Excellent job. Exceeded expectations by a considerable margin. I believe we advanced as a group in our ability to problem solve as well as confront delicate topics. Your facilitation skills were a good match for us

Harvard Pilgrim Health Plan

Forming and Leading Teams

Objective: To teach you the skills to turn a group of individuals into a cohesive working unit.

Program Outline:

Using Group Dynamics
• Applying group theory
• Engaging your team
• Gaining involvement and participation
• Staying in emotional contact with the group
• Knowing when to loosen and tighten control

Leadership And Power
• Knowing the parameters of a leader's power
• Learning where power lies and how it gets used
• Seeing overt and covert power structure
• Knowing the sources of your own power
• Sensing how the locus of power may shift

Power And Interpersonal Dynamics Of Your Team
• Identifying goals: official and unofficial
• Identifying hidden agendas and subversive goals
• Working through different levels of hierarchy

Strategies To Acheive The Goal
• Providing a participative tone
• Dealing with controversial, divisive issues
• Negotiating between two opposite points of view
• Defusing hostile, angry, or upset people
• Drawing out quiet people
• Gaining agreement on what needs to happen

Analyzing Behavior To Know What Is Going On
• Using active listening to understand team members
• Gaining insights into possible thought processes
• Reading visual and non-verbal cues
• Clarifying techniques to further comprehend what is being said

Communication: Understanding Team Interactions
• Star-centered and cluster groups
• Choice of language to aid understanding
• Analyzing group and individual behavior

Team Dynamics
• Becoming a "soccer referee"
• Gaining comfort in telling what went wrong
• Overcoming motivation to avoid conflict

Dealing With Potential Problems Such As:
• Antagonists, disruptive, aggressive people
• Doomsayers
• People who float in and out of the group

Follow Up
• Evaluating team performance
• Learning from experience- both positive and negative
• Ensuring team members fulfill all commitments
• Creating an action plan to build on your gains