This seminar is designed to give an intact team the opportunity to learn, develop, and resolve issues in a structured setting. The team may be performing well and seeking to improve, or mired in problems and attempting to find a way out. The session begins with an overview of basic team concepts and essential team skills. Team members then assess themselves and their group using written survey instruments. (In teams with serious problems, individual interviews with the facilitator may precede the session.) The team receives feedback based on compiled data and then engages in facilitated problem solving. As the session proceeds, the team is encouraged to take over responsibility for its work, with the role of the facilitator diminishing. Finally, the team develops an action plan with specific implementation steps and evaluation procedures.

No prerequisite or advanced preparation is required.

TOPIC HIGHLIGHTS

• What are teams?
• Characteristics of high-performance teams
• Historical context
• Different team configurations (According to nature of task, organizational interface, team boundaries, degree of reactivity, etc.)
• Communication
• Setting the climate
• Setting ground rules
• Clarifying goals
• Clarifying roles
• Encouraging mutual suppport
• Developing trust
• Decision making
• Moving from competition to collaboration
• Team leadership and facilitation
• Managing diverse work styles
• Dealing with difficult situations
• Accountability: individual and group
• Encouraging individual development in a team context

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

Anyone who works in a team based environment and would benefit from team building techniques.

William L. King

William "Bill" King is an organizational development consultant doing research in leadership development, personnel management, and training. He is currently the Vice President of Resolution Dynamics Inc. Over the past nine years he has provided extensive consulting and training to both the public and the private sector, with a heavy focus on solutions to specific organizational problems through training interventions.

His areas of expertise include group facilitation skills and the analysis, design, and delivery of specialized training in the areas of team development, leadership development, communication skills, conflict resolution, human performance analysis, project management, strategic planning, and change management. He consistently receives outstanding reviews from his client students. His training emphasizes experiential training methods, simulations and applications, and group interaction.

Mr. King's clients include the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Internal Revenue Service, U.S. AID, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Customs Service and AMTRAK. He has conducted Leadership Focus Workshops for middle managers and supervisors in the Internal Revenue Service, Amtrak, and U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Council. NRC's leadership training for the inspection teams train them in team building and interviewing and are now required courses for all NRC inspection team leaders (1990 to present). He has facilitated the team planning and team building process for US AID, the U.S. Customs - Logistics Division, and all of U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops - Migrant and Refugee Services' employees. He has conducted "Leader and Facilitator" training for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and Amtrak. Within the last ten years, Mr. King has also managed a training project for the U.S. Department of Agriculture "Peanut Buying Point Automation Project," where he recruited, hired and trained staff; selected and organized training sites in various regions nationwide; and had overall responsibility for conducting 87 workshops (in a two-year period), and training 1,600 peanut buying point operators and USDA personnel in the operation of a system including interactive "smart cards" and special software (1987-88).

He holds a BA in English from Harvard and an MPA from American University. William King is a native of Arlington, Virginia, and now shares his time between Washington, D.C. and Luray, VA.

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