Winning Teams

There's so much hanging on effective team structures. So much depends on effective project teams today. So the chances are your organisation need teams that don't just work well: - it needs teams that do better, teams that beat expectations, teams that deliver faster. This new pack is designed to keep your teams and your training right up there at the front of the game, in your increasingly competitive world. You've probably seen team development programmes before. You probably have your own. But this pack throws a different light on the subject, and highlights areas that are not usually touched on.

When you see this pack you'll see how these activities would be very powerful indeed in dealing, for example, with internal politics in a team. Some good teams work in isolation - winning teams work successfully within the organisation. See that in action when you start to apply these activities.

Who'll win with this pack?

• In-house trainers & independent training consultants
• For programmes developing team performance, these activities provide great new material for getting excellence out of the ordinary!
• Team leaders & line managers If they have a good team which could achieve more, you can hand over this pack with confidence to any good team leader, and they'll be able to introduce more success, faster and surprisingly easily.
• New teams & existing teams If you're forming or developing a new team, there are great openings with this pack to get things up to speed fast, easily, effectively. And there's a great choice here to select activities to help any good well-established team to double its enthusiasm and effectiveness.

List of Activities:

1. Getting started - SWOT analysis

Opening session when the team sets out to establish its current strengths and urgent development needs using SWOT analysis. The output from this session can then be used to guide the subsequent development plan for the team.

2. Getting started - self-assessment

An alternative way of starting the process. The team is introduced to the two main elements that contribute towards the development of the winning team - achieving the task and working together. The output from this session can also be used in the formation of any subsequent development plan for the team or individuals.

3. Developing a clear vision

This activity ensures that the whole team share a common vision of what the future should hold, and how they would look and work together in an 'ideal' world. A practical team exercise which asks them to draw and assess two pictures representing the current state of affairs and the future.

4. Seeing the 'big' picture

People often find it hard to see how their efforts contribute towards overall corporate success. This enlightening team exercise shows how objectives and tasks are cascaded down through several layers in the organisation.

5. Developing a strong customer focus

The winning team will have a strong client/customer focus and this activity is designed to highlight the vital importance this plays. Teams work on three key issues: what their clients/customers want; what the company wants; what the staff want.

6. Making effective decisions

The winning team will make effective decisions consistently and this doesn't happen by accident. This activity will take the team through a structured decision-making process.

7. Making fact-based judgements

A situation arises and it's very tempting to make a snap decision; however, judgements based on fact are more likely to give better results. This activity presents the team with a complex task to solve in a tight deadline.

8. Being steady under pressure

Most teams have the energy to start a new idea, but do they have the ability to keep their heads, especially when things get tough? This team exercise presents the participants with a challenging task, but then they have to change their plan ...

9. Improving personal motivation

What's in it for me? This is the central question that most people ask when faced with the need to change behaviours. This activity explores the whole issue of personal motivation.

10. The drive to achieve

The winning team must have an inner consistent drive to achieve good results. This activity explores what's involved and sets the team a challenging and enjoyable task.

11. Developing stamina

A task might seem quite simple when you start it, but you could soon realise there is more to it. Does the team have the mental stamina to keep going? This activity will test their ability to complete a task that requires adherence to some simple, yet demanding rules.

12. Delivering consistent results

For a team to be able to deliver consistent results requires them to 'buy into' some basic procedures or processes they can all follow. This fun activity tests their ability to write accurate and effective procedures.

13. Measuring outcomes

What gets measured gets done! Accurate and meaningful measurement of work and performance is vital to the winning team. This activity asks the team to develop measures for what they do.

14. Attention to detail

A key part of the winning team is its ability to attend to detail - a 90 per cent solution is simply not good enough. This activity tests the team's ability in this key area.

15. The desire to succeed

Do the team members all share the same thirst for success? The answer is probably 'no' as individuals all have different levels of ambition. But they all need to share a similar desire for the team to be successful. This activity presents them with an interesting task to which they can all contribute.

16. Recognising others' strengths

None of us is individually as strong as all of us working together. This simple truth highlights the need to respect other people's strengths, and this challenging activity really does demonstrate the need to work together to arrive at a good solution.

17. Sharing the load

Members of the winning team will just as willingly share tasks and ideas with their colleagues, as they share the glory when they've been successful. This activity sets them a task they must all share willingly if they are to succeed.

18. Understanding others' views

Members of the winning team really must understand what other people are thinking, and not what they assume they are thinking. This activity takes participants through an exhaustive process for discovering what other people really think about situations.

19. Becoming an effective listener

Most of us believe we are good at listening yet it is the communications skill we use most and the one for which we receive the least formal training. This activity explores what's involved in active listening.

20. The power of probing questions

The winning team will be good at discovering what people want and why it is important to them; they will also be good at collecting facts and opinions. This skill comes from using effective questions to get to the heart of any topic.

21. Presenting yourself with confidence

We are all constantly presenting ourselves to others, whether in a formal presentation or during informal meetings. This activity gives participants the opportunity to receive feedback on their personal presentation skills.

22. Influencing with integrity

Being able to influence people is a key skill for winners. No matter how good your ideas may be, if you cannot influence others to accept your point of view, it's all to no avail. This activity helps participants develop their influencing skills.

23. Co-operating with others

The winning team will have its share of star performers but everyone must willingly co-operate with others in the team. This activity demonstrates the need for this approach.

24. Building joint solutions

When faced with a problem it's too easy to try to solve it by yourself instead of working with others to build a joint solution. This activity gives the participants the opportunity to develop a joint solution.

25. Ensuring success

So, the plan is in place and all seems to be going well; but is there something we haven't considered that might derail it? This activity takes the participants through a structured process for ensuring success.

26. Becoming assertive

The winning team will comprise individuals who all believe in their skills and abilities yet recognise the ambitions and rights of others. Behaving assertively is a key attribute for winners and this activity draws out the necessary key behaviours and skills.

27. Encouraging others to develop

Members of the winning team will constantly be developing their skills and encouraging other team members to do likewise. This activity gives the participants a simple technique for helping their colleagues achieve personal ambitions.

28. Building the confidence of others

We all suffer from a lack of confidence at times so this activity focuses on the role that members of the winning team have in boosting the morale and confidence of their team mates when these have taken a temporary dive.

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