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![Linking Skills Profile [LSP]](../../images/structure/headings/head_lsp.gif)
Extensive interviews with teams and team leaders throughout the world have highlighted the common elements responsible for integrating and coordinating teams into a coherent 'whole'. Team Management Systems identifies these elements as Linking Skills.
Research has shown that it is difficult for an individual to assess their own 'skills' accurately. A person can only be considered to have Linking Skills if they are recognized as such by others who interact with the person concerned on a regular basis. The Linking Skills Profile Questionnaire is a multi-rater assessment through which a number of different people rate an individual's linking skills.
Ideally all Linking Skills Profile Questionnaires are completed by:
- The self
- Direct reports
- Peers
- Management
Respondents assess the extent to which the Linking Skill should occur, and the importance of the particular skill. The rater is then asked to assess the individual in terms of what actually does occur. The Linking Skills Profiles assess the gap between what should occur and what does occur and is reported in terms of satisfaction rates.
A graphical colored summary of the importance and satisfaction rates is presented for each Linking Skill, along with key text advice generated from the response by the raters to each question.
A quantitative report offers a detailed analysis of each Linking Skill, enabling the individual to develop focused action-plans to improve linking.
Linking Skills
Linking Skills are the activities and behaviors that managers and others need to exhibit in order to successfully integrate and coordinate the work of a team. These skills were identified through extensive interviews with teams and team leaders worldwide. Data collected from, for example, banking teams, engineering teams, administrative teams, marketing teams, production teams, and research teams, in the private and public sectors, highlighted a number of common elements that were responsible for integrating a team into a coherent 'whole'.
It's a multi-rater assessment where a number of different people rate an individual's Linking Skills.
Arranged around the outside of the Linking Skills Model are the six People Linking Skills. These skills need to be implemented as part of the workplace behavior of the team leader and all team members, if a team is to be high-performing. These skills are:
| PEOPLE LINKING SKILLS |
WHAT LINKERS DO |
| Active Listening |
Listen before deciding |
| Communication |
Keep team members up to date on a regular basis |
| Team Relationships |
Encourage respect, understanding, and trust among team members |
| Problem Solving and Counseling |
Are available and responsive to people's problems |
| Participative Decision Making |
Involve team members in the problem solving of key issues |
| Interface Management |
Coordinate and represent team members |
Inside the People Linking Skills are the five Task Linking Skills. These are essential to the key tasks of the leader and the more senior team members.
| TASK LINKING SKILLS |
WHAT LINKERS DO |
| Objectives Setting |
Set achievable targets with the team but always press them for improved performance |
| Quality Standards |
Set an example and agree on high quality work standards with the team |
| Work Allocation |
Allocate work to people based on their capabilities and preferences |
| Team Development |
Develop balance in their team |
| Delegation |
Delegate work when it is not essential to do it themselves |
At the core of the Linking Skills Model are the two Leadership Linking Skills of Motivation and Strategy. Unless the leader has these skills and makes them part of their daily behavior then the team is unlikely to reach its full potential.
| LEADERSHIP LINKING SKILLS |
WHAT LINKERS DO |
| Motivation |
Inspires others to give their best |
| Strategy |
Devises effective action plans to achieve goals |
Unless all Linking Skills are exercised effectively, a team may lose momentum and direction.
 Would you like to become accredited to use the LSP?
Would you like to investigate having this product facilitated for you and your team?
Further Information
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