How two teams – the Student Complaints Team and the Curriculum Management Team – are using strengths-based development to tackle stress, silos, and change.
Introduction
Within Manchester Metropolitan University, two teams – the Student Complaints Team and the Curriculum Management Team – were feeling the pressures of rapid growth, complex processes, and shifting demands.
Caroline Lord, Assistant Academic Registrar, who leads the Student Complaints Team, had previously worked with another strengths tool and valued the self-awareness it provided. After speaking with Mel Peters, Senior Manager: Planning, Development, and Delivery at Manchester Metropolitan University, who was already applying strengths-based principles following her own and her team’s development with Strengthify, she saw the potential for a strengths-based approach to help both her own team and the Curriculum Management Team meet ongoing challenges with greater resilience, civility, and efficiency.
The Challenge
Both teams were adapting to increased workloads, changing structures, and the pressures of delivering under tight deadlines. Alongside this, there were signs of stress, some siloed working, and a need to strengthen collaboration.
Caroline wanted to offer something that would be personally valuable to individuals while also building unity, civility, and a renewed sense of purpose across the teams.
Why Strengthify
Caroline attended our Manchester HE Senior Leaders Discovery Workshop and saw immediate alignment:
"I was already looking at strengths-based assessments for my team so this was particularly timely. I can see that some of my team’s strengths don’t fully align with their current roles, but some shuffling around might get the best out of everyone." – Caroline Lord, Assistant Academic Registrar
She recognised the overlap between CliftonStrengths and her previous experiences, but valued Strengthify’s practical, team-focused application and emphasis on follow-through — making it a compelling alternative.
Implementation Process
1. Senior Leaders Discovery Workshop
Caroline and other MMU leaders, including Julie Watson, Director of Curriculum Management, explored the strengths-based framework, identified their own strengths and blind spots, and considered how to cascade this insight to their teams.
Julie’s feedback:
"One of the best external events I have attended… The CliftonStrengths summary was a fabulous resource and gave really useful insight into how teams benefit from understanding their own strengths and how they mesh with their colleagues’." – Julie Watson, Director of Curriculum Management
2. Management Development Programme (MDP)
Four managers from the team attended a Discovery Workshop and enrolled in Strengthify’s MDP to develop their ability to:
- Lead with strengths.
- Manage through change.
- Support team wellbeing.
3. A Combined Team Workshop
- Delivered a Strengthify Team Discovery Workshop for both teams.
- Explored individual and collective strengths, identified potential blind spots, and created a safe space for honest discussion.
Team feedback included:
"It was really interesting to see the team’s strengths and is a useful tool to help you understand your career development opportunities." – Monica Arnold
"Healthy discussions around the report… insightful, entertaining and useful." – Prannay Tripathi
"Discovery Workshop provided a common language and understanding that is informing ongoing strengths-based discussions in our team."
Results & Outcomes
Management Development Programme (MDP):
- 100% rated the programme as Very or Extremely valuable.
- 100% felt more confident in their management skills and better equipped to explore strengths within their team.
- 100% knew how to begin building a strengths-based, engagement-focused approach and felt more confident in performance conversations.
- 100% reported feeling confident or very confident across all core management areas.
Team Discovery Workshop:
- 100% rated the workshop as Very or Extremely valuable.
- 93% Strongly Agreed or Agreed they have a better understanding of others’ strengths.
- 100% rated adopting a strengths-based approach as Very or Extremely valuable.
- 93% felt confident they could use their CliftonStrengths insights to make positive changes to how they work.
- 100% were likely or extremely likely to recommend a strengths-based approach.
Immediate benefits:
- Improved understanding of colleagues’ working styles.
- Greater openness in discussing strengths and challenges.
- Renewed energy among managers to lead with a strengths-based mindset.
Emerging changes:
- More conscious use of strengths language in team interactions.
- Early steps towards reshaping roles to better align with individual talents.
- Increased confidence among managers to address tensions constructively.
What’s Next
- Continuing MDP participation for managers.
- Exploring wider implementation across the university to extend the approach further.
- Embedding regular strengths-based discussions into team meetings and one-to-ones.
If your team is dealing with high-pressure demands, structural changes, or could use a new perspective on development and teamwork, a strengths-based approach can help you rebuild unity, enhance collaboration, and improve overall well-being. Contact us to start the conversation.