Course Objectives
Focusing primarily on COMMUNICATION, this programme seeks to provide opportunities for individuals within the team to develop a greater understanding of each other.
As such the programme is about CREATING AWARENESS and providing the opportunity for developing TRUST.
Recognising the different cultural and business interests likely to be represented in the group, a key outcome of the programme will be a clearer understanding of the COMMON PURPOSE, behind which the whole team can unite.
Outline Itinerary
Day One
Morning: Team Dynamics
This session looks at the way teams work and on the processes occurring within this particular team. The session examines the perceived strengths of the team and seeks to establish a measure of the team's current effectiveness. Barriers to effectiveness are discussed.
08:30 Introduction: Establishing Expectations
Setting out the agenda for the three days and establishing expectations.
Practical Exercise: Team Dynamics (I)
During this session the group would be working in teams of six or seven on two 20 minute projects, based outdoors using the hotel lawns or indoors when the weather is too hot. Each project group would be accompanied by a course facilitator who would lead a debrief of each exercise.
Review: What Defines An Effective Team?
People bring into a group situation different inputs. The key to developing an effective team hinges on recognising and valuing these different inputs. Based on the group's experience, these differences will be drawn out and highlighted as preferences which people exhibit when working in a team environment. Links may be made to Belbin's work on team roles if appropriate.
Practical Exercise: Team Dynamics (II)
Returning to teams of six or seven to complete two more 20 minute projects. Again, each project group would be accompanied by a course facilitator who would lead a debrief of the exercise. The focus this time will be to link the concepts of team work and team roles with identifiable behaviours within the team.
13:00 Lunch
Day One Afternoon: Team Development / Communication
Having established a basic understanding of the team dynamics the discussion moves on to look at team development (how is it manifest in this team) and the role of communication in this process.
14:00 Discussion: What Do I Want From This Team?
The discussion could begin to explore what individuals are looking to achieve through the team, recognising that the real power in teams comes through aligning the individual 'purpose' with 'common purpose'. We would then hope to move on to look at the roles and responsibilities of this team - to set the strategic intent and communicate the common purpose.
Discussion: Stages of Team Development
A short revision around the four stages of team development followed by a questionnaire to explore where the team sees itself in this development process. What are the implications for the team, it's ability to operate as a role model in the organisation, and the role of leadership within the team?
Exercises / Discussion: How Well Do We Communicate?
We all receive information through our own personal filters and because we are all unique, so too are the filters. As a result, information passed between people will always be distorted. Short exercises are used to explore this within the team. The approach used will be to explore the effectiveness of communication and in particular the nature of our 'filters' through exercises and dialogue rather than the presentation of theory.
19:30 Dinner
Day Two
Morning: Valuing Differences in People
With a better understanding of how teams work, we can now start to focus at an individual level, developing an understanding of the differences between people and the effect these differences have on relationships.
08:30 Discussion: Personality Type (Myers Briggs)
It is a paradox that what defines a team is that which we have in common - common objectives, common interests etc. - yet what defines an effective team is the diversity which exists within the team. The greater the diversity, the greater the potential. An understanding of the reasons why people behave differently is a fundamental starting point in the journey towards valuing those differences and the people who express them.
The Myers Briggs Type Indicator is a powerful tool in this process which adds insight into relationships both in and out of work. With over 100 years of research behind the concept the Myers Briggs Type Indicator is currently used by over a million people each year and is rapidly becoming a common language in organisations.
Short indoor exercises will be used throughout the morning to illustrate the concept. The morning will conclude by looking at the dynamics of this team through the lens of personality type.
13:00 Lunch
Day Two Afternoon: Establishing Shared Goals
This afternoon session uses a major exercise and discussion groups to explore the subject of unity and returns to the starting point for this programme, namely 'the common purpose'.
14:00 Exercise: The Cube
This major exercise deals with the issues of trust and co-operation within and between teams, and addresses how barriers, both real and imaginary, work against establishing these key components of teamwork.
The exercise contains a powerful message, allowing the group to experience the dilemma of balancing local agendas with the wider corporate objective whilst, at the same time, providing an avenue to overcome these difficulties and unite under the common interest.
Discussion: Establishing Shared Goals
The lessons from 'The Cube' are drawn out and, using the exercise as a metaphor for the world of work, the implications for this team and the organisation as a whole are discussed.
In this context Charles Handy describes three essential ingredients of sensible teamwork:
To what extent do these elements exist within the team and what needs to happen to build on this foundation?
Day Three
Morning / Afternoon: The Way Forward
The day begins with a continuation of the debate around Shared Values and Common Purpose before moving on to look at practical ways in which the team can apply the learning from this programme. The emphasis here is 'next moves'.
08:30 Discussion: The Organisational Culture
The way a team operates in practice is often very heavily influenced by the organisational culture in which it exists. What are the unspoken 'shoulds' and 'shouldn'ts' which determine what will be acceptable in the organisation.
Workshop: Ground Rules for This Team
This session provides an opportunity for key actions to be crystallised, both at an individual level and for the team as a whole. The first step in this process is to agree a method of working - the ground rules which the team wishes to apply to itself. These ground rules may include 'soft issues', such as a greater commitment to openness or they may be more specific and structural.
Workshop: Where Do We Go From Here?
This final session provides an opportunity to agree how to take the team forward. The emphasis will be on small, measurable, achievable steps which the team can take towards achieving its objectives.
It is expected that this session may spill over into the afternoon as determined by the momentum of the discussion and people's travel arrangements.
13:00 Lunch
Afternoon Discussion Continues