How Sussex Innovation Centre’s Team Optimised Collaboration

A strengths-based workshop fostering teamwork, shared understanding, and a foundation for organisational growth.

Building on Strengths to Drive Innovation and Collaboration

Sussex Innovation Centre serves as a hub for innovative SMEs, entrepreneurs, and start-ups, providing consultancy, investment, and co-working solutions. Within the Commercial Team, a strong foundation of shared values and great dynamics already existed. However, with a new organisational vision in place, the team sought to explore how they could collaborate even more effectively and align their strengths with business goals.

Led by Strengthify, the team workshop provided valuable insights into leveraging individual strengths for collective success. The impact was so profound that Sussex Innovation is now exploring rolling out the Strengthify framework across the wider organisation, with additional workshops and manager participation in the Strengthify Management Development Programme.

Exploring New Ways to Collaborate and Excel

The Commercial Team’s goals included enhancing collaboration, building on their strong foundation of shared values, and understanding how individual strengths could align with the team’s vision. Key challenges included:

• Identifying opportunities for deeper collaboration within the team.
• Leveraging strengths to further align team dynamics with organisational goals.
• Providing the manager with tools to better understand and support team members.

One participant noted:
“Taking time out of the day-to-day to review our individual and collective strengths was a very useful exercise. It gave us a new appreciation for one another, a different lens to see each other through.”

A Strengthify Team Workshop

The Strengthify Team Workshop used CliftonStrengths® assessments and collaborative activities to help team members reflect on their unique talents and explore opportunities to align these with their roles and organisational objectives.

Aims of the Workshop:

• Strengthen collaboration and teamwork within the Commercial Team.
• Provide a fresh perspective on individual and collective strengths.
• Equip the manager with insights to support and align the team effectively.

What the Session Covered:

1. Exploring Individual Strengths:
   Team members reviewed their CliftonStrengths results to understand their unique talents and how they shape their approach to work.

   • “It was very interesting to take a step back regarding my own strengths, but particularly valuable to think about other team members.” 

2. Aligning Strengths with Team Goals:
   Activities focused on understanding how individual strengths can combine to enhance collaboration and productivity.

   • “Adopting a strengths-based approach gave us a shift in mindset—leveraging our strengths rather than focusing on weaknesses.” 

3. Practical Team Tools:
   The team grid highlighted how strengths could align and complement each other for maximum effectiveness.

   • “The team grid was very revealing and helped us see opportunities for working more effectively together.” 

Collaboration and Clarity for Continued Growth

The workshop delivered measurable results, providing the team with tools to work more effectively and insights to drive collaboration.

Key Outcomes from the Workshop:
✅ Improved Team Collaboration:

• “Understanding each other’s strengths and styles has already changed the way we work together.” 

✅ Enhanced Leadership Insights:

• “We are sharing our ‘how you get the best of me’ profiles across the team as an ongoing reminder.” 

✅ Increased Motivation and Engagement:

• “By focusing on the unique strengths of each team member, we’ve fostered a more positive and productive work environment.”

Feedback Highlights

Value of the Workshop:

• 90% of participants rated the workshop as extremely or very valuable.
• “The session was incredibly valuable for helping us align our strengths with our team’s goals.”

Understanding Team Strengths:

• 100% agreed the workshop helped them better understand how strengths positively combine within the team.
• “The CliftonStrengths results gave us a shared language to discuss how we can work better together.”

Practical Team Tools:

• “The team grid was a clear mechanism to highlight different individuals’ needs and ways of working.” 

Expanding Strengths-Based Practices Across the Organisation

Following the success of the workshop, Sussex Innovation Centre plans to expand the Strengthify framework to other teams and departments. Future steps include:

• Rolling out additional team workshops across the organisation.
• Enrolling managers in the Strengthify Management Development Programme.
• Embedding strengths-based principles into daily operations and leadership practices.

One attendee reflected:
“Understanding each other’s strengths and styles has already changed the way we work together, and I’m sure we’ll now widen this approach to the whole team!”

Empower Your Team with Strengthify

Discover how Strengthify’s Team Workshops can transform your team’s dynamics, motivation, and performance:

• Speak to us: Visit our Get in Touch page →
• Join one of our Discovery Workshops: See our Events page →
• Find out more about our Management Development Programme Cohorts: Learn more here →