July 28, 2011

1. SDI+ Summer Institute July 28, 2011

2. Outcomes • An increased awareness of five common barriers to effective teamwork and some strategies for overcoming them. • An increased awareness of the importance managing agreement when making group decisions.

3. Definition of a Team A relatively small number of people that shares common goals as well as the rewards and responsibilities for achieving them.

4. Roundtable Discussions Which teams are you a member of? Which teams are you the leader of? What makes teams effective?

5. Absence of Trust Fear of Conflict Lack of Commitment Avoidance of Accountability Inattention to Results The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

6. Building Trust / Being Vulnerable People who aren’t afraid to admit the truth about themselves are not going to engage in the kind of political behavior that wastes everyone’s time and energy.

7. Vulnerability • The state of being vulnerable or exposed • Susceptibility to injury or attack

8. 4. Staff members quickly and genuinely apologize to one another when they say or do something inappropriate or possibly damaging to the school.

9. 6. Staff members at my school openly admit their weaknesses and mistakes.

10. 12. Staff members at my school know about one another’s personal lives and are comfortable discussing them.

11. Building Trust Personal Histories Behavioral Profiles Shared Experiences

12. Mastering Conflict Ideal Conflict Point Constructive Destructive Mean-Spirited Personal Attacks Artificial Harmony

13. 1. Staff members at my school are passionate and unguarded in their discussion of issues.

14. 7. Staff meetings at my school are compelling and not boring.

15. 10. During staff meetings, the most important and most difficult issues are put on the table to be resolved.

16. Mastering Conflict Mining for Conflict Real Time Permission Setting the Hook

17. Achieving Commitment Commitment is about a group of intelligent, driven individuals buying into a decision precisely when they don’t naturally agree. In other words, it’s the ability to defy a lack of consensus.

18. Consensus An opinion or position reached by a group as a whole General agreement or accord

19. Consensus has been achieved when every person involved in the decision can say, “I believe this is the best decision we can arrive at for the organization at this time, and I will support its implementation”.

20. 3. Staff members at my school know what their peers are working on and how their peers contribute to the collective good of the school/district.

21. 8. Staff members at my school leave meetings confident that their peers are completely committed to the decisions agreed upon during the meeting, even if there was initial disagreement.

22. 13. Staff members at my school end discussions with clear and specific resolutions and calls to action.

23. End Meetings With These Questions Who will do what by when? Who will communicate informally and formally to whom? What will be communicated regarding decisions at today’s meeting? What are next steps? Under what conditions would you be tempted to deviate from these communication agreements that we just made?

24. Embracing Accountability Accountability is the willingness of team members to remind one another when they are not living up to the performance standards of the group. (akA Entering the Danger)

25. 2. Staff members at my school call out one another’s deficiencies or unproductive behaviors.

26. 11. Staff members at my school are deeply concerned about the prospect of letting down their peers.

27. 14. Staff members at my school challenge one another about their plans, instructional methods and approaches.

28. Embracing Accountability • Team Effectiveness Exercise • What is the single most important behavioral characteristic or quality demonstrated by this person that contributes to the strength of our team? • What is the single most important behavioral characteristic or quality demonstrated by this person that can sometimes derail our team?

30. Roundtable Discussions Create Your Own Scoreboard What are the most important things to measure to track your team’s progress?

31. 5. Staff members at my school willingly make sacrifices (such as budget, supplies, extra duties) for the good of the school.

32. 9. Morale is significantly affected by the failure to achieve the school/district goals.

33. 15. Staff members at my school are slow to seek credit for their own contributions but quick to point out those of others.

34. Focusing on Results • Establish a Scoreboard • Distraction # 1: Ego • Distraction # 2: Career Advancement • Distraction # 3: Money • Distraction # 4: “My” department

35. Absence of Trust Fear of Conflict Lack of Commitment Avoidance of Accountability Inattention to Results The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

37. The Abilene Paradox The curious tendency of groups to make decisions that individual members do not truly support.

38. The Abilene Paradox • People make decisions based not on what they actually want to do, • but on what they think that other people want to do, • with the result being that everybody decides to do something that nobody really wants to do, • only what they thought that everybody else wanted to do.

39. Groupthink • A type of thought exhibited by group members who try to minimize conflict and reach consensus withoutcritically testing, analyzing, and evaluating ideas.

40. Mismanaged Agreement The tendency of group members to hesitate to offer their true opinions, and to therefore agree to a decision that they don’t support.

41. Roundtable Discussions Why is it so hard to disagree with what the team seems to be thinking?

42. Ways to Skip the Trip • Invite the right people. • Clearly state the decision to be made. • Organize available data and information. • Allow enough time for discussion. • Check assumptions. • Weigh risks and benefits.