Team Building: Developing High Performance Teams

This three-day workshop will help you teach participants how to:

• Identify different types of teams.
• Build teamwork by recognizing and tapping into the 12 characteristics of an effective team.
• Promote trust and rapport by exploring team player styles and how they impact group dynamics.
• Recognize the key elements that move a team from involvement to empowerment and how to give these elements to a team.
• Develop strategies for dealing with team conflict and common problems.
• Understand how action planning and analysis tools can help a team perform better.

Course Overview

• The first part of the day will be spent 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.

Organizations Today

• To begin the day, we will look at how changes in organizations have affected teams.

Types of Teams

• During this session, we will define the word “team.” We will also look at some different team models, including traditional teams, task forces, and virtual teams.

Team Norms

• In this session, participants will establish some team norms: ground rules that a team can use to help them work together.

The TORI Team Building Model

• One way of looking at team development is the TORI model. Participants will experience this model through a fun exercise.

A Team’s Activities

• In 1972, Richard Beckhart said that there are four activities a group should perform on a regular basis if they desire to grow into a team. Since researchers today still agree on these four activities, we will spend some time exploring each activity.

The Five 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 Bruce Tuckman’s five stages of team development: forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning.

Characteristics of Great Teams

• The 12 characteristics of effective teams were developed by Glenn Parker, who has devoted his whole life’s work to studying teams. We will discuss the first four characteristics in this session.

Civilized Disagreements and Consensus

• This session will focus on the next two characteristics: civilized disagreements and consensus decisions.

Open Communication

• Next, participants will learn tips for open team communication, Parker’s seventh characteristic of effective teams.

Clear Roles and Assignments

• This session is all about Parker’s eighth characteristic.

Shared Leadership

• This session is all about Parker’s ninth characteristic. Participants will also explore shared leadership through a fun activity.

Team Player Types

• During this session, participants will score their pre-assignment. Participants will then work in small groups to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of their team player style. This will address the final three characteristics of effective teams.

The Trust/Relationship Model

• In this session, through a lecture and small group work, participants will look at how trust impacts relationships.

Lateral and Vertical Thinking

• This session will examine two types of thinking: lateral and vertical. We will also look at how these thinking models affect creativity.

Creative Team Thinking

• During this session, participants will discuss various creative thinking methods, including brainstorming and brainwriting.

Team Shaping Factors

• In this session, participants will discuss the four factors that shape a team. Then, they will apply the knowledge to a case study.

Solving Problems

• Team problem-solving needs a three-phase approach: problem identification, decision making, and planning and organizing. We will look at this model through a combination of lectures and group work.

Interventions for Team Leaders

• This session will look at some common problems that teams face and some recommended solutions.

Resolving Conflict

• Solving conflict in a positive way is key for building a strong team. This session will look at tips for resolving conflict. Participants will also take part in a role play to demonstrate the concepts they learned.

SWOT Analysis

• Performing an analysis of the team’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats can be a great tool for development. We will discuss how to perform such an analysis, and then participants will work in small groups to complete a case study.

Developing Team Action Plans

• To wrap up the course, we will look at some planning tools that teams can use to help them grow and improve, including improvement plans and action plans.

Workshop Wrap-Up

• At the end of the course, students will have an opportunity to ask questions and fill out an action plan.