[Partnerwerks Collaboratory]Two Final Team Building Myths


Welcome to Partnerwerks Collaboratory!
April 17, 2000

For everyone who desires to accomplish more with others,
Collaboratory promotes TeamWisdom(TM) -- the individual mental
skills and behaviors that create highly responsible and
productive relationships at work.

In this issue:

1. 10-Second Collaboratory
2. Welcome Notes
3. Check It Out at http://www.partnerwerks.com
4. Two Final Team Building Myths
5. 5-Minute TeamWisdom(TM) Stretch
6. Search Collaboratory Archives

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1. 10-Second Collaboratory

You don't all have to read the same book or attend a team
building event together to talk about why you should work as a team 
and what's in it for each of you to do so.

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2. Welcome Notes

Welcome to new readers who just finished Project Team Leadership,
Partnerwerks flagship corporate seminar. We are pleased to have
you join us. Welcome also to new subscribers from around the
world where TeamWisdom is studied in more than thirty-five
countries this week.

Please forward Collaboratory to whomever can help you create more
productive relationships at work!

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3. Check It Out at http://www.partnerwerks.com

There is still room for you in "Being Powerful In Any Team", May 10-12
in
Austin, TX. Read what results we guarantee you:

http://www.partnerwerks.com/pc/beingpowerful.html

To provide a great chance for a group to become a team, use the Team
Orientation Process:

http://www.partnerwerks.com/What_s_Here_/Jump_In/Library/PTL_Tools/Team_Orientation_Process/team_orientation_process.html

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4. TWO FINAL TEAM BUILDING MYTHS

We challenged three team building myths in the past two weeks:

- Myth #1. You must hire a consultant. (We disagree. All
professionals should be able to build a team.)
- Myth #2. The first agenda in team building is to get people to
like each other. (No, the first agenda is agreeing what we are a
team to DO.) 
- Myth #3. Team building takes time away from real work. (Real
work should always be the focus--and acceleration the result--of
team building.)

Two final myths will contribute much TeamWisdom(TM) and prepare
you to productively play on any team.

Myth #4. Everyone in your group must understand the same
teambuilding system.

We admit there is a benefit to having a common language and
tool kit. However, myth #4 is too easily and frequently offered as
an excuse by professionals coming off of an unsuccessful or
unpleasant team experience. These people claim that THEY knew
what everybody on the team SHOULD have done (thus excusing
themselves for the team's failure). But they couldn't MAKE the
other members do it because they didn't have the same team
training (management's fault!). Thus they could not work
together. This justification for failure is similar to "I got put
on a bad team" (as if the team had an overpowering "badness" with
which he was forced to collude).

From a TeamWisdom viewpoint, these excuses are just
that--excuses. Think about it. If teamwork occurs naturally (it
does) and if Energy and Direction are the two measures that a
team is built (they are), then anyone can initiate a conversation
about direction ("what should we be doing together?") and energy
("what's in it for us--each of us--to do this?") and include
everyone in it. No more sophisticated team building processes or
techniques are required.

Myth #5. A team that gets built, stays built.

Most professionals have been taught that the four stages of team
productivity include Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing.
The model implies that a team gets on the track at Forming and
runs right on around the track to Performing. But, does a team
ALWAYS move on a track from Forming to Storming to Norming to
Performing? No! If so, one could guarantee high performance on
every team! In our experience (and yours too we bet) teams don't
stay built.

This myth perpetuates event-based team building, i.e., one-off
events where professional team builders are hired to take people
"away from their real work for some team building" (see Myth #3).
The event produces some alignment and good feelings after which
the team builders disappear. The real problem is that the team
builders did not teach the team what they did to them (so, it was
seen as magic that few can perform), or how to do it again for
themselves when they lose energy and direction.

We prefer that every professional understands what it takes to
build a team and how to do it so that excuses and professional
team builders are not as needed as they are today.

Get started with this week's 5-Minute TeamWisdom(TM) Stretch.

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5. 5-Minute TeamWisdom(TM) Stretch

Think of a time when you've bought into the above myths. How did
it let you avoid responsibility for your results? How will you
notice these myths at work in the futures?


We wish you a world of productive relationships.

Faithfully,
Christopher and Erin

P.S.  Please write Christopher at cavery@partnerwerks.com to share
your insights. Or post your question on The Team Advisor, at:

http://www.partnerwerks.com/What_s_Here_/Jump_In/Offices/Partnerwerks_Associates/_Christopher_Avery/team_advisor.html

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6. Search the Collaboratory archives for more TeamWisdom tips. Enter
key words at:

http://zip.mail-list.com/archives/collaboratory

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Copyright 1998-2000, all rights reserved. Permission is granted to
republish Partnerwerks Collaboratory. Please include complete
contact information about the author, Christopher M. Avery,
Ph.D., President, Partnerwerks Inc. (cavery@partnerwerks.com);
and send us a courtesy copy of the publication in which it appears.

To schedule a presentation or consultation with Dr. Avery, contact
info@partnerwerks.com.  See presentation topics at:

http://www.partnerwerks.com/What_s_Here_/Jump_In/Reception/Courses___Custom_Services/Talks_by_Christopher_Avery/talks_by_christopher_avery.html