The effectiveness of boards and senior executive teams is of crucial importance and will directly influence the performance of your organisation - the rest of the company take their cue from the leadership. Whether members of the team can work well together and whether the style and preferences of the team as a whole matches its tasks will depend on the personal characteristics of the individual members.

Goal-setting and decision-taking themselves may be issues - some ostensibly strategic executive teams waste time on tactics which should be addressed elsewhere, or procrastinate when it comes to difficult but unavoidably important challenges.

Mismatches, and even conflicts between members, and between the group and its tasks, are particularly likely when the organisation is beset by radical changes - for example, strategic re-structuring, globalisation, the creation of virtual teams, changes in business processes or during mergers and acquisitions, .

A team profile will identify areas of strength, weakness and potential conflicts. Such insights and explicit understanding of the dynamics can help the team to enhance their decision-making and problem solving processes so that decisions are soundly based, endorsed by key figures, and implemented with energy and commitment.

Team profiles can also be valuable in making informed decisions about appointing a new member to a board or senior management team, avoiding potentially expensive mistakes.