds (Dominant) bulldoze their way to a decision before everyone’s had their say.
❌ Yellows (Influential) brainstorm endlessly but struggle to follow through.
❌ Greens (Steadfast) avoid confrontation, leading to unresolved tensions.
❌ Blues (Analytical) get stuck in analysis paralysis, slowing down progress.

Sound familiar? It’s no surprise that 86% of employees cite poor collaboration as the main cause of workplace failure (PwC, 2021). When a team doesn’t understand each other’s strengths, stress triggers and communication styles, productivity takes a hit.

How Tailored Workshops Fix the Problem

The best workshops don’t just throw generic teamwork theories at you. They dig deep into your team’s behavioural DNA. Instead of forcing a single approach on everyone, a tailored workshop aligns collaboration strategies with the way people naturally work.

Key Ingredients for a Game-Changing Workshop

✅ Self-Awareness First – Teams need to understand their own and each other’s behavioural styles before they can work better together.
✅ Clear Goals – Without a shared purpose, even the best collaboration efforts fall flat.
✅ Real-World Application – If it doesn’t translate into daily work life, it’s useless.
✅ Psychological Safety – People need to feel safe to challenge ideas, give honest feedback, and disagree constructively.

The DISA Model in Action

Let’s say a team is struggling with conflict during meetings. How do you fix it? Here’s what a tailored workshop might look like using the DISA Behavioural Model:

🔴 Reds (Dominant) – Need quick, efficient discussions. The workshop focuses on listening skills and patience.
🟡 Yellows (Influential) – Love brainstorming but need help with structure. Activities encourage focused discussion and accountability.
🟢 Greens (Steadfast) – Hate conflict and avoid tough conversations. The session teaches assertiveness techniques.
🔵 Blues (Analytical) – Prefer logic over gut feeling. The workshop introduces decision making frameworks to move projects forward.

When teams learn how to adapt their approach based on personality dynamics, they get more done with fewer conflicts.

Proof That It Works

📊 Teams with high collaboration rates are 52% more productive than those working in silos (Deloitte, 2021).
🚀 Companies that prioritise collaboration and teamwork are five times more likely to be high performing (McKinsey & Company, 2022).
💡 Employees who feel heard and understood are 4.6 times more likely to perform at their best (Gallup, 2023).

The numbers don’t lie. When people work with their natural behaviours instead of against them, teamwork isn’t just effective, it’s enjoyable.

Final Thought from me is to stop fighting natural behaviour, start harnessing it.

Collaboration isn’t about forcing everyone to work the same way. It’s about understanding differences and making them work for the team.

So, next time you’re in a meeting where a Red is steamrolling the conversation, a Yellow is jumping from idea to idea, a Green is avoiding confrontation and a Blue is silently critiquing the whole thing, ask yourself:

👉 Are we working against our natural behaviours, or are we harnessing them for better collaboration?

Tailored workshops help teams stop clashing and start collaborating and that’s what makes the difference.

References

• Deloitte (2021) 2021 Global Human Capital Trends. Deloitte Insights.
• Erikson, T. (2019) Surrounded by Idiots: The Four Types of Human Behaviour and How to Effectively Communicate with Each in Business (and in Life). Vermilion.
• Gallup (2023) State of the Global Workplace: 2023 Report. Gallup.
• McKinsey & Company (2022) The Impact of Collaboration on Business Performance. McKinsey.
• PwC (2021) Future of Work and Collaboration Trends. PwC.

#bmbyou #Teamwork #DISAModel #Collaboration #L&D