Team Building & Teamwork

Becker Associates has a twenty year history of facilitating and developing teams. We have facilitated team building session, trained groups in teamwork, and helped hundreds of groups realize their full potential. Whether a team is just forming, or has been functioning together for some time, we can give teams the necessary foundation to be successful. Team building sessions are carefully tailored to meet the special needs of each group.

Team activities range from providing fun activities to help a group get to know each other to sessions that consist of real time problem-solving for teams who are experiencing conflict and difficulties working together. 

Becker Associates has extensive experience in providing large group conflict resolution sessions. To better understand team dynamics, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® is used to help teams understand individual preferences.

Group Process Consulting

Process consultation is a joint effort between management and Becker Associates. The process consulting process involves helping an organization learn how to diagnose their own issues and make improvements. Organizational processes like teamwork, work flow, performance management, inter-group relationships, and organizational communication are the main focus for process consulting.

A process consulting project begins with the observation of the executive team. Team issues initially set a team process session agenda. Together with a facilitator, team members diagnosis a specific team problem issue and make plans for improvement and evaluation.

When a teams learns how to evaluate and change their own team processes in order to promote good teamwork, they become dynamic agents of change throughout the organization. Process consulting helps high profile groups understand how their team works, so they can be effective and efficient.

Teams working to create positive change need training and nurturing so that they are effective in their efforts. They need a combination of maintenance skills and task skills to function as a high performance unit. Below are listed some of the necessary items to both of these components.

Doing Functions

Charter and Plan

• has an intended outcome with a documented team charter,
• agrees on the expected results and the team’s boundaries,
• sees the outcome as achievable or, if necessary, has the authority to chunk it down,
• is flexible enough to allow for changes within the objectives of the overall outcome,
• has a method for measuring progress towards an outcome,
• is clear about how the outcome of the team will impact the overall organization, and
• creates a plan for achieving their outcome.

Decision Making and Problem Solving Methodology

• understands that there are different ways to make decisions,
• openly discusses how decisions will be made,
• decides on important issues by consensus,
• uses data as a basis for decisions,
• allows plenty of time for all team members to discuss their rationale for a decision, and
• appreciates each team member’s unique approach to solving problems.

Roles and Structure

• helps to define member roles and team structure,
• understands that there may be times when they are asked to perform outside their defined roles,
• openly discusses their expectations of each other's roles,
• follows agreed to meeting management techniques, and
• obeys established starting and stopping times for meetings.

Quality Tools and Techniques

• collects data before making decisions,
• understands the importance of studying process in business,
• digs for the real cause of an issue, and
• seeks permanent solutions, rather than relying on quick fixes.

Being Functions

Defined Team Values and Norms

• creates a code of conduct statement that the tea, adheres to,
• seeks to understand individual values,
• establishes guiding tea, values that the tea, adheres to,
• aspires to understand organizational values, and
• determines ways in which the tea, can support organizational values.

Knowledge of Team Dynamics

• understands the stages of tea, development,
• comments and intervenes to correct a tea, process problem,
• is willing to work in order to improve the tea, process,
• realizes that high performance requires a collection of skills which includes all team members, and
• understands the importance of creativity in tea, dynamics.

Communication Skills

• embraces a humanistic approach oriented towards communication,
• builds and maintains rapport with each other,
• listens actively,
• pays close attention to all channels of communication,
• avoids interrupting and talking when others are speaking, and
• presents information on many levels within the organization.

Effective Ways to Handle Conflict

• evaluates individual ideas and not individual motives,
• asks others for their opinions and listens,
• explores rather than debates,
• gives constructive feedback, and
• realizes that conflict is a part of team growth.