Team-Building Tool Kit

DEBORAH HARRINGTON-MACKIN (North Bennington, VT) is president and founder of New Directions Management Services, specializing in training in total quality management, team building, work teams, customer service, and supervisory skills.

• Contents Acknowledgments ix Introduction xi 1 Getting Started 1 Leadership Commitment 3 Types of Teams 5 The Basics of Team Functioning 8 Assigning Team Roles 21 Key Components in High-Performance Teams 36 Causes of Team Failure 38 Teams in a Unionized Facility 39 Closing Out a Team 40 2 Let’s Meet: Team Meetings 43 Typical Meeting Problems 44 Setting the Agenda 47 Meeting Roles 48 Structuring the Team Meeting 55 Facilitating Team Meetings 60 Handling Specific Team Meeting Issues 64 3 Team Behavior 73 Team Rules of Behavior 74 Team Member Behavior 79 Facilitator Behavior 83 Managing Team Conflict 86 Learning to Give and Receive Feedback 88 Conflict Resolution Protocol 90 In-House Team Conflict Mediators 93 Disciplinary Action 95 Common Issues in Group Behavior 96 Problems Experienced by Teams and Coaches 100 4 Team Accountability and Decision Making 103 Accountability: An ``I’’ Experience 105 Team Decision Making 111 The Decision-Making Process 111 Consensus Decision Making 115 Consensus Guidelines 118 Best Team Decision-Making Behaviors 121 What Impairs Team Decision Making? 122 5 Team Problem-Solving Process and Tools 125 A Simple Problem-Solving Approach 127 Team Skills Required for Problem Solving 130 Gathering Ideas to Find the Problem 131 Prioritizing Ideas 134 Analyzing Ideas 135 Collecting Data 141 Developing Solution Alternatives 144 Planning Tools 146 Tips for Problem Solving 150 6 Team Scoreboards and Performance Assessments 151 Team Measurement Systems 152 Sharing Measurement Feedback 154 Management’s Role in the Feedback Process 157 Team Assessments 158 Early Assessments for the Team 163 Formal Team Assessments 166 Individual Team Member Assessments 171 Self-DirectedWork Team Evaluation Process 172 Handling Problem Evaluation Situations 175 Removing a Member from the Team 176 7 The Teaming Road Map 179 Building Dissatisfaction with the Status Quo 180 Creating a Compelling Vision 180 Creating a Design Team 181 Organizational Development/Effectiveness Manager 195 Virtual Teams 197 Individual Team Road Map 198 Notes 211 Index 215