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How is your team performing? Could they work together better than they do today? This sequence of workshops is designed for an intact work group or team that has an ongoing need to work together. Some of the sessions are basic to the process and always included in the series. Others are selected based on the needs of the team. The process usually begins with an interview of the leader or of the leader and all team members to understand the concerns and issues. This information gathering process is followed by a proposal for the suggested approach for working with the team. The most common format for working with the team is a series of half day workshops spread over several weeks or months. However, the format is very flexible. The elements always included are:Teamwork BasicsThis workshop answers the questions:
It includes activities that highlight the teams needs. return to topTeam CommunicationsMiscommunication often causes conflict or errors in the workplace. One of the primary reasons miscommunication occurs is that we don't all use the same style to communicate. In this session, team members will explore different styles of communication and learn how to apply the learnings to this team. return to topDealing with Team ConflictTeam members working together inevitably run into conflict situations. The conflict can be about the work (e.g. my approach versus yours, schedules, priorities) or about the relationships (e.g. I don't trust you, your style is different than mine). Conflict can be a source of creative solutions, but only if people understand both the value of conflict and how to resolve it. Using the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument and its supporting video, participants will understand the different response styles and begin to see that they can choose how to respond in each conflict situation. return to topBuilding on DifferencesWe each have a unique personality. The mixing of personalities in a team can be cause for great creativity or for great frustration. Understanding our core needs, values and talents as well as those of others can allow us to take advantage of the differences rather than let the differences slow us down. return to topAdditional elements in Team Development can include any of the following:Forming a TeamGetting a team or work group off to a productive and positive start or helping the team recover from having gotten off to a bad start is often a challenge. Questions on the minds of members include: "Why are we here?," "What 's my role?," and "How will we work together?" These are valid and important questions that will be answered in the workshop. return to topGroup Decision MakingMaking good group decisions is a critical skill for teams today. If the group is not skilled in the process, decision making can be very time consuming and often frustrating. Consensus is not the only alternative available to the team. In this session, participants will learn different approaches to group decision making and techniques to make decisions more quickly and effectively. return to topGiving and Receiving FeedbackMembers of high-performing teams give and receive feedback to one another in an open and honest way. Some of us find it difficult to provide feedback in a useful way. Many of us struggle to accept feedback without getting defensive. This session explores both giving and receiving feedback and provides specific techniques to be more effective at both. Team members will have the opportunity to give and receive feedback to each other in the session. return to topManaging Team RolesHighly effective teams use team roles appropriately. This workshop uses the Management Team Roles Indicator (MTR-i) to identify which of eight key roles individuals are currently playing in the team, and what effect that is having on teamwork and productivity. A 360 degree element can be included to provide rich discussion on how members are working together. The result of the session is a team action plan to move toward high effectiveness and performance. return to topTEAM BUILDINGTeam building is different from team development in that it is generally a single event designed to give the team a boost. Many of the topics that are used in team development are also used in team building. Team building sessions are most often one or two days off-site. Two sample approaches are listed below; however, the content and approach will be determined based on a interview with at least the leader. Team ExcellenceA key to team effectiveness is the clear understanding of, and building on, differences among members. This one day workshop is customized to the needs of the team and uses one or more of the following:
Team members explore each other's preferences in terms of style. Exercises are customized for the team and may include subjects such as learning styles, decision making, and leadership styles. The overall team preference is examined and team action plans are developed to move the team toward high performance. return to topOptimizing Team PerformanceOptimizing Team Performance is designed for teams or work groups that want to achieve the highest levels of performance. Prior to the session, members provide feedback on the team, themselves and each other on values for teamwork using the SYMLOG instrument. In the two-day session, the team examines its current and desired values for teamwork and determines how to close the gap. Individuals analyze their contribution to the effectiveness of the team through understanding their feedback and discussing the feedback with team members. Each individual leaves with personal action plans to be a more effective member and the team leaves with an overall plan to move toward higher performance. return to topTHE LEADERSHIP SERIESThis program provides managers and supervisors with tools and techniques to increase their effectiveness in leading and managing others. Learning is delivered in interactive workshops with an emphasis on application to the workplace. Participants are encouraged to create and implement personal actions plans in each topic area. Progress on actions are reviewed at the beginning of each session to provide continuity in the material, and to ensure application. The most common approach is a series of half-day sessions scheduled on some regular basis -- semimonthly, monthly, etc. This format allows people to absorb and use the material. It also takes people away from their work for just half a day at a time, allowing them to focus on the learning during that half day. Specific modules are always recommended and others are optional and selected based on the needs of the organization and participants. Additional topics can be included as well. I can be developed them or find an appropriate resource to deliver them. Recommended Modules:These modules are usually included in the series:
Optional Modules:These modules will be selected based on the additional skills needed:
Leadership and YouThis session is the kickoff session for the series. A model for leadership is introduced to help participants see that leadership takes three forms -- self leadership, leadership of individuals, and team leadership. The curriculum moves them through learning at each of those three levels. In this session, participants will begin to look at their own perspective and skills in the area of self leadership. Objectives:
return to topUnderstanding DifferencesWe each have a unique personality. The mixing of personalities in the workplace can be cause for great creativity or for great frustration. Part of our personality is how we think, how we gather information and how we make decisions. Understanding the different approaches to these vital functions can allow us to take advantage of the differences rather than let the differences slow us down. Objectives:
return to topEffective Personal CommunicationMiscommunication is often causes conflict or errors in the workplace. One of the primary reasons miscommunication occurs is that we don't all use the same style to communicate. In this session, we will explore different styles of communication and learn how to apply what we learn about others. Objectives:
return to topEffective DelegationAn important lesson for leaders is that work gets accomplished through others. Getting that work accomplished requires effective delegation. Most managers agree that delegating work to others is important and of value both to themselves and to the employee. Yet, many admit that they don't delegate as much as they can and should. This session is designed to deal with these concerns and to provide a positive model for successful delegating. Participants will learn techniques for clarifying assignments and overseeing the work without being perceived as "checking up. Objectives:
return to topResolving ConflictEmployees working together inevitably run into conflict situations. The conflict can be about the work (e.g.. my approach versus yours, schedules, priorities) or about the relationships (e.g.. I don't trust you, your style is different than mine). Conflict can be a source of creative solutions, but only if people understand both the value of conflict and how to resolve it. Supervisors and managers are in the best position to help their people with resolution. Objectives:
return to topLeading TeamsLeading teams is a critical and important challenge today. It can be fun and productive or it can be frustrating and nonproductive. Which it is depends on team members' understanding of what it takes to make a team work well together toward success and the leader's ability to help the team work together. This session focuses on the basics of leading a team and provides the opportunity for participants to determine where they need to focus to increase the effectiveness of their team. Objectives:
return to topEstablishing Expectations and Giving FeedbackSupervisors and managers are required to provide direction and feedback to the people they lead. Being clear on what you expect is sometimes a challenge. This session will help participants establish and clarify their expectations. Once expectations are set, people need feedback on how they are doing. Sometimes it is difficult to provide feedback in a useful way. And, many of us struggle to accept feedback without getting defensive. This session provides specific techniques to be more effective at both giving and receiving feedback. Objectives:
return to topCoaching Excellence (1 day)A key role for managers and supervisors is coaching the people they lead to enhance their contribution to the team and the organization. Understanding the values that drive teamwork behavior and using effective strategies to lead individuals to work with others are critical skills for leaders today. Experiential activities, journaling, sharing of data, and coaching by the facilitator all contribute to an overall growth experience which leads to effective action planning. Objectives:
Pre-work: Participants will assess themselves and their direct reports prior to the session. return to topListening SkillsGood communication is key to success in the workplace and good communication starts with listening skills. This session includes an activity to help participants recognize the difficulties and frustrations of communication. Small groups will discuss and share behaviors associates with good and poor listening. An assessment for listening effectiveness will lead to learning specific techniques to be more effective. Objectives:
return to topDifficult Conversations (NEW!)Many of us find ourselves in situations where we need to have a difficult conversation with someone, and rather than have the conversation, we avoid it. Somehow, avoiding the conversation seems to be better than what we imagine it will be like to have the conversation. This designed to help participants understand why they avoid difficult conversations and then to learn strategies to hold a productive conversation to gain a desired outcome. Participants will leave with an action plan to use specific tools and techniques to handle difficult conversations successfully. Objectives:
return to topTime ManagementWhere does the time go? It seems there are never enough hours in the day. We all have the same 24 hours each day, yet some people seem to use that time better than others. This session is designed to help you look at your use of time and to provide tips on how you can use your time more effectively and reduce your stress. Objectives:
return to topMeeting FacilitationLeading an effective meeting is more than an art...it takes skill. This session equips participants with tools, techniques, skills and knowledge to effectively facilitate meetings or group work sessions. Participants will learn a variety of ways to help groups gather data, sort data and prioritize data. An emphasis is placed on dealing with difficult behaviors. Objectives:
return to topBuilding TrustTrust between a leader and his/her employees is critical to creating a productive and satisfying work environment. Breaking trust is easy; building it can be much more difficult. This session will focus on what trust is and how to build it with employees. Participants will assess the level of trust that currently exists with employees and determine actions to improve that trust where needed. Objectives:
return to topCreativity for Problem SolvingProblems, large and small, come up every day in the workplace. It's easy to approach problems in the same way each time. In today's competitive world, new solutions are needed. In this session, participants will learn techniques for using creativity to come up with better solutions. Objectives:
return to topDecisivenessBeing decisive is an important competency for leaders. This one-day workshop provides an overall look at the decision making process. Participants will learn to identify the appropriate approach to take for making a decision. The impact Groupthink can have on decision making is explored. Techniques for reaching consensus will be practiced. Participants will create a plan for becoming more decisive. Objectives:
return to topManaging ChangeChange affects people both personally and professionally. Change will continue to be a part of our lives, so managing it is something individuals and organizations need to be able to do quickly and effectively. In this workshop, participants will experience change and learn key strategies for managing themselves, their employees and their organizations successfully through change. Objectives:
return to topRemote Leadership and Teamwork (1 day)Employees today are working in a variety of locations, and it's often not the same location as you. They work at home, at the client's office, in another city or even in another country. With your people working remotely from you, your job as a manager can be more difficult. How do you assign work? How do you know how they are performing? Can you trust that they are doing the right thing? And, how do you even get to know them well enough to do these things effectively? This workshop is designed to help managers learn techniques to be more effective managing from a distance. Objectives:
return to topLeadership Excellence (1 day)As a follow up to the Coaching Excellence session, this session lets participants examine their leadership and teamwork effectiveness based on input from the people they lead. Objectives:
Prerequisite: Coaching Excellence Pre-work: Participants will be assessed by the people they lead. return to topOTHER OFFERINGSInfluencing SkillsTo accomplish our jobs we need to influence others. We can influence using positive approaches or negative strategies. In this session, participants will assess and identify the influence strategies they tend to use most. A model for influence planning will be introduced. Participants will us the planning model to prepare for an upcoming situation where they need to influence someone. Objectives:
return to topStress Check: Building ResilienceStress seems to be common in today's work environment. When we feel stressed our productivity tends to drop. In this session participants will identify how their personality influences their stress. They will learn antidotes for these stressors. Objectives:
return to topPersonal and Career DevelopmentIn the hustle-bustle of day-to-day work, we rarely take time to look at ourselves and understand who we are and where we are going. This session is designed to help you do just that. What are your strengths? What are your interests? What are your values and are you living them? Does your attitude need a checkup? Come spend some time answering these questions and creating a plan for moving forward. Objectives:
return to topManaging UpAn employee's relationship with his or manager is important to success. This session helps participants think about their manager's perspective and the impact that has on them as employees. Exercises and discussion provide tips and ideas on how to work more effectively with one's manager. Objectives:
return to topFacilitation Skills for Facilitators (2 days)Facilitating meetings or problem solving sessions is a real challenge unless one has the appropriate skills and tools. This workshop clarifies what facilitation is and provides an opportunity to assess one's facilitation skills. Understanding group dynamics is critical to a facilitator's success, and is explored in depth. Focus is spent on decision making, problem solving and conflict resolution tools. A third day is recommended for practice and feedback on use of the tools and approaches. Objectives:
return to topAdvanced Facilitation Skills for Facilitator and Leaders (4 days)This offering builds on the 2 day offering above by going into more depth on the topics as well as providing practice opportunities for every participant. Working in groups, facilitator practice includes feedback and the opportunity to adjust based on the feedback. Objectives:
return to topTrain the Trainer (1 to 2 days)Subject matter experts are often the best people to train others on technical or functional skills. The challenge, however is that subject matter experts often don't have strong training skills. Participants in this one-day workshop will gain a foundational understanding of Adult Learning Principles, both through the course content and through experiencing effective adult learning first hand. A key area of focus in the workshop will be on platform skills -- using ones physical presence to support a presentation by effective use of eye contact, gestures, movement, etc. Another key area of focus will be on facilitation skills -- managing group dynamics, creating and maintaining group involvement, and keeping a course on track and on schedule. With the addition of a second day, participants will practice delivery and receive feedback from the instructor and other participants. Objectives:
return to topE-mail EtiquetteResearch shows that the average worker is unproductive 25% to 33% of the time. E-mail is a significant contributor to that productivity problem. This interactive session is designed to provide insight to participants about their approach to using e-mail and to identify key e-mail time wasters. Exercises demonstrate the value of conversation over e-mail for complex and important issues. Small group discussion and the sharing of best practices provide many practical and easy to implement e-mail tips. Participants also learn techniques to influence others to use e-mail more effectively. Objectives:
return to topOTHER SERVICESGroup Process ConsultingHow effective are your meetings? The common approach to improving meetings is a focus on clarifying the meeting purpose, using an agenda, keeping track of time and assigning roles. All of these are important, but these items are not often the major cause of meeting ineffectiveness. The key is group dynamics. How do people interact? Who speaks to whom? Who's heard? Who isn't? Who has influence? How does the group handle conflict, decision making and problem solving? As your Group Process Consultant, I will participate in your meetings and bring to the group's attention my observations on how it's operating and make suggestions of ways to interact better and improve meeting productivity and satisfaction. return to topMeeting FacilitationWhen you and your team have problems to solve or decisions to make, it is often most effective to use a meeting facilitator . This allows all members to focus on the content while as your facilitator, I focus on the meeting process, paying attention to both the task and the relationships. return to topStructured Interviewing SkillsSince the best predictor of a job applicant's future work behavior is their past work behavior, the session focuses on the behavioral approach to interviewing. Participants will learn how to use a structured approach to interviewing, including preparation, the interview itself, and follow up. A video will demonstrate key interviewing techniques and illustrate how to deal with common interview situations. Workshop discussions and exercises will provide clarity on the value of developing good interviewing skills. Learning will be reinforced in role play exercises. Objectives:
return to topRetreatsDesigning a retreat agenda so that key topics are covered, people feel engaged, and useful output is created can be a challenge. Keeping the day flowing and on schedule can often be even more of a challenge. I will work with you to design a session that meets your objectives and then facilitate the day so that you can focus on the content and your role. I will design and run an appropriate opening activity to get people immediately involved and connected to each other. I can also provide tips and tools to inspire creativity. return to topIndividual CoachingI provide one-on-one coaching, in person or by telephone with a variety of people, including executives, managers, supervisors and trainers. Each coaching relationship is customized based on the needs of the person needing the coaching. Options include observation and feedback, assessment, problem solving, etc. See Specialties for more detail and examples. return to top360 AssessmentSelecting and implementing a 360 Assessment is more involved than often realized. I have worked with 360 style assessments since 1989. My expertise includes:
return to topMentoringTraining isn't always the most effective way for employees to learn skills or build their career. In many organizations, mentoring happens ad-hoc. Capitalizing on the knowledge, experience and skills of your employees requires a good approach to mentoring. I will work with you to design and implement a mentoring program that matches the needs of your organization. return to topEmerging LeadersWho will you be moving into leadership and management roles in the organization? I will work with you to design a program to identify and build the skills of these individuals. By looking at their talents, skills, values, attitude and style, individuals will understand themselves and their motivations for leadership. Focus on understanding styles of others and on communication skills will prepare participants to be more effective immediately in their current role as well as in future leadership roles. return to topCracking the Personality Code -- Gain a Remarkable Understanding of Yourself and OthersDo you ever feel misunderstood by others, or at times feel perplexed understanding them?Many of our relationship challenges are simply a lack of knowing how the marked differences between personality types impact our interactions. Likewise, our own life is much more rewarding when our personal choices come from an understanding of what drives our own unique personality type. In this dynamic, interactive 2-day workshop, you will learn how to:
In addition to improving relationship skills, you will GAIN…
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