Companies like Ford, Hewlett Packard, Pratt & Whitney, Owens Corning, Seagrams, NASA and many others can attest to this sort of impact.
How has The Lab become such a transformational experience for teams?
The quick answer is: it strikes an emotional chord - it gets under the skin of every individual, and is amplified by the group experience.
A more complete answer is found in three factors:
- Positioning
- Process
- Content
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POSITIONING
The work team itself makes the decision whether to invest the two days to experience The Team Learning Lab. A brief presentation is made to them which describes the objective being primarily, to become a "High Performance Team" and secondarily, to provide indiividual and team learning. The presentation also describes the content, process and results from other teams taking The Lab. Invariably the team determines it will be worth the investment to become a “high performance team.” (HPT)
PROCESS
Clients tell us that the most powerful factor is the unique Team Learning ™ process where people who work together, learn to learn from each other how to become a high performance team (HPT). There is no expert present to teach or ‘tell’ them - every member of the team will share their expertise on HPT. A road map and a coach will support the team’s deliberations.
After a number of hours of very engaging (yet very serious), substantive discussions on various aspects of their “teamwork,” the group dynamic begins to change. The group sheds patterns of defensiveness, such as lip service, being politically correct, saving face, protecting turf, etc.
Undiscussables surface; an openness is manifested; higher levels of trust emerge.
Apart from occasional input from the Coach, all discussions are by members of the team.
CONTENT - Peter Senge`s 5 Disciplines divided into 3 topics
The content focuses on three topics:
1. Communications
a) How we can manage “hidden thoughts” to develop more open (yet safe) conversations on contentious issues.
b) How we can re-examine some of our preconceptions that color and freeze our thinking about people and things.
c) How we can use all these tools to balance advocacy with inquiry to come to real consensus with others around contentious issues. |
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2. Systems Thinking
The team starts to recognize that many problems they encounter are affected by factors outside their team. They learn how to resolve these systemic problems by using systems thinking tools. “Quick fixes” are replaced by more fundamental solutions; the team solves some real chronic problems and develops a greater sense of empowerment. It’s a revelation when the team discovers how myopic their thinking has been in the past and how effective systems thinking will be for their future. |
3. Shared Aspirations
So far the team has been monitoring their progress to become a high performance team by using our team evaluation format on three separate occasions. They now see and feel their improvement. Their evaluations and discussions about their progress, further reinforces their commitment to their team.
They are finally ready to take very seriously (no lip service) the emotional factors that bind their team - their shared aspirations: “Where are we going? What do we want to achieve together”?
To coalesce around their shared aspirations they discover and openly discuss their personal visions and values including shared values. By this time, the typical barriers to complete honesty have disappeared and they begin to build consensus around a shared vision or goal that inspires them.
There is a genuine sense of achievement and celebration among the team when they develop consensus on a business goal that challenges their best efforts. Based on the 2-day experience, they are now confident of meeting that goal. They are beginning to operate as a high performance team!
The team then develops action plans for achieving their shared vision or goal over a specific time frame with specific dates for reaching significant milestones. |
The Team Learning Lab
Content:
This comprehensive program brings the principles of Peter Senge's "The Fifth Discipline" into practice. It is designed to improve group performance and results by bringing the methods and tools of Systems Thinking, Mental Models and Shared Vision into the context of the team's work. Teams learn how to use the Mental Models tools to create open, honest and meaningful conversations. Systems Thinking enables the team to analyze, describe and picture the interrelationships at work in complex situations. Teams create a Shared Vision to get off the problem-solving treadmill. Finally, teams examine how to integrate these tools into their day-to-day work to accomplish their goals.
Tangible Results:
- The team develops a shared vision of the results each member wants to create and identifies the specific outcomes and daily tasks needed to accomplish these results.
- Individuals identify ways to change patterns and systemic structures that inhibit themselves and their team from achieving their vision.
- Team members use specific tools to analyze organizational practices, work-related situations and their own assumptions and behaviours. Awareness of their own mental models helps team members to create more honest, open, meaningful conversations with each other.
For more information on "The Team Learning Lab,"
simply email us at info@trainwithvideo.com or
call Presentations Incorporated at 1-866-365-9111.
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