Introduction:

Teams have become a principal building block of the strategy of successful organizations. Whether the focus is on service, quality, cost, value, speed, efficiency, performance, or other similar goals, teams are the central methodology of most organizations in the private, non-profit, and government sectors.

With teams at the core of corporate strategy, the success of an organization can often depend on how well team members operate together. How are the team’s problem-solving skills? Is the team enthusiastic and motivated to do its best? Do team members work well together?

In most teams, the energies of individual members work at cross-purposes. Individuals may work extraordinarily hard, but their efforts do not translate into team effort, and this results in wasted energy. By contrast, when a team becomes more aligned, a commonality of direction emerges, and individual energies harmonize. They have a shared vision and an understanding of how to complement each other’s efforts. As jazz musicians say, ‘You are in the groove.’

Course Outline:

Introduction and Course Overview You will spend the first part of the day getting to know participants and discussing what will take place during the workshop. Students will also have an opportunity to identify their personal learning objectives.

Defining Teams To get started, you will guide participants to define what a team is and what different kinds of teams there are. You will also have participants demonstrate synergy through a simple exercise.

Establishing Team Norms This session will look at some of the benefits and pitfalls of teams. We will also discuss establishing team norms: ground rules that a team can use to help them work together.

Working as a Team During this session, you will have participants look at a tool called the Gradients of Agreement. You will also discuss how it can help them interact with their teammates.

Glenn Parker Team Survey During this session, participants will complete a survey constructed by Glenn Parker, a business consultant who has done a great deal of research on teams. This survey will help participants identify their team player style. Participants will then work in small groups to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of their style.

Building Team Trust Trust is one of those mainstay virtues. It is the bond that allows any kind of significant relationship to exist between people. In small groups, participants will discuss some basic ways to establish and build trust on their team.

The Stages of Team Development Every group of people, whether they are a team or just a group working together, grows and evolves. We will spend this session looking at Tuckman and Jensen’s four stages of team development: forming, storming, norming, and performing.

Towers Another way of looking at team development is the TORI model. Participants will experience this model through a fun exercise.
Communication If a team is going to succeed, they must be able to communicate well with each other. This session will cover some basic principles of communication.

Becoming a Good Team Player There are some skills that participants can develop to become better team players. In this session, we will discuss some Really Useful Attitudes and some Really Useless Attitudes.

Workshop Wrap-Up At the end of the day, students will have an opportunity to ask questions and fill out an action plan.

This one-day workshop will help you teach participants how to ‘get in the groove,’ by learning:

• About the different kinds of teams
• How to develop team norms
• About the Gradients of Agreement
• How to identify their team player style
• Ways to become a better team player
• Ways to build team trust
• Two models of team development