Supporting unit-based teams

One-page tool makes it easy for sponsors

THURSDAY, JULY 28, 2011

Highlighted Tools

• Sponsor Reporting Sheet [Tool]

Unit-based teams in every region have been slowed in their development by a lack of sponsorship. In some cases, team sponsors simply lack the time to fully engage with their teams and understand the issues standing in the teams’ way.

But a simple tool developed by the Mid-Atlantic States region is helping teams and their sponsors stay current on the status of team’s performance improvement work and identify barriers to advancement.

The reporting sheet allows team leads, in a concise format, to report to their sponsors a few key points, including:

• What tests of change the team is working on
• What they’re learning
• Barriers they need help overcoming

“There’s a big push to build up the level of sponsorship and get mid- to upper-level managers working more closely with their teams, to know want they’re working on and what the barriers are,” says Kevin Cornell, UBT metrics consultant for Mid-Atlantic States. "This is a proactive tool that co-leads can use to communicate regularly with the sponsors."