This is a live 75 minute interactive workshop I led using Google Hangouts. I was in my home office in Asheville, North Carolina and the 30 participants were in Oswego, New York.

The workshop title: "How To Teach Leadership in the Engineering Classroom"

The audience was made up of middle school and high school technology and engineering teachers. 

Prior to leading the live event I met with Dr. Mark Springston and his three person team (graduate students) from SUNY Oswego. I taught the team how to use Google Hangouts. I sent a box of "props"  in advance  to Dr. Springston which you'll see participants use in the workshop. Dr. Springston's graduate students helped distribute the props during the session at planned times in the workshop.

I initiated the video sessioin so I could control the roving cameras (iPads) on my end. Dr. Springston logged in using his Google account and that put me on the big screen in front of the classroom. The 3 graduate students each logged in using their iPad and they roamed the room with those iPads which allowed  me to switch between iPads to offer a different view. 

The university had never used Google Hangouts in this manner and none of the workshop participants had ever participated in a live hands-on workshop led using this technology. This workshop received very high ratings from the participants. 

This was the 74th conference held yearly at the State University of New York in Oswego.  http://www.fallconference.com

Archive of the conference:  http://fallconferencesupport.com/program2013/#.U3n_fVyDz_Y

Our fifth guest for the Spiritual Nature of Team Building TeleSeminar series is Evan Marcus.

Evan has, for the last 7 years, been teaching a popular MBA course at Rutgers University called When Work Matters: Exploration of Spirituality in Business. 

In this course Evan guides full time MBA students in the exploration of topics such as:

    -- What is spirituality?

    -- How does the pursuit of meaning impact the way we do business?

    -- How can business be a platform for practicing our highest beliefs?

    -- How can spirituality and profitability be powerful allies?

At the core, Evan says, he is helping these business students explore spirituality and expand their definitions of what it means to be‘spiritual’ and how one can practice spirituality at work. 

Evan says that teaching the course has had a profound impact on him as the instructor.

In this live an interactive TeleSeminar, Evan will share the lesson's he's learned through teaching this MBA course and how it's impacted his own work with teams and leaders in the business world.

Evan is the cofounder of DillonMarcus Executive Retreats and is the author of several books including It's O.K. to Play - 30 Days to a Ridiculously Wonderful LIfe. He has 25 years of experience as a developer of teambuilding initiatives and is an expert teamwork facilitator.

Other titles from Evan include:

Addicted to Struggle -- How We Are Winning This Losing Game
Out of the Blue -- A Spiritual Approach to Selling
365 Days of Play -- Unleashing Your Fullest Potential One Day At a Time
Face to Face -- How Work Is the Perfect Playground for Spiritual Transformation

This call is for you if you are a:

• trainer
• educator
• facilitator
• coach
• manager or supervisor

This TeleSeminar will be interactive - - you'll be able to talk with our special guest speaker and ask him your questions directly (or send them in as text).  It's "just in time" training and development! 

Call Details

TITLE

The Spiritual Nature of Team Building [Session #5] -- with special guest Evan Marcus.

DATE

Wednesday,   April 18, 2012

TIME

Starts at 1 pm  Eastern (NY City time zone)
runs for 60- 70 minutes

PRESENTERS

Evan Marcus -- author, trainer, thought leader

Tom Heck -- President & Founder of the IATF

REGISTER

 CLICK HERE to register. It's FREE. Registration is closed.

WHAT TO EXPECT

Come to the call ready to participate in small group discussions, share ideas and resources, ask questions, answer quick polls, and be fully engaged as we put the newest distance learning telephone conferencing technology to use!

RECORDING

This call was recorded and is archived in the IATF Members Only Area. Not yet an IATF member?  Join HERE.

GO Team Workshops & Team Assessment

18 Team Critical Topics

Team Assessment Determines Your Precise Needs

Introduction

Do you have a team that needs to perform at a much higher level?

Our GO Team workshops represent a complete team-training and team building system designed to support all kinds of organizational teams - from brand new teams to those who have been together for a while. Temporary or long-term groups. Entry level or executive level. “Real teams” or just a group of people. Whenever you have a group or team that needs to work together better, our GO Team workshops deliver fast and fun team development.

Our GO Team workshops will help your team make the shift from good to great so you're not only more empowered to do your great work in the world, but you have the skills to do it more effectively.

The Training Modules

The GO Team Workshops cover 18 team critical topics.  These topics are divided into three "levels".

LEVEL  1 -- Setup for Success     (click here to learn more about LEVEL 1)

• Getting Grounded in Team Basics
• Creating Team Operating Guidelines
• Establishing Team Purpose and Goals
• Clarifying Team Roles
• Building on Style Differences
• Assessing the Team

LEVEL 2 --Go Team!    (click here to learn more about LEVEL 2)

• Enhancing Team Communication
• Running Effective Team Meetings
• Making Team Decisions
• Avoiding Groupthink
• Resolving Team Conflict
• Solving Team Issues

LEVEL  3 -- See You At The Top    (click here to learn more about LEVEL 3)

• Building Team Trust
• Giving and Receiving Feedback
• Sharing Leadership
• Sparking Team Creativity
• Managing Change
• Leveraging Team Learning

Team Assessment

Lots of teams know they could work more effectively but few know exactly WHERE to start. To address this challenge we provide a team assessment which will determine exactly where your team is strong and where it has opportunities for growth. Using the results of the assessment, we will work with you to design a workshop that produces the results you most need which means you get the greatest Return On Investment (ROI).

HOW IT WORKS -- Your team members will take a 35 question "GO Team" assessment that will measure their strengths and weaknesses in 17 key team areas.  The assessment is taken online and you (the team leader) are provided with a detailed report (PDF document).  You will then have the opportunity to schedule a one-on-one coaching conversation with IATF President Tom Heck where you'll map out a clear plan for your team's success.

It's common for an online team assessment along with a one-on-one coaching session to cost $5,000 or more.  However, we provide this team assessment and coaching for only $2,500.

Are you ready to schedule your team assessment?  Do you have questions about the process?  Please contact us to schedule a one-on-one consultation.

IATF Support Team
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (828) 665-0303

Workshop Design

The GO Team workshops are presented live (face-to-face). These workshops utilize interactive learning, are dialogue-based, and driven by the members of the team. No PowerPoints.  No lectures. Immediately actionable.

Action Learning

All IATF GO Team workshops include action learning (experiential learning) components. IATF presenters are experts at incorporating action learning in workshops.  We wrote the book on this topic -- literally.  Trainers in 36 countries incorporate IATF action learning principles in their programs. The IATF Go Team workshops will engage your team's mind, body and spirit to produce deep and memorable learning.

Length of Workshops

Each module (there are 18 total) takes between 2 and 4 hours to complete. Modules can be combined to create workshops of any length (half day, full day, multi-day).

Size of Workshop 

A typical workshop serves an intact team of 7-12 people.  We can also custom design programs for larger groups containing multiple intact teams.

Participant Workbooks

 Each participant receives a high quality, value rich, printed workshop manual (one manual per workshop/module) to take home and use as a reference. (details below)

The Workbooks

GO Team is a library of 18 team-focused topics (modules), divided into three levels:

LEVEL  1 -- Setup For Success!

LEVEL  2 -- Go Team!

LEVEL  3 -- See You At The Top!

The power of GO Team is that it allows you to build a learning agenda tailored to your team’s needs. It’s not necessary to complete the levels in sequence. You may choose topics from any of the levels, all dictated by the needs of your team.

Discovering new terms and models

GO Team workshops are built on principles of adult learning theory, so exercises are always active, dialogue-based, and connected to the team’s immediate need. Often, the module will begin with an introduction to new models and terms, and offer learners a fresh way to think about the topic.

Time to get up and move!

The “reading and writing” part of this module is now over. It’s time for learners to get out of their chairs and take some action!

Using clear, visual instructions, modules lead learners through processes for understanding their context, clarifying their thinking, identifying new behaviors, and creating consensus.

As learners explore the exercises in each module, they are learning important skills for dialogue, brainstorming, drawing out their own assumptions… and working together as a team!

Moments of reflection.

As learners work through more and more modules of GO Team, they will become adept at continually reflecting on their own behaviors, discussing them, and making change… all without defensiveness. Imagine that.

The module on trust, for example, features a “create your own assessment” exercise in which learners first identify the trust behaviors specific to this team… and then collectively assess themselves against those very same behaviors.

Taking Action.

GO Team is all about making sustainable behavioral changes. Every one of the 18 modules ends with an action plan in which team members will discuss the specific actions they will take in the near and long term to ensure the concepts will take root in daily practice.

Cost

Half Day Workshop (1-2 modules) = $4,950

Full Day Workshop (3-5 modules) = $6,950

Multi-Day Workshop (5-18 modules) = $5,950/day

* Workshops are intended for intact teams of 7 - 12 people.  Pricing may be different for larger groups (contact us for quote).  Additional $12/person for module workbook.  Travel expenses are additional.

Contact Us

We're ready to answer all your questions.  Contact us to schedule a one-on-one consultation.

IATF Support Team

Email: [email protected]

Phone: (828) 665-0303

See you at the top!

Ready for high performance? These topics aren’t only for mature teams; they’re for any team that wishes to unleash the “group genius” that is a unique product of teams.

13   Building Team Trust

Trust is the bedrock of everything else. If the team doesn’t have trust, then it is experiencing crushing drains of efficiency, quality, and energy. In this module, the team will create its own “trust model” and identify the behaviors that can kill or enhance trust. They will conclude with a shared understanding of what trust looks like in this team, and a plan of action for increasing it.

Your team will:

• Examine the importance of trust in successful teams.
• Identify the key elements of team trust.
• Assess this team’s level of trust.
• Discuss how the team will increase trust.

14   Giving and Receiving Feedback

“How are you doing?” In a team, that’s not a polite salutation, but part of a shared commitment to give and receive feedback. Whether it is “corrective” or “reinforcing,” feedback is necessary to the team’s culture, processes, tasks, and relationships. Learners will have an opportunity to share their feedback with one another and build valuable skills that they can continue to exercise.

Your team will:

• Explore the importance of feedback – both corrective and reinforcing – to the healthy functioning of your team.
• Identify qualities of effective feedback.
• Establish how this team intends to make delivering and receiving feedback a constant part of its work.
• Practice giving and receiving feedback as it relates to processes, team tasks and team relationships.

15   Sharing Leadership

When it comes to team work, who takes the lead? The answer is, “everyone!” A team is an incubator for leadership skills, and this fun, highly interactive module will give each team member a plan for developing their own unique leadership.

Your team will:

• Identify shared leadership behaviors for this team.
• Exercise your own unique leadership.
• Make plans for further sharing your leadership, and expanding your own repertoire of leader behaviors.

16   Sparking Team Creativity

Your team is full of creative people. Don’t believe it? Then work through this module as a team. You’ll discover that creativity is not a magical thing reserved for a gifted few. Instead, it’s a discipline and a process that any team can exercise at any time. Next time the team needs to generate new opportunities and new ways of thinking, make this module a part of the work agenda. You won’t believe the creative brilliance that you produce!

Your team will:

• Explore a disciplined process for exercising creative thinking (even if members don’t consider themselves “creative!”)
• Consider the different roles and individual strengths that different team members bring to the creative process.
• Work through a four-part model that leads team members through the creative process – from defining an opportunity, to brainstorming creative solutions, to making plans for building the idea, and ultimately to ensuring its effective implementation.

17   Managing Change

Change happens. Like it or not, change will be a continual part of the team’s reality. Rather than forever reacting to unforeseen events, the team will practice a multi-lens approach to confronting a real-world change it faces. Members will deal with their own reactions to the change, analyze the nature of the change, explore the many unanticipated ripple effects… and, of course, develop a plan of action.

Your team will:

• Deal collectively with a change that is currently affecting the team.
• Explore and identify individual reactions to the change.
• Analyze the nature of the change.
• Identify the implications of the change.
• Create a shared plan of action for navigating effectively through the change.

18   Leveraging Team Learning

What does teamwork have to do with learning? You may be surprised. Learning is very much a team activity, in which each member has different roles and strengths. This module offers some fascinating ways for members to think about their learning styles, and then coordinate them for powerful and ongoing learning.

Your team will:

• Explore Kolb’s Learning Cycle for deeper understanding into how people learn from experience.
• Consider your own individual learning styles and preferences.
• Plan future learning activities that leverage and honor the learning preferences of each team member.

View  GO Team  LEVEL 1  (modules 1-6)  CLICK HERE

View  GO Team LEVEL 2  (modules 7-12)  CLICK  HERE

HOME of GO Team Workshops

FREE  GO Team  Assessment

Contact us to schedule a free team assessment that will determine your team's strengths and weaknesses (opportunities for growth).  Using the results of the assessment, we will work with you to design a workshop the produces the results you most need.  There is no obligation to buy.  This is a service we provide to make sure there's a match between your needs and what we have to offer.

EMAIL:  [email protected]

PHONE:  (828) 348-4677

Go Team!

Some issues just seem to pop up every day in the work with the team. These are the core topics that come with the territory.

7   Enhancing Team Communication

All day every day the team communicates. Imagine the efficiencies that could be gained by communicating better. In this module team members will exercise their capabilities for advocacy and inquiry. More than a process for transferring information, communication becomes the source of learning, transformation, and innovation.

Your team will:

• Explore the disciplines of advocacy and inquiry to create team conversations that produce learning, innovation, and change.
• Practice conversations in which you exercise advocacy and inquiry.
• Make plans for purposeful team communication.

8   Running Effective Team Meetings

And now consider the humble meeting, that contentious generator of disagreement and lost time. But not for the high-performing team! As you explore team meetings through this module, you’ll discover how meetings can become a place where real work gets done! This module includes a meeting planning process that can be used over and over.

Your team will:

• Identify characteristics of effective meetings, as well as tips for meeting facilitation.
• Use the GO Team meeting planning tool to identify the meeting participants, purpose, and agenda.
• Learn how the GO Team meeting planning tool can be used to keep the meeting on task and on time; and to assess the effectiveness of the meeting.

9   Making Team Decisions

Before you decide, you have to decide how you will decide! That’s one of the big ideas that drives this module of GO Team. As your team works through an actual decision that it faces, members will encounter a repeatable process for making decisions — one that includes key considerations before, during, and after the actual decision.

Your team will:

• Practice a disciplined process for making team-based decisions.
• Consider different approaches for making decisions, and select from those approaches based on the challenge at hand.
• Make an actual decision about an issue the team is currently facing.
• Analyze your decision for possible factors that may derail its success, and make contingency plans to ensure successful implementation.

10   Avoiding Groupthink

As the team begins to work and collaborate with more expertise, a new vulnerability can creep in. It’s called “groupthink” and it can cause even strong teams to fall into unproductive ways of thinking. Equip your team to fight the ravages of groupthink with this module!

Your team will:

• Explore the concept of groupthink, and the dangers that it poses to this team.
• Analyze this team’s vulnerability to groupthink.
• Define and practice specific behaviors for ensuring that groupthink is not a danger to this team.

11   Resolving Team Conflict

39% of teams report that they “fear” and “avoid” conflict. And yet, the inherent tension of competing interests is one of the greatest sources of creativity for your team! In this module, the team will deal with an actual conflict… and in the process build the team’s capacity for transforming daily conflict into a force for innovation.

Your team will:

• Explore the nature of conflict and power, and consider the proper personal orientation before entering into conflict situations.
• Practice a dialogue-based approach for dealing with an existing conflict, and for preventing future conflicts from unnecessary escalation.

12   Solving Team Issues

Sometimes “issues happen.” When the team faces unforeseen events that jeopardize its ability to accomplish its tasks, GO Team is there. In this module, team members will encounter a disciplined and repeatable process for resolving the issue and moving forward.

Your team will:

• Explore a disciplined process for resolving external challenges and issues that affect your team’s work.
• Resolve an issue that your team is currently facing.

View  GO Team  LEVEL 1  (modules 1-6)  click here

View  GO Team  LEVEL 3  (modules 13-18)  click here

HOME of  GO Team  Workshops

FREE  GO Team  Assessment

Contact us to schedule a free team assessment that will determine your team's strengths and weaknesses (opportunities for growth).  Using the results of the assessment, we will work with you to design a workshop the produces the results you most need.  There is no obligation to buy.  This is a service we provide to make sure there's a match between your needs and what we have to offer.

EMAIL:  [email protected]

PHONE:  (828) 348-4677

Setup for success!

These are the fundamentals of teamwork. But don’t assume these are for “beginner” teams! Many experienced teams find they have never worked through these important team building blocks. (“Oh, so maybe that’s why we’ve been struggling…!”)

1 Getting Grounded in Team Basics

Welcome to the team! Whether you’re a new team or an old one, this module will lead you to valuable insights about team structures and stages of team growth, and will help identify the characteristics of the best teams.

Your team will:

• Learn the definition of “team”.
• Identify the characteristics of the best teams.
• Explore different types of teams.
• Consider the different stages that teams experience over time.
• Discuss how the team concepts in this module apply to your team.

2   Creating Team Operating Guidelines

“How will we act when we are together?” Surprisingly few teams have an explicit conversation about their operating guidelines. Once defined, your operating guidelines hold surprising power for the team, and become a template for assessing your own performance.

Your team will:

• Explore the importance of having a set of shared behavioral expectations for the team.
• Establish and commit to your team’s own operating guidelines.

3   Establishing Team Purpose and Goals

“Why am I here? What should I do?” No, these aren’t existential questions, nor are they the reflections of some clueless guy. In your team, they are urgent questions about the teams’ purpose and goals. Are you sure that your team has shared understanding of its purpose and goals? You may be surprised! This module will help create clarity, alignment, and action.

Your team will:

• Explore the importance of establishing the team’s purpose and goals.
• Consider the characteristics of – and differences between – compelling purposes and goals.
• Identify and articulate this team’s purpose.
• Establish a set of specific, actionable goals that will advance the team toward completing its purpose.

4   Clarifying Team Roles

So… who does what on your team? It sounds like a simple question. But don’t assume that everyone knows the answer! Even the best teams suffer from areas of role confusion. This module leads the team through a facilitated process that leads to more clarity, less conflict, and higer performance.

Your team will:

• Explore the naturally occurring roles that emerge in teams, and identify your own preferred team roles.
• Gain shared clarity and agreement around the specific team tasks that each team member must perform in order to accomplish the team’s mission.

5   Building on Style Differences

Have you noticed that your team mates do things differently than you? Often this is a source of conflict for teams. In this module, you’ll learn to transform these differences into an endless source of innovation and performance. Based on the pioneering work of Dr. Linda Berens, this powerful module of GO Team is rich with insight for all teams.

Your team will:

• Explore the style preferences that each member has for interacting with others.
• Understand and appreciate the differing styles of others.
• Make changes in your ways of working together so that you can benefit from the individual styles of each member.

6   Assessing the Team

With this module, each member of the team will assess the team on a broad number of dimensions. The result will be a comprehensive picture of the team’s health. Kind of like a physical from your doctor, but with no needles.

This module can be delivered live (face-to-face) in a workshop setting.  Alternatively, this module can be delivered electronically via a web-based assessment.  Contact us to schedule a conversation and we will  help you determine which process is best for your team.

Your team will:

• Conduct a broad assessment of the team’s areas of strength as well as its deficits.
• Make plans to address the team’s opportunities for growth.

View  GO Team  LEVEL 2  (modules 7-12) click here

View  GO Team  LEVEL 3  (modules 13-18) click here

HOME of GO Team Workshops

FREE  GO Team  Assessment

Contact us to schedule a free team assessment that will determine your team's strengths and weaknesses (opportunities for growth).  Using the results of the assessment, we will work with you to design a workshop the produces the results you most need.  There is no obligation to buy.  This is a service we provide to make sure there's a match between your needs and what we have to offer.

EMAIL:  [email protected]

PHONE:  (828) 348-4677

Live (face-to-face) Workshops

GO Team Workshops -- Team building workshops for nonprofit and social enterprise teams

7 Qualities of the Leader As Coach -- Secrets to Leading in the Inspiration Age

Games Trainers Play -- Learn how to use experiential learning activities to enhance your training events.

Therapeutic Team Building Games -- Learn how to use team building games in a therapeutic scenario.

Virtual (distance learning) Workshops

Leader As Coach Fast Track Program 

Virtual Team Leader 

Guest Speaker at Your Virtual Event

Click Here to view a menu of the topics we speak on (link coming soon)