Buffalo National Insurance: Team Work Through Problem-Solving.

This paper examines a group of insurance professionals that developed into a self-directed Team at Buffalo National Insurance. The Team was not showing Team unity, thus, the Team did not meet performance goals. Led by an internal consult that collaborated with management, the Team and the Team Leader created an environment that allowed for Team unity and the effective use of a new problem-solving tool known as Continuous Improvement Model (CIM). The intervention strategy was successful in enhancing human performance because the intervention was implemented in (a) real time (b) during actual business conditions and (c) using actual business problems. This approach did not remove the developing Team from the workplace thus minimizing lost productivity and performance. The Human Resource Development (HRD) professional who wants to engender credibility and trust with business customers will want to understand the reasons why this intervention method was effective