Danger! Buzzword alert! Quick and dirty solutions suggested with collections of games and quiz books….
Be sure and talk to your onsite HR or Org Development folks about teams before proceeding. Here is why:
1/ some orgs have definitive process steps for team development – you may find yourself out of compliance. The danger here is that there are some labor standards for ‘teams’ and decision making protocol. Yes, I know; HR always seems to be a roadblock but it never hurts to check to see if your company has any guidelines. Who knows, you may find a resource who will help you determine your needs and facilitate your group development. By the way, its’ nearly impossible to facilitate and lead at the same time.Group development touches on complex & serious member emotional / logical issues. Get a facilitator for group development.You will be glad you did.
2/ More importantly, what are you trying to accomplish? Are you looking for collaborative work practices with shared decision making for long term behaviors or are you using the looser definition of team which means that you are getting together for a single project or even worse; random meetings? “Team” is a loaded term and means many different things to many different people. Be clear with yourself what you mean. Address issues of membership, skills, and decision making protocol.
3/ Books and exercises are events not process. As SS advocates we should avoid falling into the event mentality. Do an internal VOC and see what you have and what you need in order to be functional. To understand this better, look at this link:
http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0883904748,descCd-authorInfo.html
This book by the late Brendan Reddy will help you assess and develop a truly functional team with defined roles and process.
Hope this helps.
Leigh
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