PIHRA Scope - January/February 2008 - (Page 17) When the elements of a successful team development program are visualized and verbalized, then a customized program can be designed to accomplish these desired outcomes. A well-executed needs assessment will allow the mapping and customization of an effective team development program. Information and data gathering can happen through: • Interviewing team leaders and/or participants • Measurement tools This data is useful for both diagnostic purposes and for tracking development. Team development has often been perceived as an intangible. The fact is groups can apply metrics and track a team’s development and hold its members accountable. By “beginning with the end in mind,” facilitators can clearly identify the pain and begin to manage expectations of the outcomes. What programs should provide are experiences to look at individual and group dynamics regardless of the activity. It’s the insights extracted during the conversation after the activity that truly begins the developmental process. THE DEBRIEF Simply, three things should be discussed: What? So what? Now what? Not to discount the importance of this component, in fact quite the contrary, but it is that simple. 1. What? - Is the discussion of what just took place. 2. So what? - Is the transfer back to the day in the life of our business. How does the way we functioned matter of time before this too will pass. • Insights must be surfaced • Changes need to be identified • Action plans, whether individual or group focused, must be developed • Group members need to be held accountable FOLLOW UP A reason for the failure to implement change and experience a successful team development program is the perception that these sessions are events, not a process. Work groups don’t leave a session and all of a sudden are knighted as high-performance teams. Action plans need to be put into action, metrics need to be applied and team members need to be held accountable. Follow-up sessions are crucial to maintaining momentum as well as revisiting and restructuring goals and actions and maintaining top of mind awareness. If the group goes back to business as usual as opposed to business as unusual, well then shame on them. At the end of the day then the critics are right. Why waste your money on team building? I wish you all the success in your endeavors as you inspire your leaders and develop your teams! ■ Nick Conner is the vice president of program development at TeamBuilders. For nearly 20 years he has enjoyed sharing his experience and expertise with organizations that include small business to Fortune 20 companies. He can be reached via e-mail at nconner@teambuilders.com. January/February 2008 PIHRAScope 17 The management of expectations is crucial to the success of any team development process. INTERACTIVE LEARNING Whether you choose to call it action learning or experiential learning, these activities can be fun and insightful. How do we select the appropriate activities for a results-driven program and what are the options? There are hundreds of choices to choose from including cognitive problem-solving activities, board games, philanthropic community projects and of course ROPES courses. Truly, the purpose of these activities is to create insight. The activities are not “team-building” in and of themselves. They are the prompts for discussion. Trust falls don’t build trust and climbing 60 feet in the air doesn’t make you a risk taker in business. If you want to be trusted be trustworthy and if you want to be respected be respectful. together just now have anything to do with this team, this organization and our objectives? 3. Now what? - This takes us back to the beginning of this article and why most team development is ineffective. It’s because this question doesn’t get addressed. ACTION PLANNING The question needs to be addressed, “What is going to be done differently on Monday morning as a result of this session together?” How do we turn our insights into applications? Very often work groups leave these sessions feeling pretty good and even somewhat energized, but it’s just a
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