Introduction to Team Building – Laboratory 1
ENEL007/ENCM007/ENSF 007
Process for conducting Exercise 1 (50 minutes total). Time is tight on this exercise, so the TAs will need to be careful not to exceed the times stated here. It is essential that the teams leave with roles stated and ground rules in place.
Equipment needed: flip chart paper, markers
1. Introduce questionnaire and have each person complete and score their own. (8 minutes)
2. Discuss the questionnaire results in project teams. (8 minutes) Discussion guidelines:
- Any surprises?
- Does anyone disagree with the results? Why?
- Does each team have a full complement of each role?
- If not, which are missing?
- How will you compensate for the missing role(s)?
3. In project teams and using the questionnaire results as one input, have teams decide who is going to take each role. It is most important that the Leader role be determined at this time, even if the questionnaire results indicated no strong leader on the team. If more than one leader (or any other role) was indicated by the results, have the team decide who should take the role. This could be based on who had the next highest score if agreement can’t be reached amongst the team. At the end of the session, every team member should have a clear idea of the main role they will take. (10 minutes)
4. In project teams, discuss the following two questions. (8 minutes) All team members need to contribute to this discussion to establish communication on expectations and desired results.
- What do I want to get out of this team project?
- What am I prepared to contribute to the success of the project?
5. Determine team norms or ground rules. Ask each group to record their ground rules on a piece of paper, later to be copied and distributed to each team member. Have the team brainstorm on things they think are important to the smooth functioning of their team. Use page 55 of the Team Memory Jogger for guidelines, but feel free to add anything that is important to the team. Likewise, some of the example ground rules might not be relevant to the teams. (10 minutes)
Then, have the team discuss what the consequences will be for not complying with the ground rules. It is important that the whole team agree to the consequences and be prepared to act on them if necessary. (6 minutes)
6. Develop a Team Norming Document based on the things you have discussed, the ground rules for the operation of the team and the consequences. Make up 2 copies of the final version. Have all team members sign both documents. Both documents must be handed in by 12 NOON on 12th September in ICT402. Get Date stamped
September 2002 Margo Elliott/ M. Smith 1