DISCUSSION GUIDE:
FORM B
Scenario 1 Key Points
Ask the team members if they need any further clarification of or changes to the task agreement.
Are the expected outcomes clear? Are the performance indicators easy to measure? Could they be better defined? Are the targets reasonable? Are the team members able to devote sufficient time to the task? Are more members or members with different skills needed? Is the team hampered by financial restrictions or management approval cycles?
Ask the team to identify and quantify exactly what is holding the group up.
What needs to be increased? What needs to be decreased? What actions have been completely successful? What actions have been only partially successful?
Ask the team to examine its group process.
Has the team established explicit norms? Is the team checking its behaviors against the norms? Does the team have any consistent behavioral issues?
Ask the team to review its progress.
Has the team established a formal action plan? Is the team checking its progress against the action plan? If interim results fall short of targets, is the team recycling through the agreed-upon steps?
Ask the team how you can help.
Scenario 2 Key Points
Have you considered the pitfalls of your current program?
Creating competition instead of cooperationrewarding teams or members who withhold information others could use in an effort to gain an advantage.
Limiting the number of groups or employees that can be recognized at one timewhen one team wins, the other teams all lose.
Letting every team have its “turn”—it’s difficult to recognize the same successful team over and over.
Focusing on nuances—it’s also often difficult to differentiate among performances.
What other reinforcement techniques are you using?
Providing regular feedback—compliments for even small accomplishments.
Recognizing milestones—public acknowledgment of intermediate results.
Chatting informally with team memberslistening with respect, not taking action, and recommending that any problems discussed be solved through the team structure.
Scenario 3 Key Points
Have you forgotten that you should leave your manager’s hat outside the room when you are a member of the team?
Do nothing.
Honor the process.
Participate as a cooperative member of the team and let the solution arise from the data and root-cause analysis.
Don’t narrow your viewpoint prematurely.
Build off other team members’ suggestions.
Have you forgotten why the team was formed?
Management wanted to tap into the creativity of a cross section of the organization.
Management perceived the problem was more complex than one person could permanently solve.
Management felt that commitment could be built more effectively if the entire department participated in the process.
Are you worried that the team won’t solve the problem fast enough? Cheaply enough?
Trust—Do you have more faith in your own abilities than those of the team members?
Respect—When the team is successful, do you think your superiors will lose respect for you as an individual?