Is Team Tactics worth it?
Jodi Salmond discovered that Team Tactics could help her resolve team communication issues quickly and effectively. As the general manager of Reef Check Australia, she needed reliable tools to address misalignments between what was being said and what actions were being taken. The cards became her go-to resource for understanding team dynamics and improving communication.
"The issue was resolved quite quickly and effectively"
Why Jodi needed better team tools
Jodi Salmond is the general manager of Reef Check Australia and a marine researcher specialising in citizen science, conservation biology and reef ecology. An "adventure junkie" and acrobat, she trains divers in reef health monitoring, develops school education programmes, leads community outreach and reef surveys and serves as the conduit between scientists and the public. She volunteered with Reef Check in 2010 and joined the staff in 2012.
"I came up with maybe four or five out of the deck that I thought might work, and then I went through and I trialed at least one of those that I thought would be the best. Turns out that it worked quite well, and then the issue was resolved quite quickly and effectively. Which tactic is my favorite? I really like this one in particular. So if you look at the tactic deck, the deck, I have the team tactics in particular, but the start with why is always a really important one for me."
Watch Jodi's testimonial about Team Tactics
Full testimonial transcript
All right, so my name is Jodi Salmond. I am the general manager of Reef Check Australia, which is an environmental charity, and we're dedicated to protecting our reefs and oceans.
And what that means is that we communicate with lots of scientists and lots of community members, and we see ourselves as the conduit between those two groups talking to each other.
Because ultimately what we want people to better understand, appreciate, and protect our local reef resources.
In terms of, I'm just reading the questions, what did I hope that Team Tactics would help me with?
I think for me, what I was really interested in is just having a really easy accessible platform that I can go and go, right? These are some of the tools and tactics I can actually use.
We do so much research, and so much knowledge acquisition, that it's really hard to distill some of those ideas down.
So for me, I really liked the idea that I can just pick up this box, and look through any of the cards when I have an issue, and go, actually, that might be something that I can work with.
Certainly be able to build some of these in as well. But first and foremost, I wanted to just directly be able to very quickly access them.
In terms of a significant moment where Team Tactics help me, the biggest thing was just recently, something just came to light through our team.
We communicate quite effectively most of the time. I'd say all of the time, however, something just popped up, where it didn't really make sense to me, because it was almost like a misalignment of what was being said and what the actions were that were being taken.
So I had to sit with that, reflect and try, and understand, seek with curiosity, to understand what was going on.
And then I opened up the box actually and went through, and just looked at all the different kind of things that I thought might work best to kind of communicate with this team member and better understand them, and make sure that we were kind of came to a point, and moved past it.
So again, a clean slate, because we'd actually dealt with the issue as we went.
I came up with maybe four or five out of the deck that I thought might work, and then I went through and I trialed at least one of those that I thought would be the best.
Turns out that it worked quite well, and then the issue was resolved quite quickly and effectively.
Which tactic is my favourite? I really like this one in particular. So if you look at the tactic deck, the deck, I have the Team Tactics in particular, but the start with why is always a really important one for me.
So to me, you should always start with why. It's one of those biggest, the biggest questions that I ask anyone that I start to work with understand what their values are, what their intrinsic or extrinsic motivators are, so I can best match my team up, and make sure that they are achieving their goals, and making sure that they're the right team fit.
Because we want to make sure that we have at least a common value of protecting reefs and oceans. If we don't have that, then it makes it a really, really hard and sticky place to start from.
If someone was considering buying Team Tactics, what would you say to them?
Give it a go. I've actually lent these to a couple of friends and they have immediately gone, yep, I've been looking at this deck, or I've been looking at this deck.
So I think first and foremost, give it a go, right? I'm happy to lend you mine if you live nearby. You can have a look through them, see what they look like, and feel them as well, because I feel that that's really important.
It's a really good size deck, I think. Nice, bright and colourful. I have it on my desk all the time in front of me, so I can really easily access it. Yeah, give it a go.
From team misalignment to quick resolution
Jodi discovered Team Tactics when she needed tools to address a specific team communication issue. As the general manager of Reef Check Australia, she found herself dealing with a misalignment between what was being said and what actions were being taken by a team member.
She used the cards systematically to address the issue. She identified four or five potential tactics from the deck, trialed the one she thought would work best, and quickly resolved the problem. This systematic approach helped her understand the team member better and move past the issue.
The team communication challenge
Managing a team that serves as a conduit between scientists and community members requires exceptional communication skills. Jodi found that Team Tactics provided the structured approach she needed to address communication breakdowns and misalignments quickly and effectively.
The cards helped her access proven team management techniques without getting overwhelmed by research and theory. This allowed her to focus on practical solutions rather than getting lost in complex team dynamics literature.
What made the difference
Jodi's experience shows how Team Tactics solves real problems for managers and team leaders. The cards provide instant access to proven team management techniques, reducing planning time whilst maintaining quality. The systematic approach, in particular, helped her address team issues quickly and effectively.
How Jodi uses Team Tactics in practice
When signals of misalignment appear, Jodi pauses to understand context, then selects tactics that match the moment. She begins with start with why to align on purpose, uses a listening or perspective‑taking tactic to surface what the other person is experiencing, and follows with a clear‑the‑air style conversation to agree the next step. This sequence resolves tension without blame and restores trust fast.
For field teams and volunteers, she adds brief check‑ins at the beginning of meetings so issues surface early, and keeps a lightweight retrospective cadence after events to improve the next outing.
Who this helps
- Environmental NGOs coordinating distributed staff and volunteers
- Science outreach managers balancing delivery and community engagement
- Small teams that need clarity and psychological safety more than heavy process
Transform your team communication
If you're tired of struggling with team communication issues, the Team Tactics Deck might be exactly what you need. You'll join over 200,000 professionals who've found their confidence through these cards.
Jodi's success story represents one example of how Pip Decks' community of over 200,000 professionals across 100+ countries is transforming their work. These are real experiences from trusted experts who've field‑tested these tools in demanding professional environments.
For the complete team management system, consider pairing Team Tactics with Workshop Tactics to create sessions that both align and inspire your team.
Explore more success stories on our Pip Decks Testimonials Hub.
One of the few newsletters I look forward to.
— Dave Cunningham, Head of DesignOps @ NHS
