Accelerating Teams Through Assessment and Training

It’s a sad fact of organizational life that only a small percentage of teams achieve high function. Most teams muddle along, and get the essential things done — or not.  Some teams are absolute disaster zones, and are not only ineffective, are actually destructive. Imagine someone pouring crazy glue into your car engine, that’s how a bad team can affect an organization.

It doesn’t matter if the team is three people in a small business, or a cross-functional team of 20 at a Fortune 100 company — all teams struggle to excel. And, all teams can improve, with training.

Did You Know Diversity = Conflict?

It’s a fact that diverse teams are more innovative. They also have more conflict. The more diverse a team is across gender, age, ethnicity, skill sets, and thinking styles the more likely they are to Never reach high function.

Teams Improve With Momentum Training.

Push the reset button on ineffective, under performing teams. Clear the decks of conflict and refocus on the challenges you need to address! Get your teams trained to collaborate on complex problem solving and work smarter.

Training Description

Momentum Team Effectiveness Training is a one-day, intensive, team training workshop. It’s ideal for teams seeking to improve performance. Newly formed teams can hit the ground running.  Momentum is highly experiential and hands-on. Concepts are taught using interactive exercises and challenges, which make for rich debrief discussions, learning, and integration into real world team habits. Make no mistake, this is not about trust falls and karaoke. Momentum starts with a validated thinking style assessment (using the Foursight Online measure) and it ends with a team action plan.

Benefits

• Individual FourSight assessments reveal insights about team players
• Teams become aware of their strengths and weakness, and areas that require more focus
• Hidden conflicts are identified and resolved, or, minimized
• Listening skills are built and teams learn to collaborate
• Accountability is improved, momentum is generated towards high function

What’s Covered in Momentum Team Effectiveness Training

• Who’s On Your Team: An assessment is given (the web-based FourSight assessment) to determine each individuals thinking and problem solving style, and a composite score of the team is compiled. Awareness of how others think leads to better understanding, appreciation of unique contributions, and improved collaboration.
• Team Theory: Team behavior has predictable patterns. The Tuckman Model is presented and each team workshops their progress towards high effectiveness. Once they understand what stage of team development they are in (forming, storming, norming, performing, or reforming) they know the work required to breakthrough the next level.
• Conflict Management: Conflict, or the avoidance of it, is the biggest barrier to team productivity. Patrick Lencioni’s model of team performance is reviewed and tools are presented on how to breakthrough conflict, establish trust, and move into high performance. Teams are made aware of the relationship between diversity and conflict, and given tools on how to manage that polarity.
• Creative Problem Solving Model: Most teams lack a common approach, or language, to resolve challenges and manage projects. The “CPS” model is a straightforward and creative framework (aka Osborn-Parnes) that gets teams on the same page and solving complex problems methodically. It can augment, Lean, Design Thinking or Agile approaches. CPS is used extensively by companies like P&G, Clear Channel, and IBM.
• Collaboration Tools: Even high function teams can improve by using new collaboration methods. Group problem solving tools are taught to the team, borrowing heavily from the worlds of innovation and Improv. Warm-ups, energizers, meeting planning, brainstorming, positive critique, and sketch comedy improvisation games are demonstrated and done by workshop participants.

Master Trainer Gregg Fraley of GFi

Gregg Fraley has designed and lead team training workshops for two decades. He knows the theory, and practice. He’s led entrepreneurial teams to success, in software, research, and consulting. He integrates cutting edge tools from the domains of innovation and improvisation into Momentum to deliver this high value team training.

Candidate Teams for Momentum

• Innovation teams
• Management teams
• Digital Technology or Cross-Functional teams
• R&D or Engineering teams
• Sales Management teams

Contact GFi to book Momentum Team Training. Ideally, this workshop is done offsite to eliminate distractions, and to provide an ideal space for reflection and energetic activities. This is offered for one organization at a time (not a public course) but the workshop can accommodate more than one team. Allow a two week or more lead time as this workshop has required “pre-work.”