Developing High Performance Teams: What They Are and How to Make Them Work

"The performance challenges that face companies in every industry demand the kind of responsiveness, speed, on-line customization, and quality that is beyond the reach of individual performance. Teams bridge this gap."

Jon Katzenbach and Douglas K. Smith
The Wisdom of Teams, 1993.

Create an organization in which people's hearts are in their work

Few would argue that people are an organization's most valuable asset. Do you want better quality, faster response time, higher productivity, greater sensitivity to customers, improved profitability? People make these happen.

Unfortunately, many people are motivated by compliance. Their hearts are not in their work. They get by, do the minimum required, and watch the clock. The organization reaps mediocrity.

Other people are motivated by commitment. They care about the work they do, know that they are valued by their organization and can make a significant contribution to its success. The organization reaps vitality and excellence.

What You Will Do:

• Gain an understanding of how teams differ from traditional work groups.
• Create a team charter that includes a clear statement of your team's purpose, operating guidelines, performance objectives, and an ideal team vision.
• Learn good meeting management skills, critique your meeting effectiveness and develop action plans to improve your meetings.
• Identify your team's customer requirements and how these guide team performance.
• Analyze and streamline the core work of the team.
• Clarify team member roles and responsibilities and ensure greater accountability.
• Set up systems for measuring your performance, setting goals and tracking progress.

Program Objectives

• Learn the basic principles of High Performance teams and the advantages of teams over traditional work groups
• Develop a team charter to guide decision making and day-to-day actions
• Learn good meeting management skills to improve the quality of team meetings
• Identify customer requirements and how they influence team performance
• Analyze and improve core work processes
• Clarify roles and responsibilities of team members
• Set goals and develop actions plans to achieve them
  

Structure and Format:

Developing High Performance Teams: Competing to Win consists of seven modules (each two to three hours in length) that are scheduled and delivered at least one week apart. The modules include numerous individual and group exercises that make the training come alive and ensure that participants translate the principles into a personal plan of action.

The number of participants, structure and format can all be tailored to fit the needs of your organization.

Module 1: Fundamentals of High Performance Teams

• The definition of a High Performance team and how it differs from a traditional work group
• The three elements of High Performance teams
• Four types of teams
• The stages of team development
• To create an image and name your team

Module 2: The Team Charter

• Identify your team's key customers and stakeholders
• Determine the performance results expected of your team
• Decide your team's purpose
• Identify the ideal characteristics of your team
• Develop a set of team operating norms

Module 3: Effective Meetings

• The characteristics of effective meetings
• How efficient and effective your meetings are
• Guidelines to improve the effectiveness of your meetings
• How to establish and run a meeting from an agenda
• A format for meeting minutes
• The three leadership roles required for successful meetings
• Discussion skills to improve the quality of team meetings

Module 4: Customer Focus

• Examine your attitude toward your customer
• Assess how customer-oriented your team and organization are
• Discuss and analyze feedback from key customers
• Identify key customer requirements
• Develop improvement plans to respond to customer feedback
• Develop a system for measuring and tracking key customer requirements

Module 5: Managing The Process

• Learn basic process mapping definitions and skills
• Map the team's core process
• Identify and analyze process variances
• Identify and analyze key variances
• Develop action plans to improve the team's core process
• Develop action plans to control key variances

Module 6: Team Member Roles And Responsibilities

• Learn how to be a self-sufficient and self-directing team
• Clarify shared team responsibilities
• Define and prioritize coordinating responsibilities
• Assign designated roles
• Understand the aspects of empowerment
• Use the empowerment matrix as a developmental tool
• Develop a maturation matrix
• Understand how the role of leader changes in a High Performance organization

Module 7: Setting Goals And Keeping Score

• Understand the importance of setting goals and tracking your performance
• Learn the building blocks of scorekeeping
• Identify your team's key result areas
• Establish metrics in each of your key result areas
• Assess your current performance
• Set goals in each of your key result areas
• Evaluate your feedback system

Are you ready? Unfetter the potential
in your people, your business – and yourself.

Email info@unfetteredpotential.com

or call 913-851-2430

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Assessing Your Organization for High Performance