7. Enhancing Team Communication

All day every day the team communicates. Imagine the efficiencies that could be gained by communicating better. In this module team members will exercise their capabilities for advocacy and inquiry. More than a process for transferring information, communication becomes the source of learning, transformation, and innovation.

Your team will:

  • Explore the disciplines of advocacy and inquiry to create team conversations that produce learning, innovation, and change.

  • Practice conversations in which you exercise advocacy and inquiry.

  • Make plans for purposeful team communication.

8. Running Effective Team Meetings

And now consider the humble meeting, that contentious generator of disagreement and lost time. But not for the high-performing team! As you explore team meetings through this module, you’ll discover how meetings can become a place where real work gets done! This module includes a meeting planning process that can be used over and over.

Your team will:

  • Identify characteristics of effective meetings, as well as tips for meeting facilitation.

  • Use the GO Team meeting planning tool to identify the meeting participants, purpose, and agenda.

  • Learn how the GO Team meeting planning tool can be used to keep the meeting on task and on time; and to assess the effectiveness of the meeting.

9. Making Team Decisions

Before you decide, you have to decide how you will decide! That’s one of the big ideas that drives this module of GO Team. As your team works through an actual decision that it faces, members will encounter a repeatable process for making decisions — one that includes key considerations before, during, and after the actual decision.

Your team will:

  • Practice a disciplined process for making team-based decisions.

  • Consider different approaches for making decisions, and select from those approaches based on the challenge at hand.

  • Make an actual decision about an issue the team is currently facing.

  • Analyze your decision for possible factors that may derail its success, and make contingency plans to ensure successful implementation.

10. Avoiding Groupthink

As the team begins to work and collaborate with more expertise, a new vulnerability can creep in. It’s called “groupthink” and it can cause even strong teams to fall into unproductive ways of thinking. Equip your team to fight the ravages of groupthink with this module!

Your team will:

  • Explore the concept of groupthink, and the dangers that it poses to this team.

  • Analyze this team’s vulnerability to groupthink.

  • Define and practice specific behaviors for ensuring that groupthink is not a danger to this team.

11. Resolving Team Conflict

39% of teams report that they “fear” and “avoid” conflict. And yet, the inherent tension of competing interests is one of the greatest sources of creativity for your team! In this module, the team will deal with an actual conflict… and in the process build the team’s capacity for transforming daily conflict into a force for innovation.

Your team will:

  • Explore the nature of conflict and power, and consider the proper personal orientation before entering into conflict situations.

  • Practice a dialogue-based approach for dealing with an existing conflict, and for preventing future conflicts from unnecessary escalation.

12. Solving Team Issues

Sometimes “issues happen.” When the team faces unforeseen events that jeopardize its ability to accomplish its tasks, GO Team is there. In this module, team members will encounter a disciplined and repeatable process for resolving the issue and moving forward.

Your team will:

  • Explore a disciplined process for resolving external challenges and issues that affect your team’s work.

  • Resolve an issue that your team is currently facing.