Team Building:
Working Together Effectively

Course purpose

Effective organizations are more than just collections of talented, productive individuals. Successful organizations have learned to channel the energy of individuals into teams. Working collaboratively as a team - sharing vision, knowledge, and responsibility - boosts creativity and productivity and heightens commitment as well. This seminar provides all team members - both managers and non-managers alike - with the skills and insights to develop effective teams.

Target audience

Members and leaders of new or existing teams, including management teams, project teams, quality teams, self-directed work teams, task forces, boards, or committees.

Participant outcomes

Participants will leave with an expanded awareness of the role they can play and the choices they can make to develop effective, collaborative teams. They will be able to:

• Take individual responsibility for providing their team with the input it needs to function effectively.
• Capitalize on the diversity of talents and capacities within their team.
• Attack problems without attacking people and disagree without straining working relationships.
• Create a workplace climate that encourages and supports collaboration and effective teamwork.
• Experience a renewed excitement about being part of a team.

Participants will receive a specially designed manual containing a review of the seminar content, guidelines, check sheets, and questionnaires, as well as valuable additional reading material.

Organizational benefits

Your organization will benefit from having:

• More effective, flexible, collaborative teams, able to respond rapidly to change.
• An organizational structure that taps human potential and makes the best use of human resources.
• A conflict-free environment of openness and respect that is conducive to creativity, innovation, and initiative.
• Teams with dramatically enhanced ability to solve problems, make decisions, develop plans, and accomplish results.

Presentation options

This workshop, which consists of lecture, group discussion, and exercises, can be presented in a 1, 2, or 3-day format. The one-day version is a dynamic, intensive presentation. The multi-day format allows for more time for participation in exercises and discussion groups, as well as providing an opportunity to focus on particular clusters of team development skills, such as decision making and conflict resolution.

Topics covered

• Understanding team dynamics
  Effective teams - how they work and what they require. The characteristics of an effective team. Leadership in teams: individual or shared? formal or informal? Norms and process - translating values into behavior. Team self-evaluation.

• Laying the groundwork
  Creating a climate of collaboration. Five foundation principles that raise the context of team functioning beyond pragmatics. Developing a shared sense of vision and purpose. Individual preparation for effective team work. Tasks and roles - clarifying who does what.

• Stages in effective decision making
  Developing a self-correcting system of decision making. Building and analyzing an information base. Surfacing underlying principles. Generating ideas and exploring options. Building consensus. Coming to a decision.

• Learning to consult together
  Attacking problems without attacking people. The role of detachment. Tapping creativity in problem solving. Creating a sense of ownership. Communicating, understanding, and listening. Building consensus. Surfacing the norms that shape and guide behavior.

• Unity in diversity
  Using the power of differences creatively. How to stimulate the spark of differing ideas rather than the clash of differing egos. How to disagree without straining working relationships. Why attention to process accomplishes tasks while building team unity.

• Implementing Decisions
  Sharing responsibility. How to guarantee your group's decisions are carried through. Why involvement dramatically affects commitment. Evaluating the outcome.

Praise from executives, managers, and supervisors

"This seminar gave me a new framework for working with people instead of dealing with them. I liked the presenter's relaxed style. I never felt I was being taught, only enlightened." - Owner, Cost Cutters, Appleton, WI

"I am chairperson of a committee, as well as a member of another committee. This has provided valuable guidance to assist me in both roles. The information imparted was both practical and sound." - Comptroller, Catonsville Community College, Catonsville, MD

"Outstanding seminar. I plan to use the information I learned today to enhance the office teamwork." - Financial Aid Manager, Shasta College, Redding, CA

"This seminar gave me a unified approach to decision making. The presenter was great. He said he was going to stretch us by taking us into territory that we were not skilled in or comfortable in. He did just that - and caused me to rethink and relook at who I am and how I operate. Thank you." - Principal, West Bend, WI, School District

"Excellent. This seminar helped me recognize some of the problems that are occurring at our meetings. The topics I most appreciated were valuing each individual in the group and the concept that the whole group can come up with better and more creative solutions to problems than just one person can." - Assistant Manager, Associated Bank, Oshkosh, WI

"This was an excellent presentation. The presenter had a friendly manner, knew the subject well, and explained things in 'layman's' terms. As team leader, I'll use these techniques on a variety of issues." - Team Leader of District Reading Committee, West Bend, WI, School District

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