Steps to follow:

Objectives:
• Establish a team mission and group goals
• Improve team communication
• Assess team effectiveness
• Encourage continuous team development
• Create balanced team roles
• Become a more effective team leader

Activities to enhance:
   • Team effectiveness
   • Conflict resolution
   • Problem solving
   • Decision making
   • Group skills
   • Balanced team roles
   • Clear objectives and goals
   • Support and trust
   • Cooperation and conflict
   • Regular review
   • Appropriate leadership

* Definition of Teams: Working in Teams
http://www-honors.ucdavis.edu/fh/tw/working.html

All teams are groups of individuals but not all groups of individuals necessarily demonstrate the cohesiveness of a team. Teams out perform individuals because teams generate a special energy. This energy develops as team members work together fusing their personal energies and talents to deliver tangible performance results. The quality of decisions resulting from effective teamwork are predicated on practices of cooperation, active listening, constructive (non-judgmental) feedback, sharing of ideas, resources and workload, etc., and valuing the interests and achievements of other team members.

Everyone can exhibit constructive and/or unproductive behaviors without even being aware of it. It is important to be aware of your own behaviors as well as those of others. It also doesn't hurt to have a sense of humor when working in a team. In fact, it might be the single most advantageous characteristic to possess (next to patience, maybe) whenever you have a vested interest in the outcome of a group's performance. The following are examples of characteristics which promote or sabotage effective teamwork:

GENERAL STRATEGIES --

Identify roles for team members. A team stands a better chance of being productive if individuals within the team assume specific roles. Different guides suggest different ways of organizing teams, but the tasks covered are similar. At a minimum, a team needs a facilitator, a note-taker, and a time-keeper at each meeting. The facilitator conducts meetings, follows the agenda, and summarizes discussions. The leader is also responsible for establishing a site for the meeting, convening the session, and establishing a time and place for the next session. These roles don't necessarily need to be assigned. they my evolve in individual groups.

In addition to the facilitator, a team needs a note-taker who keeps a record of what has been decided, is responsible for carrying out the tasks assigned during the meeting, and notes when the next meeting is scheduled and where it will be held. The note-taker should provide minutes from the meeting or an outline of what has been discussed upon the meeting's completion or at the start of the next meeting.

In order to keep a meeting running in an organized fashion, a group needs a time-keeper, someone who will make sure that the appropriate amount of time will be allocated for each time on the agenda and that team members progress expeditiously in keeping with the time allotted for each topic to be considered.

Finally, it may prove useful for a team to appoint a member who is responsible as a liason, i.e., reporting to other teams. This member summarizes the progress of her/his team so that the other teams are kept informed about the work done by her/his team.

It is possible, of course, to rotate positions within teams. It is also perfectly possible to give alternative names to the positions here described. Your team should decide at the outset how it wishes to allocate positions of specific responsibility and evaluate how effective these decisions are in light of the team's organizational strengths and weaknesses. The effectiveness of a well-organized team will be reflected by its fulfillment of meeting goals and its overall progress.
 
 

Develop guidelines for group meetings. The brevity of the quarter and the difficulty of coordinating schedules limit the number of times possible for groups to meet to discuss their plans and progress. Maximizing the effectiveness of these meetings is therefore of critical importance. While each group will develop its own meeting style, depending on the people involved and the tasks at hand, a number of guidelines are provided to help groups get the most out of their meetings from the beginning.

1. Develop a timeline for what needs to be done by the group over the group's lifetime.
2. One person should have responsibility to distribute (e-mail) reminder of meeting time/place.
3. Have an agenda with topics and approximate times to be devoted to each. Should include:

 

• Notes from last meeting
• Matter from last meeting - progress
• News items for discussion
• Other business
• Evaluation of the meeting
• Time and place of next meeting

1. Assign meeting roles: time-keeper, facilitator, note-taker.
2. Attendance is mandatory.
3. Start meetings promptly (e.g. 5 minutes after agreed time)
4. Develop a protocol for participation to ensure that everyone get to state his/her view. Facilitator should check with each individual to see if s/he has anything to add.
5. Develop a protocol for decision-making.
6. Set topics and time for next meeting before adjourning.
7. Maintain a file of agendas and notes.
8. Distribute notes from meeting to all team members after the meeting.
9. Decide how conflicts are going to be resolved. If at least one team member feels mediation is needed, the instructor should be contacted.
10. Use checklist (e.g., Learning in Teams: A Student Guide, p. 10) to review meeting after each meeting. Refer to these in preparing weekly journals:

 
• Defined tasks completed effectively?

    - facilitator
    - time-keeper
    - note-taker
 
• Last meeting reviewed?
• Progress since last meeting reviewed?
• Meeting goals set BEFORE meeting?
• Goals addressed?
• Appropriate time spent on each topic?
• Decisions made and recorded?
• Time and place for next meeting set?
• Goals for next meeting set?
• Meeting effective?
• Meeting enjoyable?
• Additional comments:

Discuss effective feedback techniques with team members. Another important component of successful teamwork is providing constructive feedback. The following points are presented to help ensure productive communication among team members:

1. Focus feedback on behavior rather than the person.

It is more important to refer to what a person does than to comment on what we imagine he/she is. This focus on behavior implies that we refer to actions of persons rather than qualities of persons, adverbially rather than adjectivally (thus, "she acted happily" rather than "she was happy"). We might say that a person "talked considerably in the meeting" rather than saying, "That guy is a loudmouth."
2. Focus feedback on observations rather than on inferences.

Observations refer to what we can see or hear in the behavior of another person while inferences are interpretations or conclusions about our meanings of what we see or hear. Our interpretations may or may not occur to any others in the team and at any rate are largely separable form the facts on which we must agree.
3. Focus feedback on description rather than judgment.

Make an effort to describe what occurred, not your judgment of it; talk about what happened, not whether it was good or bad. Judgments involve our values, whereas descriptions are more neutral.
4. Focus feedback in terms of inclusion (more or less) rather than in terms of exclusion (either/or).

Talking about "more or less" places behaviors on a continuum, where differences may overlap and consequently be value neutral, rather than placing behaviors in sharply divided categories where the differences are assumed to be qualitative, matters of better or worse. For example, you might observe that "Joe participates less than Carla" rather than judging either as in "Joe doesn't talk enough" or "Carla talks too much".
5. Focus feedback on the present, the "here and now," rather than on the past.

Feedback is more useful if given soon after an event rather than if delayed. Later your memory may fade or distort what happened.
6. Focus feedback on sharing information rather than giving advice.

By sharing ideas and information, we leave the other person free to decide how to use that information. If we give advice, we force the issue, whether to accept or reject what we obviously would rather the other person accept. For example, if you tell someone, "You didn't say much in the team today," you are sharing information that the person may use as s/he chooses. If you say, "You need to talk more in the team," you are giving advice and forcing the person to either accept or reject your suggestion.
7. Focus feedback on the exploration of alternatives rather than on answers or solutions.

What may appear as a solution to us may not appear as a solution to another person. Also, when we discussion alternatives we sometimes bring to light attractive possibilities we did not consider initially. May of us go around with ready solutions for what other people don't consider to be problems.

Consensus is NOT a unanimous agreement or reached by a majority vote. The final decision may not be (and probably will not be ) your initial choice and it is likely that you will have to concede something for the good of the group. Consensus means that everyone in the group can live with the decision.

Reaching Consensus--

• Isolate the decision point. Clarify the conflict, problem or decision to be reached.
• Identify the current positions of the members. Try to find a common ground among the positions. Ask each other "Why?" and "What's your bottom line?" Try to find the underlying needs that each position is based on. Try not to continue to look for differences between opinions.
• Brainstorm for alternative approaches to satisfy all of the underlying needs established previously. How can everyone get their "bottom line" met effectively? For each alternative position, ask each other, "What would make this alternative attractive to you?"
• Evaluate the alternatives using the criteria of meeting the underlying needs of all members. Which alternatives can everyone live with?
• Agree on the decision. Check with all members. If everyone supports the choice, you have reached consensus.

Disagreements are expected during team discussions when opinions of team members differ, and members are taking ownership and sharing their ideas honestly. The escalation of disagreements into conflicts is of concern, however, because collaboration among team members may be undermined. Conflicts may result from a mismatch of expectation among team members, unintentional miscommunication and misunderstandings among team members. Conflicts are usually a symptom that communication is not as open and complete as it should be.

The team is getting stuck in emotional disagreements and its attempts at reaching consensus are failing, the whole team should come in to see the instructor. Issues should be resolved early before they escalate and get out of control.

Self-Assessment

Effective teamwork demands that every member of the team feels valued and participates fully. Toward that end each team will assess itself regularly so that potential problems are identified early and resolved speedily. Each team member will evaluate him/herself and the performance of other team members. This evaluation will be presented to the instructor regularly (weekly or biweekly). The "results" of the evaluation must be processed through discussion in an open climate to provide the opportunity for improved group dynamics and accomplishment.

Teams have become the latest management obsession. They're the corporate equivalent of a Visa card: they're everywhere you want to be.

Trouble is that despite their ubiquity, teams rarely achieve breakthrough results. Instead, they sink to the level of the weakest performer and keep digging. The fault lies not with the team or its members, but with those who took a group of individuals, charged them with improbable goals, staffed them with uninspired leadership and expected them to function as a team. Such companies succeed only in putting the 'fun' back into dysfunctional.

Contrast that to a well-oiled and disciplined team, one in which the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Such groups allow members to achieve results far beyond their individual abilities. The irony is that when the needs of the group take priority, the needs of the individual actually are enhanced.

High performance teams do not result from spontaneous combustion. They are grown, nurtured and exercised. It takes a lot of hard work and skill to blend the different personalities, abilities, and agendas into a cohesive unit willing to work for a common goal. Behind every great team is strong and visionary leader. A leader whose job is not to control, but to teach, encourage, and organize when necessary. You are that leader. Following are some tips to get the most out of your team:

• Define the need. As the leader, you must establish the broad, compelling purpose for the team. What is the large, desired outcome? What do you want to improve? Eliminate? Change? Don't be afraid to dream big. But resist the temptation to handcuff the team by writing a detailed prescription in advance of the diagnosis. Your vision, properly articulated, will be the engine that drives and inspires your team. It will determine who should be on the team, what resources are needed, how quickly a conclusion must be reached, what falls within the scope of the team, and how success will be measured and rewarded.
• Recruit the right people. Now you have to find the talent that is willing to commit to your vision with missionary-like zeal. Choose members who represent a wide range of backgrounds, skills and abilities. Try to limit participation to three to seven members. Any more and each individual's contribution will be compromised. Also look to imbue your team with a wide mix of cultural and professional viewpoints. Such diversity should give life to ideas and opinions that might not otherwise have been aired. Think of a symphony. No matter how talented your cellist, you wouldn't want an orchestra made up of all cellos. Beautiful music is the result of a diverse blend of instruments working together. Your team can make beautiful music as well. The one common, unifying element to insist upon in a team is that members embody the Three Musketeers rallying cry: All for one and one for all.
• Shared values. Not only must team members embrace your mission, they must share your values. Effective teams demand close collaboration, trust, honesty, passion, and genuine appreciation for each member's contributions. You don't want somebody sharing your foxhole that has a different work ethic, moral compass or commitment than you do. To develop that value system, challenge the team to read books, pepper them with magazine articles, watch movies — anything that might challenge their conventional thinking.
• Develop common goals. Winning teams thrive in an environment where they can unite behind a common and compelling purpose -- a cause everyone can understand, identify with, and commit to. Ideally, these goals should be developed by the team members themselves; this tends to create ownership, buy-in and commitment. Goals should be formalized through a written charter - an agreement that clearly states what the team wants to accomplish, why its goals are important and how the team will work together to achieve the desired outcome. Consider an off-site retreat, free from the routine pressures of the office, to set the goals. Such an event has the added benefit of injecting a spirit of camaraderie among the team members.
• Set ground rules. Make sure team members understand why the team exists and know the roles each member plays. They need to know how decisions will be made, how to deal with conflict, how to communicate, and how results will be measured. The success of the team depends upon creating an environment in which team members openly contribute ideas while recognizing and respecting the differences in others. Above all, they need to understand how long their commitment will last.
• Communicate, communicate, communicate. If a statement of purpose is the engine that drives the team, communication is the oil that keeps the engine well lubricated. Fail to lubricate the engine and it will lock up. So, too, will the team fail without effective communication. Your job is to ensure that team members communicate openly and honestly, refrain from personal assaults, and stay focused on the task. Communication is more than talking; it's about listening intently, and asking questions to get clarification. As Stephen Covey relates in his bestseller Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, "Seek first to understand, then to be understood." Face-to-face meetings work best in a team environment, supplemented by telephone, e-mail and faxes. It's a good idea to circulate meeting minutes to track progress and keep others in the company informed of the team's progress.
• Promote curiosity. It may have killed the cat, but curiosity and the search for new solutions, fuels every great group. Members don't just solve problems. They are engaged in a process of discovery that serves as its own reward. But they also have another quality that allows them both to identify significant problems and to find creative, boundary-busting solutions rather than simplistic ones: they have hungry, eager minds.
• Establish urgency. Virtually every great group defines itself in terms of an enemy. Sometimes the enemy is real, such as a budget cut or a hostile takeover. Often the threat is more arbitrary, such as self-imposed deadlines. Tell the group it is up against tremendous odds and watch the wily resourcefulness kick into high gear.
• Keep score. A team can't perform if it doesn't know what it's doing. But that's not enough. There must be a commitment to constant improvement. To accomplish that, you have to measure performance. Don't wait until the end of the season to address performance. Feedback should be immediate. Practice openbook management and make sure team members have those numbers that are important to them in tracking their success.
• Reward. Even though their contributions may not be exactly equal, it's important to recognize the team's efforts. Acknowledge individual achievement during group meetings and compliment the team as a whole on working well together. Highlight interim successes with a team lunch or food brought into a meeting. Such mini-celebrations are a great morale booster. People repeat performance that garners reward and recognition. When you focus on the positive, you develop the habit of doing things right.
• Back off. If you've implemented the above steps correctly, then get out of the way. As the leader, your role will change over the life of the team. In the beginning, you may have spent a lot of time developing the mission, identifying what the team was setting out to accomplish, and, more importantly, helping develop interpersonal and group skills such as conflict resolution and meeting management. Now comes the time to let go and let the team become performers and the leaders. Trust the team process, even if you think you know better. Nothing undermines a team faster than for their moves to be trumped. Teams must be empowered to achieve the results, without fear of being overridden by the top floor. Want to see how fast you can suck the air out of a team? Set the objectives by executive fiat. Pfffffttt!

Team Building: Cultivation Peak Performance-
The art and science of team building.
http://www.kellyengineering.com/ASPTemplates/DC2.asp?rpage_id=276
 

*Quotes:

*The perfect group member: 'The ideal discussant supports the group's decisions. He
               speaks of 'we' rather than 'I' and "they." He accepts a full share of the blame for any group
               failure, and no more than his share of credit for group success. He carries out any task that
               he accepted as a representative of the group, never accepting any responsibility that he
               cannot or will not discharge" (John Brithart).

*Avoid win/lose situations.

*"We are all angels with only one wing; we can only fly while embracing one another."
Luciano de Crescanzo
These groups cannot be managed, only led in flight.

*"None of us is as smart as all of us." Warren Bennis

*In teachers we trust

*"Since I arrived, six different hotel staff have greeted me or
 asked if they could help. But did you see that waitress a moment
 ago? She was the first one who meant it."
Ron Kaufman

*In 1993 Jon Katzenbach and Douglas Smith released their ground-breaking book, The Wisdom of Teams: Creating the High-Performance Organization.

Their definition of a team - A team is a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable. (pg. 45).
 

Everyone has had a "best team" experience. The collective characteristics of such experiences can help us get a better grasp of this thing we call "team".

In our work we often use a Best Team exercise to kick off a teambuilding event. In that exercise we ask participants to think about the best team experience they have ever had and to record the key characteristics of that group of people. The responses are almost always the same:

Sense of accomplishment
Common goal
Good, open communication
Trust
Mutual respect
Humor, fun
Commitment
Desire to excel
Enthusiasm
Role clarity
Creativity
High achievement

What we have learned from this exercise is that it’s the focus on relationships, in combination with mutual high performance expectations, that turns any group of people (e.g. workgroup) into a team.

By the way, we also asked these people how often they have had a “best team” experience in their lives. The answer? - once or twice.

Human Bingo
Find someone who participates in these activities regularly as a means of relaxation. Ask them to sign their name in the
appropriate boxes. Try to find a different person for each activity. Fill in the center with your favorite relaxation activity.
Students use a bingo sheet to go around the room and ask questions, first one with blackout wins.
http://www-honors.ucdavis.edu/fh/tw/bingo.html

Dyads
     Students introduce themselves to a partner, partners introduce each other to the whole group or a larger group of six.
     Key questions to have students answer; who are they and why are they here? Add interest to this activity by giving each
     pair a few unusual questions to answer about themselves or the topic. See Boundary Breaking Questions.
     http://www-honors.ucdavis.edu/fh/tw/icebreaker.html

Two Lies and a Truth
     In large or small groups students share two lies and a truth about themselves group members must decide which is the
     truth.

Uncommon Commonalties
     This activity requires students to be broken up into groups of four of five. Students list aspects that team members have
     in common. The goal is to come up with as may things in common as they can. If two students share a passion for skate
     boarding then the word skater can be entered in the second column. Based on the points they have in common students
     select a name for their team. Teams may then want to decorate folders with their team name and representative symbols.

-More icebreakers available from the University of Hawaii: Faculty Resource Page "First Day Section"
     http://www.hcc.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/breakice.htm
     http://www.hcc.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/teachtip.htm
-Icebreakers from About.com- Ideas with links to handout pages.
     http://7-12educators.about.com/education/7-12educators/msub300ice.htm
-Icebreakers from the National Institute for Science Education
     http://www.wcer.wisc.edu/nise/cl1/CL/doingcl/icebreak.htm

*Team Building Activities:

They Will Never Take Us Alive
Rank items from most important to least important.
http://www-honors.ucdavis.edu/fh/tw/never.html

Additional Team Building Exercises
http://rampages.onramp.net/~bodwell/hpt_teab.htm
http://www.west-bend.k12.ia.us/manual/lplans/unit3/lp_teamdev3.3.html
http://www-honors.ucdavis.edu/fh/so/lesson.html

*Team Work: Do's & Don'ts

Do's

1. Be considerate. Stimulate others, by asking questions and making suggestions without pressuring them.
2. Support the ideas of other people vocally. Silence may be understood as tacit approval or may be interpreted as apathy or disdain. When you like someone's idea, say so.
3. Be aware of others' feelings. If feelings are getting in the way of the issues, address the feelings first and the issues second.
4. Listen actively. Make sure that you understand the ideas of others. Paraphrase these ideas, as you understand them, in order to make sure you've got the message-and to help spur others on to refinements and new ideas.
5. Invite criticism of your own ideas and work You can help to establish an open and therefore productive atmosphere by making it clear that you know your ideas are tentative and not necessarily pefect. Give permission to others to help you refine your ideas and writing.
6. Accept that others are imperfect too. Particularly, be aware that communication breaks down in the best of groups. If someone misunderstands you, don't get exasperated or angry, and don't try to assign the blame for the breakdown in conununication. Simply restate your idea: "I guess I didn't make myself clear. What I meant to say was . . . ."
7. Feel free to disagree with the ideas of others and to critique the work of others but lay off the people. Don't identify peoples' names with ideas that you are criticizing.
8. Remember that any non-obvious ideas initially appear strange, but that most of the best ideas are not immediately obvious.

1. Don't continually play the expert. Play a variety of roles.
2. Don't pressure people unnecessarily.
3. Don't punish people for their ideas.
4. Don't continue an argument after it becomes personal-either for you or for your fellow group member.

Don't give in too easily when your ideas are criticized. The excellence of the group is a product of constructive conflict. Don't fall prey to "groupthink" sacrificing high level thinking for the sake of group cohesiveness.

*Group Phases

Most groups go through four phases: Forming, Storming, Norming, and Performing
               (Tuckman).

               Forming: During the initial stage of the group, structure is developed, roles are assigned or
               claimed (both implicitly and explicitly), status relations between members of the group are
               established, norms begin to emerge, shared values are discovered, and general procedures
               for decision-making and problem-solving are agreed upon.

               Storming: Conflicts in values, perspectives, goals, power, and information are discovered
               and foregrounded, and progress toward resolution is begun. This is often a creative stage
               and shouldn't be avoided.

               Norming: As conflicts are discovered and resolved, the group's approach to communication
               and problem-solving, for better or worse, is more firmly established.

               Performing: Having established roles, personalities, and norms, the group's time, attention,
               and energy is increasingly directed at the group task and decreasingly concerned with group
               maintenance, procedural questions, or personalities.

               These phases are not to be moved through as rapidly as possible. Problems in performing
               may often be traced back to insufficient storming and norming, for instance. Group
              discussion, while storming out some controversies, may return to issues involved in forming,
               redistributing responsibilities, rediscovering common values, and modifying procedures.
               Similarly, a group having difficulty in performing may either implicitly or explicitly, need to
               redefine some norms. During the first meeting, in particular, you need to lay a lot of
               groundwork and get a firm foundation. Your group's success depends upon it.

http://www-honors.ucdavis.edu/vohs/sec04-2.html
http://www-honors.ucdavis.edu/fh/tw/stages.html

*First Meeting

               Be prepared for a long first meeting. If possible, schedule it to last two to three hours. A
               common and predictable pattern for groups is to spend seven weeks in confused milling
               around, followed by two weeks of frantic work, finally producing a finished but ill-conceived
               project in the tenth week. A thorough organizational meeting at the outset can work wonders
               in preventing this pattern.

               The first task of the group is to get itself together. Even before you begin to tackle the
               assignment, you need to make some decisions about group organization. These first few
               decisions are crucial, since they will be difficult to undo. Moreover, the way that you reach
               these decisions is also important while the group may explicitly decide upon certain rules of
               procedure which will be followed throughout the life of the group, the group will also
               develop tacit, implicit norms as it proceeds. Thus, if the group appears initially lackadaisical
               and indifferent, if some members of the group remain silent or unengaged, if some members
               of the group begin to dominate the others, these are the first problems that you have to
               solve. And we mean you. Take the initiative. Don't expect these problems to solve
               themselves. Time heals nothing. It's incumbent that you take responsibility to change this
               behavior or attitude at the very beginning. Silence, far from being meaningless, is a sign of
               approval. If you remain quiet, you will have given tacit assent to this behavior and a highly
               undesirable, unproductive, and potentially destructive norm begins to take root in the group.

               Use the following agenda in order to make your first meeting effective and productive.

            1. Get acquainted: Inventory your resources (Forming)

               2. Discuss group structure / leadership. (Forming)

               3. Explore your understanding of the task/proiect (probably the most frequently omitted
               step). Don't jump into discussion of solutions until you've surveyed all members about the
               problem. (Forming and storming)

               4. Discuss possible approaches/solutions/ methods. Brainstorm. Capitalize on any resources
               you identified earlier in the meeting. (Storming and Norming)

               5. Assign tasks. Create the agenda for next meeting. (Performing,)

               First, sit down in a circle and get acquainted. Give everybody a minute of airtime. Each
               person should tell the group his or her name, interests related to the project, background
               related to the project, other courses taken appropriate to the project and so on. Nobody
               should be interrupted. Take a thorough inventory of the group's resources

               Second, establish a structure by appointing a coordinator and recorder.

               Then, under the gentle direction of the coordinator, and with the recorder faithfully taking
               notes, work on defining the problem that the group faces. Again, go around the circle and let
               everybody have a chance to define the task that faces the group. Remember that the focus
               here is the identification and definition of the problem, not the solution. First, let everybody
               have a say on the problem definition, and then begin discussion that will lead to a consensus
               on the definition. Don't let discussion start until after everybody has had a chance for
               uninterrupted definition.

               Next, brainstorm for solutions to the problem. First brainstorn freely, and then go around the
               circle, giving everyone a chance to make suggestions. Then discuss the solutions to the
               problem in order to reach a consensus.

               Finally, break the solution down into its parts. What will have to be done in order to
               accomplish the goal of the group? Assign tasks and deadlines. Create an agenda for the next
               meeting. Establish a time and date for the next meeting.

               Each of these agenda items are discussed in considerably more detail below.

1. Forming: Getting Acquainted

http://www-honors.ucdavis.edu/vohs/sec06.html
2. Forming: Structure, Group Maintenance Roles and Task Roles

http://www-honors.ucdavis.edu/vohs/sec06-2.html
3. Storming

http://www-honors.ucdavis.edu/vohs/sec07.html
4. Planning for Implementation

http://www-honors.ucdavis.edu/vohs/sec08.html
5. Norming

http://www-honors.ucdavis.edu/vohs/sec09.html

*Be a Good Listener

Avoid the bad habits of listening, most of which are the result of putting your own concerns before those of the group:

               1) Pseudo listening: Your body language keeps saying that you're listening, but your mind is
               really in Tahiti.

               2) Silent arguing: As another group member speaks, you begin to prepare your list of
               objections Try to play the "believing game" more actively. (See page 12.)

               3) Premature replying: You interrupt the speaker before he is finished.

               4) Misplaced focus: Rather than trying to understand the fundamental idea of the speaker,
               you start nitpicking on minor details to which you object.

               5) Defensive listening: You hear the speaker arguing with you even when the speaker is
               elaborating on your idea, asking you to elaborate on it, or fundamentally agreeing with you.
               You relate all the speaker's ideas only to your own, instead of considering them in their own
               light.

               6) Forcing meaning: You read more into the speakers words than could reasonably be
               expected.

http://www-honors.ucdavis.edu/vohs/sec10.html

*Group Roles

Meetings only need to have three defined roles, facilitator, recorder and group members to be effective. These can be rotated at each time the group meets or stay the same.

The following are descriptions of Facilitator, Recorder and Group Member roles:

Roles of a Facilitator:

• Helps group achieve their goals
• Stays neutral
• Keeps group members from putting each other's ideas down
• Creates an environment for open discussion
• Seeks maximum participation from all individuals
• Keeps group on track towards their desired outcome
• Guides the process of the meeting
• Makes sure the recorder is keeping up/ writing down valuable information
• Designates someone to keep track of time
• May ask to step out of the role to add his/her own thought or idea

• Records what happens in a meeting on newsprint
• Stays neutral
• Uses key words and phrases
• Captures distinct ideas by - highlighting, using alternating colors, using bullet points

• Contribute ideas
• Make sure the recorder writes down ideas correctly
• State concerns openly
• Encourage participation of other group members
• Maintain focus and stay on task
• Share the power of decision making

*Principles of a Successful Meeting

1. Shared Responsibility - everyone in the meeting should play an active role in making the meeting a success.

2. Collaborative Attitude - It is the mind-set that guides individuals to act in a cooperative manner. It is the realization that it is important to take time to get everyone on board - going slow to go fast.

3. Strategic Thinking - The process of selecting an appropriate course of action, during a meeting. By asking the following questions and building on small agreements groups navigate their way to a successful outcome.

Groups ask themselves:

• Where are we?
• Where do we want to go?
• How do we get there?

*Group Evaluation Form

Rate your group on each characteristic. Use a five point scale, with five indicating the strongest agreement with the statement.

1-Strongly Disagree 2-Disagree 3-Weakly Agree 4-Agree 5-Strongly Agree

First Week	Mid-Quarter		Group Growth - Evaluation Form
			Climate
		1.	I am treated fairly, as a member of this group.
		2.	I feel close to members of this group.
		3.	This group displays cooperation and teamwork.
		4.	I have trust and confidence in members of this group.
		5.	Members of this group demonstrate supportive behavior.
		6.	I derive satisfaction from membership in this group.
		7.	I get a sense of accomplishment form my membership in this group.
		8.	I am honest in responding to this evaluation.
			Data Flow
		9.	I am willing to share information with other members of the group.
		10.	I feel free to disagree with members of the group.
			Goal Information
		11.	I am oriented more toward group goals than personal goals.
		12.	This group uses integrative, constructive methods in problem solving, rather than a competitive approach.
		13.	I am able to deal promptly with important problems of the group.
		14.	The activities of the group reflects the integration of everyone's needs.
		15.	My needs and desires are reflected in the activities of the group.
			Control
		16.	This group has a sense of responsibility for getting the job done.
		17.	I don't feel manipulated by the group.
		18.	The group shares responsibilities equally and fairly.

http://www-honors.ucdavis.edu/fh/tw/40_GroupEvalform.html

*Process Observation:

Hand out index cards to everyone in the group, ask members to use a Likert scale to rate how they feel about the idea on
the table.

10 - they think it is the best idea ever -
1 - it is the worst idea they hate it.

*Individual Feedback

• Ask individuals how they thought the meeting went.
• Try to keep feedback "improvement oriented"
• Encourage the use of "I" statements
• Focus on observations not inferences

*Provide Closure

The process by which we reflect on an experience and come to conclusions based on that experience is called closure or debriefing. This is when much of the learning takes place.

This process involves asking questions which allow members of the group to think through an experience from beginning to end. It is another way of helping students make observations about group processes and helping them apply what they have learned to new situations.

Stage 1. The Experience; the meeting, seminar, group activity

Stage 2. Describe

In this stage participants share their personal insights and reactions of the experience.

Sample questions:

What happened when...?

What are your impressions of this experience?

What did you do?

After the participants share their ideas and reactions. It is important to help individuals see and evaluate trends and dynamics that they may be emerging in the group.

What went on in the group?

What caused that particular event?

What kinds of patterns are we seeing here?

In this stage the group determines whether what went on during the experience was unique or if it happens often in many different situations. Participants are asked to focus on other situations in their lives that are similar to the activity. The task is to identify similarities and state principles that can apply to other situations. Generalizing helps participants transfer their personal learning from the experience to the rest of the world.

What did you learn from this experience?

What similar situations have you experienced?

Participants decide on a course of action for the future.

What do you want to remember from this experience for the future?

What would you do differently in a similar situation?

*Managing Team Conflict
http://www-honors.ucdavis.edu/fh/tw/3conflict.html

Some tips to keep in mind when confronted with team conflict:

Allow every member to state his or her opinion. Excluding a member's ideas, even if they are unpopular, will lead to resentment and will sacrifice group cohesion.

Don't come to consensus too quickly. Especially when teams are in the "forming" stage, members are so afraid of conflict that they come to consensus on a particular point that is inappropriate or incorrect. This "dumbing down" process hurts the quality of the team's performance and causes members to believe they could do better on their own.

Don't attack a member personally. Members should learn to separate incorrect or implausible ideas or conclusions from the person who states them. Criticisms should focus on task-oriented issues and not on personal attributes. This keeps arguments on a professional level, instead of degenerating into immature name calling, etc.

Summarize the conflict. What starts as a small difference of opinion can soon appear to be a large conflict. Sometimes it is useful to summarize and list what both sides agree about and disagree about. By acknowledging the common ground, factions are better able to compromise.

Switch sides. Blinded by their own ideas, sometimes people fail to see obvious virtues of another person's ideas. As a way to force members to really consider the other side of a conflict, students can try to argue the opposing viewpoint. Though it may be difficult at first, it can bring to light a solution that had not earlier been considered.

Tell a joke. When the team atmosphere is tense due to extended conflict, it helps for someone to "lighten up" by adding some humor to the situation. Such brief "tension breakers" can put the conflict into perspective.

Take a break. Sometimes, despite every constructive effort, members cannot resolve a conflict. In this case, the best thing to do is take a break (with the intention of coming back to the issue): move on to another agenda item or get away from one another for a time.

Involve an unbiased third party. A class intern can provide an unbiased opinion in a dispute or help mediate a problem. The team should involve the course instructor only as a last result because it could end up causing more harm than good.

*Team Roles:
http://www.teamtechnology.co.uk/workingoutyourteamrole.htm

http://www.teamtechnology.co.uk/mtr-i-screensaver.exe
http://www.teamtechnology.co.uk/mtr-i-vhq.zip

*Strategic Challenges
 

http://www.teambuilding.org/

*Self-fulfilling prophecy: Key Principles

The concept of the self-fulfilling prophecy can be summarized in these key principles:

• We form certain expectations of people or events
• We communicate those expectations with various cues.
• People tend to respond to these cues by adjusting their behavior to match them.
• The result is that the original expectation becomes true.

Does it work?

A convincing body of behavioral research says it does.

In 1971 Robert Rosenthal, a professor of social psychology at Harvard, described an experiment in which he told a group of students that he had developed a strain of super-intelligent rats that could run mazes quickly. He then passed out perfectly normal rats at random, telling half of the students that they had the new "maze-bright" rats and the other half that they got "maze-dull" rats.

The rats believed to be bright improved daily in running the maze they ran faster and more accurately. The "dull" rats refused to budge from the starting point 29% of the time, while the "bright" rats refused only 11% of the time.

How teachers communicate expectations
 

Motivation Theory- Self-fulfilling prophecy- The Pygmalion Effect at Work
http://www.accel-team.com/pygmalion/index.html

*Team Meetings Scheduling Form
http://www-honors.ucdavis.edu/fh/tw/meetings.html

*Myers-briggs prayers
http://lgbtrc.ucr.edu/mbti.html

*Team Harmony pledge
http://www.teamharmony.org/pledge/frpledge.htm