Use “Investing in Teamwork” to:

• Change the mind-set from a work-group to a team
• Eliminate destructive behavior within the team
• Renew each member’s dedication to the team
• Gain commitment of each team member to change behaviors as needed to support the team
• Identify the benefits of teamwork

Scheduling Time: 1-2 hours 

Use “Identifying our Values and Vision” to:

• Lay the foundation for defining ground rules and setting goals
• Practice consensus decision making
• Begin forming new teams or re-focus an established team
• Help new team members assimilate quicker

Scheduling Time: 1-2 hours

Use “Defining Our Team Mission” to:

• Achieve a shared sense of purpose and unity
• Reconcile the team’s understanding of their mission with the team’s sponsor or manager
• Assist established teams in evolving their mission in a changing organization
• Lay the foundation for keeping a team “on mission”

Scheduling time: 1-2 hours

Use “Setting our Team Goals” to:

• Clarify the differences between individual and team goals
• Encourage individual and team accountability
• Introduce a common methodology for writing goals and tracking progress and completion

Scheduling time: 1-2 hours

Use “Taking Action on Our Goals” to:

• Develop trust and accountability between team members
• Ensure individual action plans reflect overall team goals
• Eliminate conflict from overlapping goals and tasks
• Practice realistic action planning and time management
• Provide an objective tool for coaching performance

Scheduling time: 1-2 hours

Use “Building on Our Personality Strengths” to:

• Reduce conflict - Take the focus off negative perceptions of differences and concentrate on personality strengths
• Increase collaboration - Utilize team strengths and recognize and compensate for weaknesses
• Create trust - Teach positive language for describing other’s work styles and personality types

Scheduling time: 1-2 hours

Use “Establishing Our Team Rules” to:

• Avoid or resolve conflict among team members
• Establish norms of behavior
• Achieve consensus on work processes
• Lay the foundation for self-management and facilitation

Scheduling time: 1-2 hours

Use “Clarifying Our Team Roles” to:

• Eliminate confusion and stress over responsibilities
• Achieve team goals and project deadlines
• Improve efficiency and satisfaction of each individual team member
• Prevent gaps in overall project responsibilities

Scheduling time: 2 hours

Use “Solving Problems Together” to:

• Eliminate negative language and attitudes
• Turn focus from problems to solutions
• Develop a process for analyzing problems and deciding on appropriate solutions
• Encourage team members to bring problems to the entire team for a unified solution

Scheduling time: 1-2 hours

Use “Enhancing Our Team Creativity” to:

• Teach and practice brainstorming techniques that maximize idea generation
• Identify creativity-stopping behaviors
• Encourage participation and risk-taking
• Apply brainstorming techniques to real issues and opportunities

Scheduling time: 1-2 hours

Use “Making Team Decisions” to:

• Set aside emotions and politics and use logic to explore options
• Identify personal strengths that can help the team make critical decisions
• Practice a process for analyzing options
• Increase productivity and decision quality

Scheduling time: 1-2 hours

Use “Improving Our Team Meetings” to:

• Ensure meetings accomplish a purpose
• Teach team members how to prepare for and participate in meetings
• Teach members effective meeting tools
• Fix meetings that have lost focus

Scheduling time: 1-2 hours