Team Building

EFFECTIVE TEAM BUILDING
BAPTIST BIBLE COLLEGE ASIA

Prof. Eloisa Lee
Introduction:
Team building refers to a wide range of activities, presented to businesses, schools sports teams, religious or
nonprofit organizations designed for improving team performance. Team building is pursued via a variety of
practices, and can range from simple bonding exercises to complex simulations and multi-day team building
retreats designed to develop a team (including group assessment and group-dynamic games), usually falling
somewhere in between. It generally sits within the theory and practice of organizational development, but can
also be applied to sports teams, school groups, and other contexts. Team building is not to be confused with
"team recreation" that consists of activities for teams that are strictly recreational. Teambuilding is an important
factor in any environment, its focus is to specialize in bringing out the best in a team to ensure self development,
positive communication, leadership skills and the ability to work closely together as a team to problem solve.
Work environments tend to focus on individuals and personal goals, with reward & recognition singling
out the achievements of individual employees. "How to create effective teams is a challenge in every
organization"[1] Team building can also refer to the process of selecting or creating a team from scratch.
THE REASONS FOR TEAM BUILDING

 Improving communication
 Making the workplace more enjoyable
 Motivating a team
 Getting to know each other
 Getting everyone "onto the same page", including goal setting
 Teaching the team self-regulation strategies
 Helping participants to learn more about themselves (strengths and weaknesses)
 Identifying and utilizing the strengths of team members
 Improving team productivity
 Practicing effective collaboration with team members
THE TEAM BUILDING CONSULTANT

A team-building consultant is responsible for each component of a team building intervention. A team-building
consultant will likely interact with the team once, or for a limited number of times. During this relationship, the
consultant will actively work to assess the team, make recommendations, and provide activities (exercises that
compose a team building intervention) for the team. These responsibilities usually require a team-building
consultant to write a proposal after his or her evaluation of the organization and the team, indicating how he or
she would go about improving the team’s performance. Once the organization and consultant determine which
recommendations to utilize (if not all), the consultant is then responsible for providing a useful intervention that
will transfer back into the organizational setting. This responsibility usually requires the consultant to create a
detailed plan of events, while allowing for flexibility. After the intervention has been employed, the consultant
will typically evaluate the team-building program and communicate the results to the organization. Otherwise!!
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TEAM MOTIVATION
By Peter Grazier
Introduction:
Motivation. We hear the term often. Generally we associate the word with human behavior, meaning, a state of
mind that moves us to action. And even though few of us have had formal training in it, it’s one of those
characteristics of life that seems to fit the old adage, “I know it when I see it.”
For most of my years working in the field of workplace collaboration, this word has held a place of
stature and importance, because it has been, perhaps, the most significant outcome of worker involvement. As
the collaboration trend, and more specifically, the use of employee teams continues to grow, one question that is
taking on greater importance is how to keep the team motivated over the long haul.
A. What Makes Us Do Anything?
Probably the first question to be answered in a discussion of motivation is “What makes us do anything?”
Why am I writing this article? Why are you reading it? Why did you get out of bed today and go to work?
Why did you join that volunteer organization last month? Why did you drop out of the other one?
Each day brings with it an endless list of decisions to be made. The process of making those
decisions is driven, in large part, by the hope of a benefit or the fear of a consequence.
For example, I truly enjoy coffee and donuts from Dunkin’ Donuts. I pay them money for the benefit
of enjoying the taste and filling a void in my stomach. However, I limit my intake of these donuts for fear of
the consequences of too much sugar and fat in my diet.
Literally, every decision we make is filtered through this process. The industrial psychologists have
taken this further by defining these consequences as needs.
“Our needs for sustenance, safety, security, belonging, recognition, and a sense of growth and achievement become
strong drivers (motivators) of behavior.”
The subject of motivation is, at once, simple and complex. Simple, in that it explains much of what
we see happening in human behavior, yet complex when it poses contradictions.
For example, the need to nourish ourselves is strong, and hunger will drive us to extreme actions,
particularly in the case of extreme hunger. However, how does one explain a hunger strike? How can you
explain the actions of someone who has died because they chose not to eat? The psychologists will say that
a higher level need took over....perhaps the need to make a point about an issue that, to the person, was
larger than life itself.
So as we attempt to understand motivation, we need to appreciate the subtleties that exist in human
behavior, and focus our attention on general principles of motivation that have wider application. At least if
we can understand some of these principles, we might be better prepared to lead or facilitate a long-term,
highly motivating team experience.
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B. Why Be Part of a Team?
You’ve been asked to participate on a team to accomplish some task. Immediately your decision-making
process begins.
1. What is the purpose of the team?

2. Is it a topic that interests me?
3. Who will be on the team with me?
4. What kind of authority will we have?
5. Is it important to management?
6. What is the reward for participating?
7. What is the risk (perceived as punishment) for not participating?
8. How long will it run?
9. Will I be better off as a result of my participation?
These are some of the questions we ask ourselves when faced with an invitation to participate in
some kind of team. Are they typical questions? ...of course. Do they relate to our motivation to participate?
...certainly!
Sometimes, however, we are not given the opportunity to refuse participation on a team: for
example, a work group or an organization that has restructured itself into self-directed work teams. In these
cases, by default, we are part of the group or team.
Nevertheless, in either case, motivation can rise or fall depending on a myriad of factors. Let’s look
at some of them.
C. Factors That Influence Team Motivation
1. Purpose: I have asked people for years to describe the characteristics of their most successful and
rewarding team experiences. At the top of almost everyone’s list is a clear purpose, focus, or mission.
But further, for long-term motivation, it must be a purpose or mission that they find aligns with their
personal wants and needs.
One can be asked to participate on a temporary task force. If the mission is clear, he might be
able to sustain motivation for the duration if he feels it is important. However, if it is a topic that is not
in line with his wants and needs, his motivation to continue may diminish.
Many years ago on a construction project, I had assembled a group of electricians to streamline
the process of making cable terminations. Since they were all electricians, I thought there would be
great interest in working on a process that was frustrating people the way it was designed.
About a month into the group’s work, they were having great difficulty maintaining momentum
and focus. When I asked them why, they said that some of the electricians were conduit specialists and
some were cable tray specialists, and that those not working directly with the cable terminations simply
couldn’t get interested in the subject. What a lesson for me! “Motivation in this case was lacking because the
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team’s purpose was not in line with some of the members’ wants and needs.”
So one strategy with a lethargic team might be to stop the process, re-visit the team’s purpose or
mission, and see if there’s alignment on it. Even with a team that seems well-motivated, it still is a good
strategy to recheck once in a while.
2. Challenge: Another term that I hear frequently when I ask about team motivation is challenge. The
human species as with most animals, has been given a survival mechanism called fight or flight
syndrome. When presented with a challenge, our defenses are alerted to move us to action....to run away
from danger or address it directly.
Many people will say that their most rewarding team experiences resulted from some sort of
challenge. I’ve heard the stories often of mediocre groups that responded to a challenge with heroic
success. “The challenge itself was the motivator.”
In the workplace, these challenges occur infrequently. Teams are not presented with stimulating
challenges every day. So the question becomes how to provide challenges to the team at more frequent
intervals.
An additional criteria for a challenge is the level of difficulty. If a challenge is too difficult,
perhaps perceived as impossible, then team members may give up before they start. However, the same
result may occur if the members perceive the challenge as too easy. Little energy is required to
accomplish something so easily obtained.
So for ongoing teams, periodic stimulation in the form of a worthy challenge is another method
of maintaining motivation.
3. Camaraderie: Seldom, if ever, in our MBA programs (which purport to be leadership development
programs) have we seen courses of study in team development and motivation. That is changing now
and will continue to change in the future.
If one studies highly effective groups, one finds that the most successful groups over the long
haul tend to address both the technical needs and human needs. These groups are at the same time
competent in the work they perform and highly functional in their interpersonal relationships. The group
is well balanced in both technical and human skills.
Another factor that emerges from my queries about successful teams is camaraderie, meaning
comradeship, fellowship, and loyalty. The people on these teams genuinely like each other and work
hard to develop and maintain their relationships.
Although they are probably not aware that research supports this behavior, they just seem to
understand that it’s a lot easier to support your team member when you have a good relationship. “The
fallout from this kind of relationship building is open and direct communication, frequent praising of each others’
contributions, and mutual support.”
So, you will say, that is all well and good for teams whose members like each other, but what if
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they don’t like each other?
Much of the time we like or dislike someone, it relates more to how well we understand them.
And since our formal training has not addressed this, most of us enter adulthood ill-equipped to deal
with the myriad of personalities, temperaments, cultures, values, beliefs, ideologies, religions, and
idiosyncratic behaviors of those we meet.
One way to break down these barriers is to expand one’s understanding of his own species.
Training is available to address most of the topics above, and exercises can be beneficial if they move us
to another level of understanding.
But don’t overlook the simple solutions. Designing an off-site activity for the team, sometimes
just to play together, is a powerful way of building camaraderie. For more thoughts on this, see our
article "Celebrations and Events to Build the Team".
4. Responsibility: In general, people and teams are stimulated by being given responsibility. Having
ownership of an identifiable block of work is a long-held tenet of motivation in groups.
Responsibility can be tricky, however. Implied in this concept is the understanding that the
responsibility comes along with authority to make the necessary changes. Teams that have both the
responsibility and authority tend to maintain motivation over longer periods of time.
“Responsibility can be demotivating if the consequences of error or failure are too great.” If the
organization, for example, has a history of punishing mistakes, then the giving of responsibility is
viewed more as a negative. The short-term performance may be good (remember fear is a motivator),
but long-term motivation will suffer. It is difficult to sustain high performance when energy is being
sapped by fear.
5. Growth: Finally, personal and team growth can provide another basis for sustained motivation. When
people feel they are moving forward, learning new concepts, adding to their skill base, and stretching
their minds, motivation tends to remain high. Personal growth adds value to the individual, enhancing
self-esteem and self-worth.
Accordingly, team members and team leaders should look for opportunities that help add
knowledge and skills. A good technique is to simply ask members what they would like to get from
their association with the team, then listen for areas of possible growth.
6. Leadership: A good leader can be a catalyst for motivation in the short term, but the best leaders create
the conditions for the team to motivate itself. We have all seen examples of how leaders inspired teams
to accomplish some phenomenal task. History books and Hollywood are full of these stories, and we
come to honor these leaders.
But the charismatic leader that can be so effective in the short term, cannot necessarily sustain
motivation indefinitely. Motivation is inherently intrinsic, residing within oneself. Therefore, if one
depends continually on another for their source of motivation, eventually it ends.
Great leaders have a knack for helping others see the best in themselves, providing the
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stimulus for self-actualizing behaviors.
But great leaders also understand the importance of team purpose, challenge, camaraderie,
responsibility, and growth, and focus much of their time on creating the conditions for these to exist.
Great leaders understand that their team members have needs, and that for motivation to
grow and continue, the activities of the team must help in some way to meet these needs.
Conclusion:
A team whose members are aligned with its purpose, feel a challenge in their task, have a strong sense of
camaraderie, feel responsibility for the outcome, and experience growth as a team and in their personal lives,
will tend to sustain motivation over the long haul.
This is not to say that they will not have difficulties at times, or that members’ wants and needs won’t
change over time. In these cases, sometimes changes will have to be made. A member who no longer feels the
team is meeting his or her needs may have to leave the team to continue on their own path.
But, in as much as it is possible to sustain motivation indefinitely, the factors above will tend to create
the best possible environment for it.
TEAM BUILDING LESSON FROM THE GEESE

A. Fact #1 – As each bird flaps its wings; it creates uplift for the bird following. By flying in a "V"
formation, the whole flock adds 71 percent greater flying range than if one bird flew alone.
Lesson Learned – People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are
going quicker and easier because they are traveling on the strength of one another.
B. Fact #2 – Whenever a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying
to fly alone and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird
immediately in front.
Lesson Learned – If we have as much sense as geese, we will stay in formation with those who are ahead of
where we want to go and be willing to accept their help as well as give ours to others.
C. Fact #3 – When the lead goose gets tired, it rotates back into the formation and another goose flies at
the point position.
Lesson Learned – It pays to take turns doing the hard tasks and sharing leadership.
D. Fact #4 – The geese in formation honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep up their
speed.
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Lesson Learned – We need to make sure our honking from behind is encouraging, and not something else.
E. Fact #5 – When a goose gets sick or wounded or shot down, two geese drop out of formation and
follow it down to help and protect it. They stay with it until it is able to fly again, or dies. Then they
launch out on their own, with another formation, or they catch up with their flock.
Lesson Learned – If we have as much sense as geese do, we too, will stand by each other in difficult times
as well as when we are strong.
THE RECOGNITION
A. How Does Recognition Affect Personal and Organization Performance?
Joe Average is a worker in X Corporation. Joe comes to work, does his job, and goes home. Occasionally,
his supervisor wishes he could get higher performance from Joe, but he has concluded that Joe is just
"average," and average workers give average work.
One day in our mythical world (not so mythical, as this is a real story), we follow Joe home. Joe eats
dinner with his family, then zooms into the basement where he works tirelessly to build equipment for his
daughter's softball team. Joe's energy is peaking, the sweat is flowing from his brow, and he is
accomplishing more in one evening than most people could do in a week! Why? He's certainly not being
paid for this work.
Maslow would probably say that Joe is being driven by a need to make a contribution, be recognized,
or enhance his feelings of self-worth. He may also simply enjoy the project or it may be his way of relaxing.
Whatever the reason, there is clearly a difference between Joe's effort at home and his effort at work.
Perhaps Joe gave the same performance at work years earlier, but since that effort was never
recognized, he assumed that they didn't care. Eventually, his performance at work diminished and he
shifted his energies elsewhere. The organization lost all this productive energy.
Recognition is important because it sends a powerful message that the recipient is important. It says
that the organization cares about good performance. When this message is lacking, overall performance may
drift in search of a direction. If low performers are treated the same as high performers, the message will
be translated that high performance gets you nowhere. Eventually, many in the workforce will settle at
some minimal acceptable level of performance. Surveys of workers by the Public Agenda Forum have
confirmed that most workers say they are working "significantly below their potential."
B. Recognition is a "Mental" Thing
In 1984 I was working at another construction project located in New Jersey. The project employed
several thousand workers, and it was easy to get lost in the shuffle.
We established a formal recognition program whereby anyone could nominate another for
recognition by filling out a form and submitting it to the Recognition Committee (a cross-section of
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the employee population). Over the two remaining years of the project, several hundred people
received recognition through this process.
Since we were limited in funding for the process, we were forced to use our imaginations to
make recognitions meaningful (which was a blessing in disguise). For example, an electrician from
South Carolina (large projects attract workers from many states) was being recognized for his
contribution to the project. He received a small gift (belt buckle) unique to the job with his name
engraved on it and an envelope with a $50 dinner certificate. His expression of appreciation was calm
as expected until he looked closer at the dinner certificate. The certificate was from he and his wife's
favorite restaurant in South Carolina. He was flabbergasted! He could not believe that this large, busy
organization had spent the time and effort to find out about him and make his recognition so special.
Over the two remaining years of the project, the recognition program gained respect from
everyone because it was so effective in seeking out exceptional performance. There is something
intrinsically satisfying about "thanking" someone when it is clearly deserved. Construction people
tend to be viewed as "tough" and "hard" at times, but the good feeling that touched everyone during a
recognition ceremony brought forth emotions that lasted for days.
C. Employee Involvement is Recognition
Early in my career I wondered why we would observe behavioral changes in people when they were
first involved in their organization's thinking processes. Many times "troublemakers" or people with
"an attitude" would suddenly become more cooperative and helpful to others. I have also had at least
one spouse tell me that her husband's attitude at home had improved dramatically since his becoming
involved in some meaningful project at work. This is not a unique phenomenon, but one that
employee involvement facilitators talk about frequently.
Although there are a number of psychological reasons for this behavioral change, such as
releasing pent-up energies and frustrations, I have come to believe that the need for recognition plays
a strong part.
Maslow said that people may strive for years to seek some recognition for their abilities,
only to be frustrated by its absence. When the organization finally involves someone in meaningful,
mind-provoking thought about how to improve the business, it is paying the person enormous
recognition for their ability to contribute. Employee involvement, then, becomes a powerful form of
recognition.
Note: Seven Recognition Do's and Don'ts
Over the years that I have been involved with recognition processes, I have developed a list of what I
call "Recognition Do's and Don'ts." When one ventures into recognition in the workplace, one will,
invariably, make mistakes. So what are those elements of recognition that either make it succeed,
or produce results far below what was hoped?
1. Keep clear the distinction between recognition and incentives. An incentive is an enticement
advertised in advance to get people to do something. Recognition is a "thank you" given after the
fact.
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2. Keep the recognition criteria wide open. Too many times organizations will limit the criteria by
which one can receive recognition. The committees I have worked with found that there are so
many opportunities for recognition that it is virtually impossible to list criteria. A good
recognition committee can determine through consensus if a "thank you" is truly deserved.
3. Nominations should be open to all employees. Management's eyes cannot be everywhere.

Frequently, they will miss the outstanding performance on the loading dock. Allow everyone in
the organization the opportunity to nominate someone for recognition. One of the greatest
nominations our committee ever received came from a pipefitter who had added two eloquently
written pages to the nomination to say what an outstanding worker his partner was.
4. Maintain confidentiality during investigations. All persons nominated for recognition may not,
in fact, be deserving. Keeping the process confidential will help to avoid hurting someone, and
bring credibility to the process. Also remember to include management in the investigation
process. The nominee's supervisor and manager have a need to be included, as they may be aware
of other issues that may affect the committee's decision.
5. Make the recognition special, not expensive. In the past, some of the recognition committees
felt that an expensive award of $300 or $400 sent a more powerful "thank you." However, as the
dollar amounts climbed, the "thank you" became lost somewhere. The recognition process became
more like an incentive program or contest. I even had a recipient tell me how angered he was by
how his recognition was handled, even though he received $1000 from his company!
A recognition award should be a "token" of appreciation. A specially made (but

inexpensive) certificate of appreciation will hang in the den forever. Money, however, will be
spent and forgotten.
6. Include family in presentations when possible. This extends the recognition and resulting "good
feeling" to the entire family.
7. Use good judgment. When it comes to performing meaningful recognitions, nothing replaces
good judgment. People seem to know when recognition is deserved and how much is appropriate.
Perhaps this is why recognition committees serve such a valuable function.
ACCOUNTABILITY A STICKY SUBJECT TO TEAMS

by Marsha Willard and Darcy Hitchcock
Introduction:
Thousands of organizations are eagerly creating empowered work teams in an effort to boost productivity,
enhance quality and bolster employee morale. As more and more organizations move closer to full
empowerment, however, they hit an obstacle that is becoming self-direction's most burning issue. Sure, you can
hand-off management responsibilities and vest teams with the authority to act, but aren't managers really still
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accountable? How can you hold a whole team accountable when something goes wrong? Won't we end up just
pointing fingers at everyone else when a mistake occurs? Creating an environment where accountability is clear
and fully accepted is a subtle and complex task.
A. Accountability Defined
Accountability means having the responsibility and authority to act and fully accept the natural and logical
consequences for the results of those actions.
In a team-based organization, accountability is focused at the team rather than the individual level.
This means that the members of the team feel mutually accountable to each other and that the team as a
whole, not any one or two individuals within it, accepts accountability for the results of the team's actions.
Accountability is one of three critical components to effective empowerment. Think of

empowerment as supported by a tripod. The three legs of the tripod are responsibility, authority, and
accountability. Every new task that is handed off to a team needs to be transferred with this balance in mind.
The balance is achieved when a team has 1. a clear understanding of its responsibilities, 2. the
authority necessary to fulfill these responsibilities, and 3. the accountability for the consequences of their
outcomes.
1. Why is Accountability so Important?
Accountability is an odd thing. Many workers do their best to avoid it because it has often been used as
ammunition for blame or punishment. The truth is that accountability is unavoidable. In the workplace
everyone is accountable to someone. In a traditional organization workers are individually accountable
to their respective bosses. In a high performance organization team members are individually
accountable to each other and mutually accountable to their customers. But rather than a negative force,
research indicates that holding people accountable for their results has very positive effects: greater
accuracy of work, better response to role obligations, more vigilant problem solving, better decision
making, more cooperation with co-workers, and higher team satisfaction. (For additional information on
this kind of motivation, see Why Self-Direction Works: A Review of Herzberg's Concepts).
2. Hold a Team Accountable?
The paradigm of individual accountability is so strong in our organizational cultures that the notion of
holding a whole team accountable for its collective outputs boggles corporate minds. But is it really so
hard? Sorting out the contributions of an individual can be a tricky task. How can I tell what you part in
the product was? Where a team produces a whole piece of work, output is much easier to assess.
And what should we care, after all, what part each individual played in making it happen? If
your dry cleaner ruins one of your suits, do you hunt down the worker who did the damage? No, you
hold the business accountable for making the situation right. You don't care who made the mistake or
even who will fix it, just as long as the problem is resolved. So it should be with your teams. Truly
empowered teams have the authority to carry out their responsibilities as well as the accountability for
collectively fixing things when they go wrong.
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3. Systems for Team Accountability
To be effective at fostering team accountability and ownership, an organization's systems must be

designed with three basic principles in mind: focus, influence, and consequences.
a. FOCUS - Systems for accountability begin with a clear focus and expectations. In a team setting,
teams need to share a clear mission statement that links directly to the organization's vision.
Building on that mission statement a team should identify its collective outputs and devise systems
for measuring their success at efficiently delivering quality products or services. Within the team,
each member should be clear of his or her roles and responsibilities including agreements on
individual expectations and standards of excellence.
Strategies for ensuring focus:
 Clearly communicate and continually reinforce the organization's mission and vision.
 Require teams to explicitly describe their purpose and outputs that link to the organization's
vision.
 Assure that teams complete a whole piece of work.
 Have teams explicitly define each member's role and responsibilities.
 Have teams establish clear standards of excellence for members.
 Have teams track and analyze their own performance data.
 Encourage teams to conduct regular business planning sessions.
b. INFLUENCE - Teams will also need to be able to influence the operations of these systems. This
means they need to be given as much authority as is reasonable to determine how they achieve the
outcomes they have committed to. As Stephen Covey says, "You can't hold people accountable for
results if you manage their methods.
Similarly, team members need to have influence over those with whom they are
interdependent. Holding teams jointly accountable for their combined results will only work if the
people within the team can influence each other's behavior. Ideally this implies team members have
what we call "gate control" or control over who joins the team and who stays on the team. At the
very least, systems need to be devised such that a team member's feedback carries as much weight
as a manager's feedback. This can be affected by instituting a team review process or at least by
redesigning your performance appraisal system to include input from customers and teammates.
Strategies for ensuring influence:
 Allow employees to participate in the shaping of the organization's mission and vision.
 Teach teams to use performance feedback as the basis for meeting and problem solving
sessions.
 Encourage teams to analyze work practices for improvement.
 Allow teams to act on their improvement ideas.
 Give teams choice of vendors.
 Give teams budget authority.
 Ensure that team members regularly give feedback to one another.
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 Empower teams to select new members.

 Empower teams to remove non-performers.
c. CONSEQUENCES - Lastly, an organization's systems need to close the loop by connecting real
consequences to a team's actions. Too often managers shield teams from the consequences of what
they do. They field complaints from customers or run interference with other departments. If a team
is to be held accountable, then they must handle the results of their own actions together. This
usually means putting teams in regular contact with their customers, and linking at least a portion of
their compensation with their cumulative efforts. (For more information on compensation, see Team
Based Incentives - Do They Work?) It also means the whole team is held accountable for the
performance of each member. In a team based organization, coaching and correcting individual
performance problems is as much a team responsibility as a management responsibility.
Strategies for ensuring consequences:
 Ensure that tems get direct and regular feedback from customers.
 Let teams carry over savings in their budgets.
 Abolish internal monopolies.
 Tie rewards and compensation to team output
 Allow teams to share in the financial success of the organization.
4. A Culture of Team Accountability
While less easy to identify, an organization's culture is just as powerful as its systems in determining
how much accountability people will accept. While changing an organization's culture is more difficult
than tinkering with its systems, changing the systems without addressing the cultural aspects could be a
waste of time.
Creating a culture of accountability means developing a climate in which people can speak
openly, admit to mistakes without fear, and worry more about serving the customer than looking better
than a co-worker. As indicated in the table, there are several cultural dimensions that can contribute to
or discourage accountability.
The biggest fear people have about accountability is that they will be punished for their actions.
Savvy organizations realize that blaming people for events that have already occurred does more harm
than good. It tends to make people secretive about their actions and competitive with their co-workers.
Workers end up looking out for "number one" more than for the success of the organization.
In successfully accountable organizations, mistakes are celebrated as learning opportunities.
The focus is shifted from finger pointing to jointly figuring out how things should be done differently in
the future. One team we encountered began each of its weekly team meetings with a celebration of the
week's biggest screw-up. This technique not only effectively surfaced problems and got them solved, it
virtually drove fear out of the workplace.
Changing from a culture of blame to one of honest and trusting problem solving usually boils
down to the way each of us behaves with each other. Use the list of strategies below to help your leaders
and teammates foster a culture of shared accountability.
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 Earn the trust of your co-workers. This means doing what you say and saying what you mean all the
time.
 Publicly own up to your own mistakes and accept the natural consequences for them.
 When mistakes or problems occur, focus on the future. To correct the problem and prevent it from
happening again, steer the discussion to what needs to be done next and away from what was done.
 Remember that intent is not the same as performance. Help people follow through on their
commitments by regularly checking in on progress. This needn't take on a "Big Brother" air. Simply
make old business or ongoing projects a regular agenda item and ask people to share their current
status, successes, and need for help.
 Be explicit about accountability and expectations. Talk openly (and preferably face-to-face) about
responsibilities, performance standards, deadlines, potential consequences or implications of their
actions, etc.
 Be supportive. Help people talk about their progress on their commitments, and offer help when
they are stuck or unsure.
TEAM MEASURES
Introduction:
We have been talking a lot about team measures with our clients over the last few years. The reactions we get to
these conversations have been interesting. Sometimes when we introduce the subject of measures we see eyes
glaze over. It's like talking about taxes---a tedious, detailed task of administrivia we know we have to do, but
really wish we could avoid. Intellectually, everyone understands the importance of reliable and timely feedback
data to continuous improvement, but few seem able to muster the energy, time, buy-in and resources to develop
useful measurement systems. We wondered how many organizations were struggling with these issues and what
we could learn from the successes and trials of others.
A. What We Asked
Last fall we developed and distributed a survey that had five categories of questions regarding teams and
team-based measurement systems. The first four categories of questions had to do specifically with how
organizations collected and used performance data. We asked about:
 What teams measure

 How they collect data
 What they do with the data
 What has resulted
Because measurements and results so often form the basis for reward and recognition systems, we
also included a set of questions about what organizations were doing in this arena. We identified several
items within each category and asked respondents to answer two questions about each of these items:
 Do you do this in your organization?

 If you do, how important or helpful has it been to team performance? (On a scale of 1-5)
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Generally speaking, the responses we received confirmed our faith that measures and performance
feedback help teams. With few exceptions, our respondents found value in performing most of the example
measurement tasks we included in our survey. Inside are the highlights from the data.
Comments from our respondents tell us that establishing effective measures is important, but not
easy. Intimidation is no excuse for not starting somewhere, these experienced organizations told us. Get
something in place as soon as possible and expect to tweak it as you go. They reassured us that it does get
easier.
B. What Teams Measure
When deciding what to measure, start first with measures that track team rather than individual
performance. Our data indicates that individual performance data are of less value (judging from the ratings
and number of organizations tracking it) while team data reinforce collaboration and problem solving.
1. Be sure that you have a balanced set of measures. One of our clients got into trouble by having their
teams track only sales. Not surprisingly, sales were going up, but so were complaints from customers!
To prevent the teams from sacrificing long term success for quick gains, the organization added
customer satisfaction to team score cards.
2. Measures should also be meaningful to team members and flexible enough to change over time to
suit changing team needs and issues. One of our respondents told us that they originally designed their
measures to satisfy their Budget Committee. Since these had little meaning to the team members, there
was no buy-in to collecting or reviewing data.
3. The place to start, we were told repeatedly, is with the organization's and the team's mission and
vision. Use these to identify four to five key performance indicators. If you pick too many, you will
confuse people about priorities. (One organization reported making the mistake of starting with 20! No
one could remember them all.) Our survey respondents seemed to like some version of the set we
included on the survey: costs, customer satisfaction, quality, productivity and work processes. We were
also reminded to choose SMART measures: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time bound.
“What gets measured...gets done.”
C. How They Collect Team Data
Two points stand out on this issue: teams need feedback specific to their performance as opposed to the
performance of the organization as a whole, and the feedback is more valuable if it is collected by the teams
themselves. Also, using specific tools provided more value than actually collecting anecdotal data.
One of our respondents reminded us of how much easier the task of collecting and reporting data is
when you have well designed information systems. The less you have to manually process, the better.
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D. What is Done with the Data
Performance data is only valuable to the extent that it is reviewed and used. Most respondents reported
reviewing their data regularly (some at every team meeting). Waiting until there is a problem or only
looking at some of the data doesn't have nearly the same pay-off.
Many organizations also reported performance data as the basis for goal setting as well as team
feedback and performance reviews. We have developed a process to help teams do this and we call it the
Team Improvement ReviewTM process. It is built around a set of four questions:
1. How are we doing? (an examination of the data)

2. What have we learned? (what does the data indicate about our strengths and weaknesses)
3. What should we do next? (setting improvement goals)
4. What resources will we need to achieve our new goals? (what help, training, equipment, etc.)
One of our respondents made the wise suggestion to make sure your teams members know how to
use their measures as a tool for implementation. Without the skills to analyze data, problem solve, or
build business cases for their ideas, all they'll have is information.
E. What Has Been the Effect of Tracking Performance
Measures build teams. Our respondents were quite clear on this point. Measures helped their teams focus,
collaborate, and make progress on targeted improvements.
Few of the people surveyed felt that tracking performance made their teams feel as if they weren't
trusted to do a good job. It's just as we suspected. People want to know how they are doing.
F. What They Said About Rewards and Recognition
While technically a separate issue, we felt that asking about measures without asking also about rewards and
recognition would have left everyone waiting for the other shoe to drop. As we saw earlier, measures are
useful to a team's focus and goal setting. They also provide obvious fodder for rewards.
What our data indicated was interesting. Most organizations reported more satisfaction with simple
team celebrations and "attaboys" than they did with tangible or financial rewards for either teams or
individuals. This is consistent with Alfie Kohn's1 philosophy about rewards.
Most celebrations we have seen teams center around food. One of our respondents, a manager at
Con-Way Transportation Services of Portland, Oregon, described a time when his team had to put in some
late hours. He made a point of bringing a special dinner to them each night they worked. One night it was
Chinese, another Thai, another Mexican, and so on. The big hit was the night he brought homemade
lasagna. At the end of the project the team celebrated at one of Portland's best Italian restaurants.
Where performance did impact compensation, we see that profit sharing is more popular than any of
the other suggested reward systems. One respondent provided this caution, however. He recommended not
tying team pay to measures until the metrics have been in place for one full cycle and have been validated
and agreed upon by management and teams.
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G. Example - Using Measures to Redesign Work Processes
One of our clients is a healthcare nonprofit providing services primarily to women. Due to a number of
factors, their patient revenues have been declining while their expenses have remained level. Most of their
facilities do not pay for themselves and are subsidized by donations. Their management realized that they
needed to turn this picture around.
Step 1: Pre-Launch - We helped them form a task force to redesign their work process. The first step was
to sit down with the managers and develop a project charter for this team, carefully clarifying boundaries,
purpose, expectations roles, etc. This "pre-launch process" typically takes four hours. In this we identified a
set of measurable goals for the team including:
 Ability to handle three to four patient visits per clinician per hour
 Same day appointments for urgent needs; no more than one week wait to get other appointments
 Wait time for patients not to exceed 10 minutes past their appointment time
These measures have kept the team focused on business needs.
Step 2: Launch - At the first meeting with the team, the managers walked the new members through the
team charter as we clarified and negotiated the details. We also established team agreements for how to
operate.
Step 3: Redesign - Now we are in the process of mapping their work processes, gathering baseline data on
their processes, and generating ideas for meeting the measures. (Tip: Use pictures to map out the process.
These icons keep people from tunneling too deeply into any one step.) We are expecting to complete the
project with 8 half-day meetings, fully expecting to turn around their business.
BRAINSTROMING: STRETCHING TEAM’S CAPACITY

A. Brainstorming 101 - The Process
In general, the idea behind brainstorming is to have each person in the team offer ideas that pertain to a
given topic. Simply sitting together and sharing thoughts is good, but using a good brainstorming process is
better. Next I will describe the basic process, and then elaborate on each one further below. Here is the
process:
1. Writing the topic to be brainstormed at the top of a flip chart page focuses the team on the topic
and lowers the possibility that people will be offering ideas on multiple topics. The ability to focus the
team is important for conducting the activity efficiently. Otherwise, people may ramble, get off track,
and generally waste time.
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2. Starting with one team member and, in turn and in order, having all team members contribute
an idea brings order to the process. Everyone quickly learns that, in each round, they will be asked to
contribute an item to the list.
3. Each person can only give one idea per turn so that it gives everyone an equal opportunity to
contribute. One person may be sitting there with 10 ideas, and another only 2 initially. If the person
with 10 gives them all at once, the other person may now not be able to contribute anything for a while.
It just allows for greater participation and satisfaction.
4. Writing down ALL ideas on the flip chart paper and then hanging them on the wall becomes a
dramatic demonstration of the power of collaboration. As the list gets longer, the team is inspired by its
ability to go way beyond what was expected at the outset. This is highly motivating to all team
members.
5. Allowing team members to "pass" if they have no idea is really a safety outlet for those rounds
where someone has truly come up dry. It creates comfort in the process. It is important to note,
however, that they should be reminded to say "pass" rather than using some gesture or other way of
communicating. Occasionally there are team members who do not want to participate or otherwise are
"tuned out" of the team's activities. Having to say the word "pass" has its own discomforts, especially if
it is said repeatedly. We seldom see anyone pass more than three times in succession.
6. There is no discussion of the items. Brainstorming is a "divergent" process. That means that you are
seeking the largest number of thoughts possible. There will be plenty of time to narrow the list later.
Additionally, gathering a large number of thoughts and ideas will trigger new thoughts. Team synergy
results when its results are bigger than the sum of the parts, meaning, that ideas were generated that
nobody had considered prior to the brainstorming.
7. When everyone passes in succession, the brainstorming is complete. This is generally the rule for
finishing the process, but you also need to consider if you generated enough results. If not, you may
want to continue the process by using various techniques for reenergizing the team's creativity.
B. Brainstorming Tips and Techniques
There are many ideas to enhance the brainstorming process. Here are a few.
1. Tip #1 - Strive for many ideas. If the group "hits the wall" too early or, in other words, simply runs out
of ideas, try a technique called Forced Connections. Ask the group to associate their topic with an
unrelated word such as "frog." Or bring along some pictures (for example, a bathtub) and ask the group
to associate their topic with this. The brain will always attempt to make an association, spawning new
ideas that may kick-start the group to more creativity.
2. Tip #2 - Encourage the group to "get crazy" with their ideas. Allow members to play with the topic --
-stretch a little--- to generate even more creative ideas. The general work environment tends to be overly
logical, forcing people to operate from the logical part of the brain. Creative brainstorming involves
shifting into the more creative parts of the brain, something that may be uncomfortable for some people
when at work. Also consider performing an icebreaker exercise prior to the brainstorming to further
relax and energize participants.
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3. Tip #3 - Use multiple scribes to increase speed. If you have a group of 10 or more participants, you
may want to use two or more of them in writing down the thoughts. This is especially helpful if you
have a very large group (I once facilitated 135 people in a brainstorming process, using three scribes and
one additional person to "hang paper."). It speeds up the process significantly.
4. Tip #4 - Use sticky dots to prioritize the list quickly. A large list can quickly be reduced to a few by
giving each participant a strip of 4-8 colored dots (which can be found in the label department of most
office products stores) and having them place the dots on the list items that they like best. Frequently
there are some clear-cut winners that show up immediately. Click HERE for a short story on how this
technique was used.
PERSONALITY AND THE TEAM: VALUE THE PERSON

by Ray Martin an Jennifer Hixson
Introduction:
In our popular Personality and the Team program, we have the opportunity to show people how many of their
behaviors can flow from their personalities. If you know their preferences on the Myers Briggs Type Indicator
(MBTI) personality sorter, you can have insight into how they might act: as individuals and together in a team
setting.
A. Extraversion – Introversion (attention and energy focus)
Briefly, Extraversion (or ‘E’ in MBTI shorthand) has its focus on the outer world and gets energized from
interacting with others. Their energy drains when they are alone. Introversion (‘I’), on the other hand, has
its focus on the inner world and gives up energy when interacting with others. Their energy recharges when
they are able to separate from others into a private space or activity.
If a person strongly identifies with the E preference, we might expect to see them plugging into
other people through interaction. E is comfortable in the moment, often never at a loss for words, quick in
reaching out to others, action-oriented in problem solving, and so forth. Sometimes they are at risk for
“Foot in mouth disease” when they speak too soon. Because of their action orientation, the expression
“Ready .. Aim .. Fire” might be rearranged to be “Ready .. Fire .. Fire.”
If a person strongly identifies with the I preference, we might expect to see quite the contrary.
Interaction with others drains their energy, so they would structure their activities to periodically be alone.
Rather than interact comfortably with groups of people, they might be more effective interacting with 2-3
people at a time. They might find themselves, on the way home, thinking of something they wish they had
said in an exchange earlier in the day. Preferring to understand an action before getting started, their
expression might be written “Ready .. Aim .. Aim.”
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B. Sensing – Intuition (collecting & generating information)
Briefly, Sensing (‘S’) uses the senses to take in information and identify the appropriate details.
Intuition (‘N,’ as the letter ‘I’ had already been used) seeks to find meanings, possibilities, and
relationships associated with the information being received.
If a person strongly identifies with S, they might be more oriented toward the here and now, real
time if you will, sometimes drawing on historical reference points. They can be practical, preferring
situations ‘they can get their hands around.’ They may be uncomfortable making a decision until they think
they’ve gathered enough information to understand. They might prefer using current skills to learning new
ones. Before doing something new, they want to know ‘how.’
Ns on the other hand, see things as they can be. They may make seemingly un-related (to the S)
associations, and look like they are not paying attention. They may prefer to learn new skills rather than use
existing ones. They may be more at home with the abstract than the concrete. They might use
generalizations. In doing something new, they want to know ‘why.’
C. Thinking – Feeling (making decisions)
Briefly, Thinking (‘T’) uses logic to make objective, fair decisions. Feeling (‘F’) uses values to make
subjective, caring decisions.
If a person strongly identifies with the T preferences, they often organize information into a system
that makes the decision, logically if you will. They may factor their emotions out of the equation in an
effort to be fair. They may use strong words, sometimes with unintended consequences. They may be
concerned about setting precedents: ‘If we do this now, it may mean this down the line.’ Worst case, they
may be accused of being ‘cold-hearted.’
On the other hand, the F preference may draw on subjective information that’s value-driven to
make decisions. Environments or words may challenge them when there is conflict: real or perceived. They
wouldn’t consider factoring out their feelings, even if they could. They may be seen as ‘people persons.’
Worst case, they may be accused of wearing their ‘heart on their sleeve.’
D. Judging – Perceiving (lifestyle organization)
The Judging (‘J’) preference organizes the external world, making plans and decisions. The perceiving
(‘P’) preference seeks to understand and adapt to life as it comes.
The person who strongly identifies with the J preference seeks order and structure in their life.
They make decisions and move on. Their work place is organized: ”a place for everything and everything
in its place." They will work on a project until it is completed, blocking out potential distractions. They
prefer to plan the work and work the plan. They are time-oriented, making the most of this valuable
resource.
The Ps, on the other hand, adapt well to changing situations. They might design the project but not
follow through to closure, shifting interest to a new project instead. They may appear to make a decision
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but then re-consider it (and change it) if new information becomes available. They may seen as a
procrastinator if indecisive too long or too often.
Conclusions:
The MBTI provides much more information than this brief article can share. The preference choices are not an
either/or scenario, but generally people prefer one preference to the other on each of the four scales to some
extent. The four preferences in combination add up to more than each preference alone.
People have much in common with others who share their same four preferences, but they are also
uniquely different thanks to their education and life experiences. One plus one can easily add up to more than
two when we learn to value and draw upon people different than ourselves. As a team, we can help improve the
quality of our processes and our outcomes when we recognize our ‘team personality’ and compensate for our
weaknesses: preferences that are under-represented in the individuals available.
“Understanding of our personalities is a privilege. Improved interaction with that understanding is a responsibility. Value the
Person, whether like you or different. You’ll be better for it.
CREATING TEAM AGREEMENTS FOR RESULTS

by Stewart Levine
[[
Introduction:
It is much easier not to exercise or brush your teeth in the morning. It is much simpler just to get on with your
day. Although stopping to form an agreement before moving forward is more tedious than moving into action
immediately, it will not likely produce the results you desire. It's the difference between…Ready…Fire…Aim!
and Ready… Aim… Fire!
The later is much more effective because it provides clear direction before action.
When introducing the concept of Agreements for Results to an audience, I think of the tag line from an
old Quaker State Motor Oil commercial - You can pay me now, or you can pay me later. That line holds true
when thinking about agreements. Most people never think about investing the time to make explicit the implicit
agreement they believe they have at the beginning of a new team or project. They're off and running, everyone
with their own vision of the destination, and how to get there, without the clarity necessary to minimize the
potential for conflict. Like the Quaker State warning of engine damage if you don't do the preventative
maintenance of changing your oil, they will incur the cost of inevitable conflict, a cost that can be prevented.
When we think about the idea of having an agreement we usually think about long legal documents, lots
of "what ifs" and how we can protect ourselves from something we do not want to happen. They do not want to
get hurt. I believe that we would all be better off if when beginning a new endeavor we could shift our focus to
a vision of results you want to produce, not the calamities you want to avoid.
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The following Ten Essential Elements make up the template of items that are elementary items that
must be discussed if you want to create a vision and a map to getting the results you want. I have compared
the mindset of an "Agreements for Results" perspective, with the traditional Agreements for
Protection" mental model. Notice the difference and please think about which one is more effective.
The elements of an effective agreement are:
A. RESULTS vs. PROTECTION COMPARED
RESULTS vs. PROTECTION – EXPLAINED
1. Intent and Vision
RESULTS: Focus on what you want to happen.

PROTECTION: Focus on all the "what ifs" that could go wrong.
You can tell what will happen in your life by paying attention to your dominant thoughts. ven that, if
we focus on the calamities we increase the chances they will happen. What we really want in any
collaborative context is everyone focusing on desired results - the best possible vision of the future.
That will greatly improve the chances of what we want to materialize happening. It's obvious that when
you bring on a new hire, it's more useful to see them leaping tall buildings than focusing on the
mistakes they might make.
2. Roles
RESULTS: Making sure someone has responsibility for all critical tasks.
PROTECTION: Narrowly defining responsibility to limit accountability and liability.
We want to make sure we have what we need to get the job done without anything slipping through the
cracks. We want clarity about who can be counted on for what, compared to someone saying, "that's
not my job!" In the old context people liked to hide. They did not like to take the responsibility for
making something happen because if something went wrong, they were responsible. Hopefully the fear
of making mistakes is no longer as powerful a driver it once was. We have all learned that the need for
innovation requires experimentation. We know that mistakes cannot be "punished" if you expect
continued risking, the heart of entrepreneurship.
3. Promises
RESULTS: Contribution - committing to wholeheartedly do your part required for success, not
out of coercion, but from belief in the project's mission.
PROTECTION: Doing the least; hiding behind qualifying words that cloud and condition what
you are promising.
Who specifically will be doing what? The word "promise" is used too lightly in our culture. It is
essential for every member of the team to understand the promises they are making and to realize that
everyone else is relying on them. You can also consider this a team action plan. It is also a checkpoint.
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If everyone delivers what he or she promises, you will produce the desired results. Each promise must
have the discipline of a "by when" because, without a date, commitment is illusory.
4. Time and Value
RESULTS: Clear time commitments and satisfaction with the value given and received
PROTECTION: The most for the least
Clearly stated "BY WHEN'S," and for how long the promises will be kept. Everyone must be satisfied
that what they will get from the project is worth what they are putting in. If someone is under
compensated they will be resentful. Resentful participants do not produce results that are "beyond
expectation," but people committed to a vision do.
5. Measurements of Satisfaction
RESULTS: Goals that inspire and state clearly and measurably what is expected
PROTECTION: Qualifiers to argue from and use as excuses
What are the objective measures that will tell you if you accomplished what you set out to do so there
are no arguments about it? For some people it is frightening to make a commitment that will hold them
visibly accountable to a promise they made, so they will look for an edge.
6. Concerns and Fears
RESULTS: Compassion for any "anxiety-producing" concerns and risks that a "partner" sees
and feels
PROTECTION: An edge to take strategic advantage of when you are inside their head, in a
position to play "games"
You address concerns and fears to make everyone as comfortable as possible about moving forward.
Doing this is a way of responding to "internal chatter" that might inhibit full participation. It solidifies
partnership by addressing what is lingering in people's minds. It enables people to clearly identify
risks, and to choose to move forward anyway. Each person should be willing to take the other's deal.
7. Renegotiation
RESULTS: How can we make this work as unanticipated changes take place?
PROTECTION: How can changes be used for advantage?
A commitment to renegotiation requires ongoing learning, and staying in the mind set of solving a
mutual problem to get desired results even though things happened no one anticipated (which is one
thing you can be sure of.) This is the key principal that drives every learning organization.
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8. Consequences
RESULTS: What reminds everyone of the significance of promises and failure?

PROTECTION: What would be a good punishment?
It is important to keep people mindful of promises they made and focused on delivering promised
performance. It is as important to have people realize the connection between their expectations and
failure to perform. Becoming conscious of that gap serves as a motivator. Consequences are put in
place not as punishment, but to remind us of the loss of an unrealized vision, and the sanctity of our
promises.
9. Conflict Resolution
RESULTS: What will get us back on track quickly?

PROTECTION: How can the resolution process be used for leverage or advantage?
It is important to embrace conflict as expected and to hold it as an opportunity for creativity in how we
deal with specifics we did not anticipate. It is very important to understand the magnitude of the
transaction cost of remaining in conflict.
10. Agreement?
RESULTS: Do I trust enough to be in an open, ongoing collaboration

PROTECTION: Can I get out without getting hurt? Is there an opportunity for a windfall?
Has the process produced enough trust so you can say "Let's do it, I'm comfortable moving forward
with you, and sense we'll be able to work things out as we go forward." Has the deep dialogue we
have exchanged produced what Max DePree calls a relationship based on covenant - a heart felt
connection and commitment to people and results.
A Team Agreement for the Results
A few years ago, at the height of popularity of "Self-Directed Work Teams" I was working with a government
agency to implement a team environment for a unit of technical support people. The challenge was not only to
create "teams," but also to bring out the entrepreneurial spirit in each member of the organization.
The critical part of a successful team environment is making sure everyone has the same vision, before
moving into action. The classic "forming, storming, norming, performing" stages that teams traverse are best
resolved with an agreement. The agreement serves the norming function as members of the team agree on how
they will work with each other - what their norms will be. The agreement reflects the resolution of their
"storming." With some coaching help the following agreement was put in place to govern team activities.
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A. Team Agreement
1. Intent and Vision: All members of "The Programmers" agree to follow the terms of this agreement.
Our vision is to be a tightly coordinated unit whose members are cross-trained in the jobs that all
members of the team can do, so that any one of us could step into a client request at any moment. The
specific vision we have is that we will be "self-supporting" within two years - we will generate enough
revenue to cover our costs and our salaries. We will:
 train each other in what we do;

 become competent salespeople;
 sell our core competencies to other government and non-government agencies;
 become a role model for what an intrapreneurial government agency can do;
 become qualified experts in providing programming support for the growing technology business
community;
 pool our resources so that some of us will become salespeople while others will be engaged in
direct, immediate, revenue opportunities.
2. Roles: We will each become intrapreneurs; life-long learners; teammates; and a "work-family" who
realize we are each essential to the others survival during a time of government and military
downsizing. We realize a cooperative management team and a steady stream of new solvent clients is
critical to our success.
3. Promises: We each promise: to accept rewards on a team basis only; to give each other ongoing honest
feedback on matters that impact our work and productivity; to accept that we are beginners in the realm
of interpersonal communication; to devote our full time energy to the work of the team; to teach
teammates what we learn when we take a training class; to come to team meetings on time; to follow the
standards for team meetings we have drafted; to stay in a learning mode; to take our turn as team-leader.
4. Time and Value: We each agree that the potential benefits of teamship far outweigh the cost involved,
and we agree to experiment with the team method of organizing work for the next two years.
5. Measurements of Satisfaction: Our measure of success will be sustainability - how long it takes to
become self-sustaining. We have set a goal of 18 months to become self-supporting: revenue equals
expenses plus salaries.
6. Concerns and Fears: We are concerned that in six months a new "management" fad will be put in
place, or we will be reassigned to other units and our operation will be completely shut down. We are
also concerned that members of the team will leave for other departments or non-government jobs.
7. Renegotiation: We understand the importance of ongoing communication. In that spirit we see our
team agreement as a living, evolving context in which we work together. We agree to keep our
agreement current - we will look at it monthly to make sure it reflects the reality of what we are doing as
a unit. We see "teamship" as a voluntary activity, and agree that if anyone wants to leave the team they
can.
8. Consequences: We assume that all of us are smarter than any one of us. We agree to defer to the team
to determine consequences for any violation of this team agreement. We realize that when we violate an
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expressed or implied responsibility of teamship, a consequence should follow. We fully understand that
if we are not successful at becoming self-sustaining our unit may be disbanded and we will be left
without jobs.
9. Conflict Resolution: We agree to the following rules: 1.) manage your own emotions; 2.) talk to the
person or group you are in conflict with; 3.) ask a team member to mediate; 4.) get the entire team
involved; 5.) ask the team coach for help.
10. Agreement? : We are confident that all of us together are stronger than if we worked independently
during this time of change and transition. We all take responsibility for managing the team as we rotate
team leadership.
Team members reported that they enjoyed the process, found the dialogue generated closer
relationships, and that they use their agreement as a way of orienting new team members. The
agreement has become a combination operations and personnel manual for the team.
Conclusion:
The critical part of a successful team environment is making sure everyone has the same vision, before moving
into action. The classic "forming, storming, norming, performing" stages that teams traverse is best resolved
with an agreement. The agreement serves the norming function as members of the team agree on how they will
work with each other - what will their norms be. The agreement reflects the resolution of their "storming."
Agreements are a fundamental life skill we never learned when we were young. It is the primary
building block for all kinds of collaborations, and working with others is the only way results, productivity and
satisfying relationship happen. Try having a dialogue that incorporates the elements at the beginning of your
next team project. I guarantee that from then on you will become an advocate for "Agreements for Results" in
all your endeavors.
APPRECIATIVE TEAM BUILDING

by Jay K. Chernex
Introduction:
"Appreciative Inquiry is the cooperative search for the best in people, their organizations, and the world around
them. AI involves the art and practice of asking questions that strengthen a system's capacity to heighten
positive potential. AI assumes that every living system has untapped, rich, and inspiring accounts of the
positive. Link this "positive core" directly to any change agenda, and changes never thought possible are
suddenly and democratically mobilized."
Appreciative Inquiry, the study of what works, is a distinct way of improving human systems. Its
been applied across the spectrum in organizations, from whole system change to teambuilding to individual
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coaching. The appreciative approach has extraordinary power to unleash enthusiasm and momentum for
positive change. In my view, this capacity involves AI's effect on two basic emotions-pride and its evil twin,
shame. In its systematic bias toward the positive, AI sets up conversations that awaken pride. When
relationships are grounded in pride teams become more cohesive and effective.
This article will explore how appreciative, strength-based teambuilding heightens the capacity for
collaboration. I'll begin with an overview of appreciative inquiry's core principles and how they compare with
traditional teambuilding approaches. We'll walk through the basic steps in an appreciative team inquiry, and
then examine shame and pride more closely.
A. Two Visions of Teams
Traditional team improvement often begins by assessing what isn't working so these gaps can be repaired.
The metaphor operating in this approach is "team as machine": if all the parts are in place and working, the
mechanism returns to its previous "unimpaired" functioning.
By contrast, an appreciative approach starts with a series of questions about what is working, in order
to uncover the root causes of team success. The group then plans its future by expanding and sustaining the
resources in this unique "positive core". The working metaphor here is the team as an evolving, expanding
mystery with untapped possibilities. Instead of just regaining its previous level, an appreciative process
dares to aim for unprecedented breakthroughs toward the team's highest potential.
B. Appreciative Interviews
Here is a sample protocol that might begin the inquiry:
1. Think of a time when you were on a hugely successful team, a time that you felt energized, fulfilled and
most effective-when you were able to accomplish even more than you imagined. What made it such a
great team? Tell the story about the situation, the people involved, and how the team achieved its
breakthrough.
2. Without being humble, what was it about you that contributed to the success of the team? Describe in
detail these qualities and what you value about yourself that enables team success.
3. It is one year from today and your team is functioning more successfully than any of you imagined.
What are we doing, how are we working together differently, what does this success look like, and how
did we make it happen?
Teammates interview each other in pairs, and then groups of four share and compare stories.
The elements that support these successful times emerge, often crystallized in an image or symbol that
captures the team at its best-its "positive core". Through further inquiry and dialogue the whole team
then designs ways to amplify the existing assets so day-to-day functioning approaches the ideal.
Summing up, the stages of an appreciative inquiry are: 1) Discover the best of what is 2)
Envision what might be 3) Dialogue what should be 4) Innovate what will be.
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Gervase Bushe, one of the first appreciative team builders, writes about a useful image
generated during one team inquiry:
"In one business team I worked with one member talked about a group of young men he played
pick-up basketball with and described why they were, in his opinion, such an outstanding "team". He
described their shared sense of what they were there to do, lack of rigid roles, easy adaptability to the
constraints of any particular situation in the service of their mission. But what most captured the team's
imagination was his description of how this group was both competitive and collaborative at the same
time. Each person competed with all the rest to play the best ball, to come up with the neatest move and
play. Once having executed it, and shown his prowess, he quickly "gave it away" to the other players in
the pickup game, showing them how to do it as well. This was a very meaningful image for this group
as a key, unspoken, tension was the amount of competitiveness members felt with each other at the
same time as they needed to cooperate for the organization's good. "Back alley ball" became an
important synthesizing image for this group that resolved the paradox of competitiveness and
cooperation."
Having images that make team aspirations tangible is a powerful tool. The image acts like a
lighthouse, its steady beam keeping the team on track toward its desired future as it puts into place new
norms, procedures and relationships.
C. Applications
The appreciative team process is useful in almost any kind of team initiative:
 Newly formed teams that want to quickly establish effective roles, responsibilities and norms
 Teams aiming for more effective collaboration
 Ongoing project teams facing special challenges
 Teams needing renewal or clearer focus
 Leadership teams doing strategic planning
Whatever the focus of change, appreciative inquiry frames the agenda affirmatively. For
example, rather than delve into causes of conflict, an appreciative stance finds the sources of the best
cooperation. Instead of diagnosing the causes of turnover, AI improves retention by discovering the
elements of highly engaging team environments. Looking at causes for low morale is reframed as a
search for the root causes of greatest team excitement and commitment.
Every time I'm involved in storytelling and conversation about peak experiences, I witness a
special enthusiasm, energy and renewed optimism. With its deliberate focus on strengths, AI sidesteps
the resistance that can emerge in deficit-driven conversations. How does this happen?
1. Storytelling, Belonging and Shame
Years ago I heard a speaker define shame with an image that has stuck with me. He described a
group of early humans gathered around an evening fire. Beyond the warmth and safety of the blaze,
this community was bound together by a uniquely human process: sharing stories. The connection
created by telling stories was as important for survival as food and shelter. Storytelling is the force
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Prof. Eloisa Lee
that forms human communities. The stories we value together transform individuals into cohesive
webs of shared meaning, belonging and striving.
Now pull away from the circle and notice one man standing apart, in the dark. He was
shunned, pushed out in shame for behavior that somehow threatened the integrity of the community.
With his stories devalued, his link to the group was severed. He existed in a perilous limbo, an
identity in doubt.
So shame involves our sense of defectiveness, our unworthiness to belong. Shame lurks in
the gaps between our perceived "real" and "ideal" selves-how we are compared with how we
"should" be.
In Sylvan Tomkins' affect theory, shame occurs when any positive emotion is interrupted or
impeded. Tomkins labels the two positive emotions, each on a continuum of intensity: interest-
excitement and enjoyment-joy. When our engagement in rewarding activities and relationships is
interrupted, excitement and joy fade. We begin to shut down, withdraw. This is when we construct
stories and images of ourselves as deficient, unworthy, unlovable.
In our present-day teams being told our contribution isn't valued doesn't immediately
threaten our survival, but it can be a powerful experience that resonates back to the shunned
tribesman. Being criticized, especially in public, triggers doubts. When we are told, "You're wrong",
we may hear "You're incompetent". Criticism can reawaken our old stories of defectiveness. Our
confidence about the future slips. We may manage this sense of threat by withdrawing or fighting
back against the criticism. Such defensiveness infects the team atmosphere, reverberating in waves
of resistance and criticism.
Pride and Collaboration
So what is pride? It's pleasure in our own competence; delight in seeing how our efforts made a
positive difference. (Yet healthy pride means accepting limitations, knowing we never do it all by
ourselves.)
Take a moment and reflect back to a moment of great personal success. What's the first
thing you wanted to do with all that excitement and joy? Didn't you want to share your story-to
savor and extend the satisfaction by having someone else validate your competencies? This kind of
conversation accelerates growth for individuals and relationships in some pivotal ways.
Having our success acknowledged by another reminds us we are valued and needed. This
sharing expands our inner stories of pride and minimizes images of shame. Fortified with a clearer
and fuller vision of our capabilities, we move toward the future more confidently.
Being recognized by others also strengthens connections. It renews our welcome into the
security of the community and opens channels for effective dialogue, so essential for "co-laboring".
More specifically, the mutual sharing of pride leads to fuller knowledge of each other's capabilities.
Teammates then know where to turn when a task requires particular talents. This information makes
the combining of complementary strengths more likely. Mutual mining of assets means each person
feel acknowledged and valued specifically for what they offer and who they are. Teammates see
clearly how their strengths contribute to progress and so more fully enjoy team success.
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Prof. Eloisa Lee
The more often we have these success conversations, the more eager we are to cooperate,
trust and learn. We feel safer, more willing to risk putting our ideas into play. In this environment,
difficult choices come easier so projects move ahead more smoothly. Decisions that contain
multiple voices more powerfully address complex, nuanced challenges.
D. Addressing A Pitfall
Partiality for the positive loses power, though, if it becomes Pollyanna happy-talk. The deliberate focus
on what works doesn't mean the appreciative process denies or refuses to hear "negative" emotions.
These need to be acknowledged and validated. Yet delving into the causes of distress in order to "cure"
it can be a trap. One AI maxim says, "What we focus on expands". Too much attention to the causes of
conflict can entangle us and actually deepen dissension. We bog down in the quicksand of complex
problems that may not even have clear-cut solutions.
A team with appreciative values sustains its climate one conversation at a time. Instead of
asking for less of something, appreciative teammates make a habit of focusing on and asking for more
of what works. Embedded within every complaint is a vision of a desired future. AI addresses negativity
by overshadowing it with positive images and relationships. This atmosphere supports openness,
learning, risk-taking and the complementary blending of individual talents. The whole becomes
exponentially more than just the sum of its parts. Being part of such a team is exhilarating, satisfying
and just plain fun.
People are irresistibly attracted to workplaces filled with the life-giving climate of pride and
appreciation.
KEYS TO BUILDING GREAT TEAMS

by Suzanne Willis Zoglio
Introduction:
Fostering teamwork is a top priority for many leaders. The benefits are clear: increased productivity, improved
customer service, more flexible systems, employee empowerment. But is the vision clear? To effectively
implement teams, leaders need a clear picture of the seven elements high-performance teams have in common.
A. Commitment
Commitment to the purpose and values of an organization provides a clear sense of direction. Team
members understand how their work fits into corporate objectives and they agree that their team's goals are
achievable and aligned with corporate mission and values. Commitment is the foundation for synergy in
groups. Individuals are willing to put aside personal needs for the benefit of the work team or the company.
When there is a meeting of the minds on the big picture this shared purpose provides a backdrop against
which all team decisions can be viewed. Goals are developed with corporate priorities in mind. Team
ground rules are set with consideration for both company and individual values. When conflict arises, the
team uses alignment with purpose, values, and goals as important criteria for acceptable solutions.
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To enhance team commitment leaders might consider inviting each work team to develop team
mission, vision, and values statements that are in alignment with those of the corporation but reflect the
individuality of each team. These statements should be visible and "walked" every day. Once a shared
purpose is agreed upon, each team can develop goals and measures, focus on continuous improvement, and
celebrate team success at important milestones. The time spent up front getting all team members on the
same track will greatly reduce the number of derailments or emergency rerouting later.
B. Contribution
The power of an effective team is in direct proportion to the skills members possess and the
initiative members expend. Work teams need people who have strong technical and interpersonal skills
and are willing to learn. Teams also need self-leaders who take responsibility for getting things done.
But if a few team members shoulder most of the burden, the team runs the risk of member burnout, or
worse -- member turn-off.
To enhance balanced participation on a work team, leaders should consider three factors that
affect the level of individual contribution: inclusion, confidence, and empowerment. The more
individuals feel like part of a team, the more they contribute; and, the more members contribute, the
more they feel like part of the team. To enhance feelings of inclusion, leaders need to keep work team
members informed, solicit their input, and support an atmosphere of collegiality. If employees are not
offering suggestions at meetings, invite them to do so. If team members miss meetings, let them know
they were missed. When ideas -- even wild ideas -- are offered, show appreciation for the initiative.
Confidence in self and team affects the amount of energy a team member invests in an
endeavor. If it appears that the investment of hard work is likely to end in success employees are more
likely to contribute. If, on the other hand, success seems unlikely, investment of energy will wane. To
breed confidence on a work team, leaders can highlight the talent, experience, and accomplishments
represented on the team, as well as keep past team successes visible. The confidence of team members
can be bolstered by providing feedback, coaching, assessment and professional development
opportunities.
Another way to balance contribution on a work team is to enhance employee empowerment.

When workers are involved in decisions, given the right training, and respected for their experience,
they feel enabled and invest more. It is also important to have team members evaluate how well they
support the contribution of others.
C. Communication
For a work group to reach its full potential, members must be able to say what they think , ask for help,
share new or unpopular ideas, and risk making mistakes. This can only happen in an atmosphere where
team members show concern, trust one another, and focus on solutions, not problems. Communication -
-when it is friendly, open, and positive --plays a vital role in creating such cohesiveness.
Friendly communications are more likely when individuals know and respect one another.
Team members show caring by asking about each other's lives outside of work, respecting individual
differences, joking, and generally making all feel welcome.
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Open communication is equally important to a team's success. To assess work performance,

members must provide honest feedback, accept constructive criticism, and address issues head-on. To
do so requires a trust level supported by direct, honest communication.
Positive communication impacts the energy of a work team. When members talk about what
they like, need, or want, it is quite different from wailing about what annoys or frustrates them. The
former energizes; the latter demoralizes.
To enhance team communication, leaders can provide skill training in listening, responding, and
the use of language as well as in meeting management, feedback and consensus building.
D. Cooperation
Most challenges in the workplace today require much more than good solo performance. In increasingly
complex organizations, success depends upon the degree of interdependence recognized within the
team. Leaders can facilitate cooperation by highlighting the impact of individual members on team
productivity and clarifying valued team member behaviors. The following F.A.C.T.S. model of
effective team member behaviors (follow-through, accuracy, timeliness, creativity, and spirit) may serve
as a guide for helping teams identify behaviors that support synergy within the work team.
1. Follow-through: One of the most common phrases heard in groups that work well together is "You
can count on it." Members trust that when a colleague agrees to return a telephone call, read a
report, talk to a customer, attend a meeting, or change a behavior, the job will be done. There will
be follow-through. Team members are keenly aware that as part of a team, everything that they do --
or don't do---impacts someone else.
2. Accuracy: Another common phrase heard in effective work groups is "We do it right the first time."
Accuracy, clearly a reflection of personal pride, also demonstrates a commitment to uphold the
standards of the team, thus generating team pride.
3. Creativity: Innovation flourishes on a team when individuals feel supported by colleagues.

Although taking the lead in a new order of things is risky business, such risk is greatly reduced in a
cooperative environment where members forgive mistakes, respect individual differences, and shift
their thinking from a point of view to a viewing point.
4. Timeliness: When work team members are truly cooperating they respect the time of others by
turning team priorities into personal priorities, arriving for meetings on time, sharing information
promptly, clustering questions for people, communicating succinctly, and asking "Is this a good
time?" before initiating interactions.
5. Spirit: Being on a work team is a bit like being part of a family. You can't have your way all of the
time, and - to add value - you must develop a generous spirit. Leaders can help work teams by
addressing these "rules" of team spirit: value the individual; develop team trust; communicate
openly; manage differences; share successes; welcome new members.
E. Conflict Arrangement
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It is inevitable that teams of bright, diverse thinkers will experience conflict from time to time. The
problem is not that differences exist, but in how they are managed. If people believe that conflict never
occurs in "good" groups, they may sweep conflict under the rug. Of course, no rug is large enough to
cover misperception, ill feelings, old hurts, and misunderstandings for very long. Soon the differences
reappear. They take on the form of tension, hidden agendas, and stubborn positions. On the other hand,
if leaders help work teams to manage conflict effectively, the team will be able to maintain trust and tap
the collective power of the team. Work teams manage conflict better when members learn to shift their
paradigms (mindsets) about conflict in general, about other parties involved, and about their own ability
to manage conflict. Three techniques that help members shift obstructing paradigms are reframing,
shifting shoes, and affirmations.
Reframing is looking at the glass half-full, instead of half-empty. Instead of thinking "If I
address this issue, it'll slow down the meeting," consider this thought: "If we negotiate this difference,
trust and creativity will all increase."
Shifting Shoes is a technique used to practice empathy by mentally "walking in the shoes" of
another person. You answer questions such as "How would I feel if I were that person being criticized in
front of the group?" "What would motivate me to say what that person just said?"
Affirmations are positive statements about something you want to be true. For example, instead
of saying to yourself right before a negotiating session, " I know I'm going to blow up", force yourself to
say, "I am calm, comfortable, and prepared." If team members can learn to shift any negative mental
tapes to more positive ones, they will be able to shift obstructing paradigms and manage conflict more
effectively.
F. Change Management
Tom Peters, in Thriving On Chaos, writes "The surviving companies will, above all, be flexible
responders that create market initiatives. This has to happen through people." It is no longer a luxury to
have work teams that can perform effectively within a turbulent environment. It is a necessity. Teams
must not only respond to change, but actually initiate it. To assist teams in the management of change,
leaders should acknowledge any perceived danger in the change and then help teams to see any inherent
opportunities. They can provide the security necessary for teams to take risks and the tools for them to
innovate; they can also reduce resistance to change by providing vision and information, and by
modeling a positive attitude themselves.
G. Connections
A cohesive work team can only add value if it pays attention to the ongoing development of three
important connections: to the larger work organization, to team members, and to other work teams.
When a work team is connected to the organization, members discuss team performance in
relationship to corporate priorities, customer feedback, and quality measures. They consider team needs
in light of what's good for the whole organization and what will best serve joint objectives. Leaders can
encourage such connection by keeping communication lines open. Management priorities, successes,
and headaches should flow one way; team needs, successes, and questions should flow in the other
direction.
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When a work team has developed strong connections among its own members, peer support
manifests itself in many ways. Colleagues volunteer to help without being asked, cover for each other in
a pinch, congratulate each other publicly, share resources, offer suggestions for improvement, and find
ways to celebrate together. A few ideas for developing and maintaining such connections are: allow
time before and after meetings for brief socialization, schedule team lunches, create occasional team
projects outside of work, circulate member profiles, take training together, and provide feedback to one
another on development.
Teams that connect well with other work groups typically think of those groups as "internal
customers". They treat requests from these colleagues with the same respect shown to external
customers. They ask for feedback on how they can better serve them. They engage in win/win
negotiating to resolve differences, and they share resources such as training materials, videos, books,
equipment, or even improvement ideas. To build stronger connections with other groups, work teams
might consider: scheduling monthly cross-departmental meetings, inviting representatives to their own
team meeting, "lending" personnel during flu season, and combining efforts on a corporate or
community project.
To compete effectively, leaders must fashion a network of skilled employees who support each
other in the achievement of corporate goals and the delivery of seamless service.
VALUES AND BELIEFS AS BARRIERS TO TEAM CONSENSUS

by Peter Grazier
Introduction:
As part of our discussion group, Dr. Harry Bury of Baldwin Wallace College in Berea, Ohio, takes a larger
view. He says that people will usually agree that much of what they say is simply their opinion. But once
something becomes important, all of the sudden, their opinion becomes "the truth." This discussion becomes
more complex when one considers the psychological implications of discussions, which are simply human
interactions.
When we are engaged in a discussion, our egos are nourished when others are in agreement with us. But
when we are challenged to support what we are saying or if someone outright disputes our statement, we tend to
go into a defensive posture. Have you ever argued a point you weren't totally sure of, simply because you made
it? We all have.
A. What to Do When Values Cloud the Picture
1. Define the process. Many values-based blockages to reaching consensus can be reduced or eliminated
by up-front knowledge. Teams should talk about how they will make decisions and what they will do
when blockages occur. Write down a process or some ground rules for handling these situations.
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2. Learning exercises. Have everyone on the team learn more about values and beliefs. Exercises that dip
into one's belief system are valuable training tools. Simple exercises can demonstrate, for example, that
each person on the team has different views of the world. As these views are discussed, team members
begin to see that thoughts that differ from their own are not necessarily wrong, just different. And this,
in no small way, becomes a revelation; because from that point on, members will think first to consider
the other point of view before deciding to argue ad nauseam. If they fully understand that there are truly
other "right" points of view, then reaching consensus is greatly simplified.
The subject of reaching consensus is broad indeed. Since it is an activity that we will continue
to apply as collaboration and teams grow in the workplace, I would like to add your thoughts about what
you see that works...or doesn't work when trying to reach consensus.
According to a popular newspaper, the number of business meetings is on the rise. What makes
this significant, however, is that much of the time spent in meetings is unproductive.
The article was essentially on target in its discussion of the issue, and is one to which anyone
running or facilitating meetings should pay close attention.
The article offered up a number of suggestions for how to improve meetings which are
worthwhile reprinting here. Take this list, rewrite it, and post it where your meetings are held.
B. Successful Meetings:
 Prepare ahead of time

 Have a reason for the meeting. Don’t get together just because of tradition.
 Distribute an agenda to participants before the meeting.
 Give participants at least one day’s notification
 Participants should ask themselves what is expected of them, how they can prepare.
 Limit attendance and designate a leader.
 Keep a clock in the meeting room and have a specific start and end time.
 Encourage everyone to talk while keeping with the agenda.
 Foster rigorous debate and brainstorming while respecting each person’s opinion.
 Use visual aids.
 Follow up. Meeting leader should let participants know any outcome.
 Evaluate the meeting at the end and ask for input.
These suggestions have been around a long time...unfortunately, few people follow them
religiously. However, as the need to improve work processes continues, our need to improve meeting
processes will also grow.
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COACHING AS A COMPETENCY
by Stew Bolno, MBA, EdM
Introduction:
In sports, teams have coaches. They recognize the importance of the role and working with individuals in order
to improve performance. It is presumed that the professional coach knows more about the subject matter under
discussion, than the player. However, the possession of knowledge is the minimum expectation for the coach.
Those who thrive in the position have the capability to gain trust, communicate the message, encourage
application, provide feedback, and help to improve the player’s performance. Sadly, in business, too many
individuals who are called upon to coach have no awareness about their role as trainer and teacher. Rarely, if
ever, does their organization provide the manager with the tools and techniques that facilitate the ability to help
people improve outcomes. It seems that, all too often, the organizational leaders expect that the title and position
of “manager” is enough to make the difference in helping to reach a higher standard.
Effective coaching is a process not an event. It is done over time and requires serious effort by the
manager as well as the person being coached. Below, is a fundamental and simple model for that can help a
manager understand and remember the requirements for assisting their team members in the improvement of
their performance.
1. C – commit: The wise coaches recognize that they can’t be successful unless those that they supervise are
performing at high levels. Effective managers focus on getting the most from those who report to them.
They accept the simple reality that excellent outcomes occur as a result of clear goals, self-motivated
individuals, and employees who put their heart, as well as their head, into everything they do. This requires
commitment. Coaches who dedicate themselves to high performance outcomes, show their own high level
of commitment by doing the right thing at the right time. By performing your role as coach at the highest
level of quality you need to become the “star” in your own coaching video. This type of behavior is
infectious and has a powerful impact on others. In this case, as in most meaningful messages, your actions
will speak much louder than your words.
2. O –observe: Individual managers always have preferences in regard to how jobs should be performed.
However, the effective coach behaves in a thoughtful manner prior to offering assistance. Prior to engaging
the employee in conversation, step back and take in the “big picture” of a situation prior to offering help. By
doing so, you will present a perspective that is grounded in fact and will be more able to present your
message in a clear and cogent manner.
Observing the present situation also provides the coach with a clear understanding of the difference
between the current reality and the desired goal, as it relates to an individual’s behavior. Possessing the
ability to visualize the “gap” enables the person being coached to appreciate that any improvement is built
upon an existing foundation and that improvement is guided towards a clear outcome.
3. A – ask: Lou Holtz, a successful football coach said, “I never learn anything talking. I only learn things by
asking questions.” Managers who get listened to, are those who understand a cardinal rule of
communication; it is not what you say, nor even how say it, but rather, how the individual hears it that
impacts on the person being coached. When helping others, think of great questions in order to understand
the perspective of the employee. After all, your goal is to engage the individual in such a way that harmful
tendencies are diminished, removed, and replaced with productive behaviors. Your ability to engage your
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Prof. Eloisa Lee
employee in the conversation increases the possibility that there is a person willing to make the appropriate
changes in behavior.
4. C – coordinate: The word “coordinate” is defined as “putting things in their proper order.” The back end of
the coaching process requires the scheduling of events that measure and evaluate the results obtained by
changed behaviors and techniques. Therefore, there must always be a plan developed to align expectations
and to obtain agreement on follow up dates. The transfer of information is merely the start of the coaching
process. Unless the employee is willing and able to apply new techniques, the team of two never has the
opportunity to achieve improved levels of performance. It is at this stage when the two partners bond
themselves in a formal process for success. A conversation about change, without application and
measurement, is merely a discussion - not a coaching process.
5. H – help: Most managers have a span of control of three, five, or more. Therefore, it is essential for you, as
coach, to avoid adding to your sphere of responsibility. As coach, encourage your employee to place the
performance monkey on his or her back. The true satisfaction of coaching is helping others succeed. This
does not diminish the importance of an open door policy, continuing conversations, and informal updates
prior to the review of formal results. Between the end of the coaching meeting and the follow up date, it is
essential that the coaches apply the wisdom of Ken Blanchard in his classic book, The One Minute
Manager, and “catch the employee doing something right”! When the employee knows that you are aware,
supportive, and focused on success, motivation for performance is strengthened. This type of team
approach, then, becomes the most significant factor contributing to changed behavior and improved results.
Coaches need not expect immediate homeruns or touchdowns after the conversation. Many teams
learn to win by hitting singles and achieving consistent gains that add up to numerous victories in the long
term. Continuous improvement is an important concept for manufacturing and production lines. It can be
just as meaningful and impacting in regard to changed work habits and behaviors as well.
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EFFECTIVE TEAM BUILDING

BAPTIST BIBLE COLLEGE ASIA

THE REASONS FOR TEAM BUILDING

THE TEAM BUILDING CONSULTANT

A. What Makes Us Do Anything?

B. Why Be Part of a Team?

1. What is the purpose of the team?

C. Factors That Influence Team Motivation

they don’t like each other?

stimulus for self-actualizing behaviors.

TEAM BUILDING LESSON FROM THE GEESE

A. How Does Recognition Affect Personal and Organization Performance?

B. Recognition is a "Mental" Thing

C. Employee Involvement is Recognition

Note: Seven Recognition Do's and Don'ts

3. Nominations should be open to all employees. Management's eyes cannot be everywhere.

A recognition award should be a "token" of appreciation. A specially made (but

ACCOUNTABILITY A STICKY SUBJECT TO TEAMS

Accountability is one of three critical components to effective empowerment. Think of

1. Why is Accountability so Important?

2. Hold a Team Accountable?

3. Systems for Team Accountability

To be effective at fostering team accountability and ownership, an organization's systems must be

Strategies for ensuring focus:

Strategies for ensuring influence:

 Empower teams to select new members.

Strategies for ensuring consequences:

4. A Culture of Team Accountability

 What teams measure

 Do you do this in your organization?

B. What Teams Measure

“What gets measured...gets done.”

C. How They Collect Team Data

D. What is Done with the Data

1. How are we doing? (an examination of the data)

E. What Has Been the Effect of Tracking Performance

F. What They Said About Rewards and Recognition

G. Example - Using Measures to Redesign Work Processes

These measures have kept the team focused on business needs.

BRAINSTROMING: STRETCHING TEAM’S CAPACITY

A. Brainstorming 101 - The Process

B. Brainstorming Tips and Techniques

PERSONALITY AND THE TEAM: VALUE THE PERSON

A. Extraversion – Introversion (attention and energy focus)

B. Sensing – Intuition (collecting & generating information)

C. Thinking – Feeling (making decisions)

D. Judging – Perceiving (lifestyle organization)

CREATING TEAM AGREEMENTS FOR RESULTS

The elements of an effective agreement are:

A. RESULTS vs. PROTECTION COMPARED

RESULTS vs. PROTECTION – EXPLAINED

1. Intent and Vision

RESULTS: Focus on what you want to happen.

4. Time and Value

6. Concerns and Fears

RESULTS: What reminds everyone of the significance of promises and failure?

RESULTS: What will get us back on track quickly?

RESULTS: Do I trust enough to be in an open, ongoing collaboration

A Team Agreement for the Results