Team Building

1. Team Building

2. Mingle Think about a team that you’ve been a part of - either from your personal or professional life. In your experience, what’s been the best thing about working in a team? What’s been the most challenging?

3. Learning Objectives • Describe the importance of effectively functioning teams as an essential element to successful public health programs. • Describe how to create more effective working relationships among team members. • Create positive and productive team agreements and norms. • Select specific skills and tools when creating alignment within diverse teams. • Choose effective responses to resolve common problem behaviors present in teams

4. Definitions • A team can be defined as two or more people coming together to accomplish a specific task. Examples: • Project teams • Coalitions • Management teams

5. Opportunities - Teams • Leverage diversity • Harness individual knowledge/wisdom • Increase participation • Gain organizational buy-in • Generate more creative responses/solutions • Can be more productive

6. Common Team Challenges • Don’t measure up to potential • Problem behaviors • Lack of clarity/shared accountability for goals • Ineffective decision making • Poor implementation and follow through • Lack empowerment and organizational support

7. Relationships Camaraderie Communication Constructive Interaction Optimism Respect Trust Values Diversity Results Accountability Alignment Decision Making Goals & Strategies Proactive Resources Team Leadership Team StrengthsSource: Team Diagnostic International

8. Methods for Building Effective Teams • Team assessment • Team design • Creating alignment • Working with problem behaviors

9. Team Assessment and Design • What might you want to assess about a team? How might you assess an existing or new team? • What might you want to know in order to design positive and productive working relationships within a team? • What would you want to explicitly design with a team?

10. Assessment: What? • Team structure, members, history • Results strengths: accountability, alignment, decision making, goals and strategies, ability to be proactive, resources, team leadership • Relationships strengths: camaraderie, communication, constructive interaction, optimism, respect, trust, values diversity

11. Assessment: How? • Interviews • Surveys • Review of existing team materials (agendas, minutes, ground rules, products) • Observation

12. Potential Questions • Strengths/challenges of team • Priorities/goals of team • Roles/responsibilities • Ground rules • Decision making process • Meeting structure, minutes, agenda • Leadership • Resources • Means of rewarding achievement/success • How team functions under stress • Vision of team • What team is tolerating

13. Design/Planning • Priorities/goals/vision of team • Team agreements/ground rules • Roles/responsibilities/leadership • Decision making process/accountability

14. Antidotes for Common Team Problem Behaviors • Notice your own patterns. • Call behaviors when you see them. • Look for the request behind the complaint. • Don’t make it/take it personally. • Build positivity within the team.