5 Responses

1. High Performing Teams
   Hi Helen,

   Without doubt, for me the most important factor which determines
   how well teams perform is the relationship that team members have with each other and in terms of content for a course, this is where I would concentrate most. Using tools like Myers-Briggs can be a great help in people understanding that we are not all the same and proves helpful in “valuing the differences” in others. It can also help to begin to establish and get buy-in to acceptable “team rules” and behaviours. You could also include other useful content such as the stages of team development i.e Forming, Storming, Norming & Performing etc. Feel free to contact me if you need some more help. Brian Perry info@brianperry.co.uk

2. A false dawn ?
   I’m going to be cynical here and say that in my view ‘High Performing Teams’ is a marketing ploy to imply that the course contains some Holy Grail or unique wisdom that will transform your team’s performance. Several companies ply their trade on this as if they have the only answer – well they would, wouldn’t they?! If your only tool is a hammer, every problem becomes a nail.

   I believe that, like many other areas of training, there IS no one right answer; one size does not fit all, nor can it be tailored for all.

   Building a team that performs well depends on recruiting the right team members and leader, for that task, and giving them the right resources and support at the right time. I also believe that the right leader can be enabled from a wide range of tools. The key is in choosing what is appropriate in the circumstances. Sorry if you don’t find that helpful, but I think you’re barking up the wrong tree based on what you’ve said. By implication, find out what the real needs of the team are in order to perform well.

   Peter D

3. Thanks for the comments so far…
   Thanks for the responses so far. Just for the record, the reason for this question is that I am currently designing a training course, which IS needs led.

   However, I one our senior managers has referred to the fact that in his view any course should should include “some stuff around high performing teams”. Clearly he has been on one of these courses before and has some ideas on possible content, but despite some probing, seems unable to articulate it in any more detail!

   I will of course focus him on what he wants the learning outcomes to be, but thought that by asking if anyone has experienced one of these courses, it might give me some clues!

4. Content ideas
   Hi Helen,
   Whilst I agree that the term ‘High Performing Teams’is sometimes over used, if you take away the title and look at what you really want – improved team performance – there are some things which could perhaps help. They’re not new and you’re probably familiar with them so no magic answer, just basics.

   I would look at 2 sections a)People and b) Processes. In People you could let the delegates find out about themselves first (Insights Discovery or Myers Briggs type tools) and then others eg Motivation (Herzberg and Maslow), Team roles (Belbin) and Team development (Tuckman).
   In Processes, cover the learning cycle (Kolb), leadership styles (Hersey and Blanchard, Adair).
   Experiencing a team improving can be facilitated through activities and feedback/reflections during the course and break up the theory stuff.
   I don’t know how much time you have for the training but I hope the content is useful. I do this all the time so if you want to go through this let me know and we can chat off line.

   Regards
   Denise Amoss

5. 5 Dysfunctions of a team
   Hi – you might want to have a look at the Five Disfunctions Model by Lencioni. You can order the book and a workbook for running sessions from Amazon. It utilises MBTI (although it’s not absolutely essential) and focuses on attention to results, accountability, commitment, conflict and trust.