Case Study
TEAM BUILDING FOR COLLABORATION
GOAL:
Increase team work within and between shifts
Create-Learning developed a twenty-hour team building program for a manufacturing organization. It was conducted over four half-days, and also included two follow up programs of two hours each. Twenty-five front line employees and ten of the company’s leadership team participated.
OBJECTIVES:
- Increase communication between shifts and between co-workers about work-related issues
- Increase team unity by getting team members to value others on the team
- Share information to aid the team in succeeding
- Set goals and accountability to implement action plans geared to increase quality and productivity
Program Methodology
Pre-Sessions
Mike Cardus was introduced to the participants.
All participants took the DiSC assessment; DiSC Feedback Workshops included an overview of personal and team personality and behaviors.
Session 1: Behaviors and Listening / Speaking
Who Are We and Why Are We Here?
Review organizational, team, participant and facilitator goals.
Agree to team behaviors for the remaining programs, with the goal of adopting them as long term behaviors within the workplace.
Intra-Department team listening and speaking
Inter-Department team listening and speaking
Session 2: Listening / Speaking Under Stress; Team Development
Revisit goals and behaviors as needed
Introduce Tuckman’s stages of Team Development: Forming, Storming, Norming, and Performing-Adjourning.
Address listening and speaking skills for understanding of the group’s stage; understand implications for team planning.
Understand and practice non-verbal communication skills; learn about pitfalls in communication.
Understand stress and the effects on team performance and communication skills; how to recognize stress within yourself and within team members.
Develop skills to listen and speak effectively when in a stressful interaction.
Session 3: Dealing Effectively with Conflict
Revisit goals and behaviors as needed
Share information for group success – breaking the “not my job” mentality.
Create group and team accountability for both team leaders and team members.
Learn about conflict styles via the Thomas Kilman Instrument: Collaborating, Competing, Compromising, Avoiding and Accommodating.
Use conflict management approaches and accountability to lower cycle time and increase throughput.
Session 4: Conflict-Accountability
Revisit goals and behaviors as needed
Understand silos and how they help and hinder team effectiveness.
Move from individual toward team goals and accomplishments; focus on shifts working together for overarching organizational goals.
Overview Team Performance Model.
Develop team and personal action plans for the future.
Team presentations: celebration
Award Ceremony: certificates and awards
FOLLOW UP:
Conducted fifteen and forty-five days after the fourth session
Revisit goals and behaviors as needed
What has changed within the teams (both between and within shifts)?
Reinforce information and knowledge sharing.
Reinforce team and shift accountability.
What do you (teams) feel you need more of (from the facilitators and the company) for continued success?
Outcomes
A focus on goal setting and accountability was realized. Action plans put into place increased quality and productivity, and led to a decrease in wasted material/resources and lost opportunity due to communication breakdowns and in-fighting.
Communication between shifts and between co-workers about work-related issues increased, leading to a decrease in overlapping and repeated processes, and decreases in the amount of set up time needed between shifts.
Team members increasingly valued other team members and shared information to aid the team in success, leading to a decrease in lateness, absenteeism, and a noticed decrease “us vs. them” mentality between leadership and front line workers.