Team Building
Start Building Your High Performance Team Today
Our approach to building teams (vs. rah-rah team building) combines coaching, training, and process facilitation within the context of working real issues. We have rarely found it useful to treat “team building” as a separate and distinct activity. For a team that wants to improve performance, we would work together on a specific issue, problem, or project.
It is working together on a real issue, in a collaborative setting, that builds the team.
Depending on the issues and timeframes, we typically suggest a highly interactive approach geared specifically toward building the team.
We’ll start with a team assessment and/or interviews to determine what is going on in the team. Especially if there are some “unsaid” issues around trust and work styles, gathering information from the individuals in a safe environment is critical.
Based on the team assessment results, we will design a session tailored to meet the specific needs of the team. The design may have the following key group process elements included:
- Clear Goals
- Defined Roles
- Open and Clear Communication
- Effective Decision-Making
- Balanced Participation
- Valued Diversity
- Managing Conflict
- Positive Atmosphere
- Cooperative Relationships
- Participative Leadership
We may also choose to use an assessment to recognize and appreciate team diversity as well as the challenges that same diversity may create. In a team setting, the use of these assessments can be a very powerful intervention to increase individual and team effectiveness.
We would then come together to have a focused dialogue process to clarify and gain consensus on work expectations among the group. As a team, we reinforce the strengths and “work” through the areas for improvement. (That’s the “real work” that becomes the basis for the dialogue).
Toward the end of the session, we will spend some time on “next steps” – reinforcing what individuals commit to in order to improve their team’s work.
After the session, we create a report summarizing the work accomplished and follow up with the Director and team members as appropriate.
