Coaching, Consulting & Training
for High Value Personnel
What Others Are Saying
I worked with Rob for 18 months through the W.K. Kellogg Foundation's Mid-South Delta Initiative to develop a 'Strategic Vision" for the Delta. Through that experience and relationship, I'm more than honored to say that Rob was the beacon for our success. Thought provoking, challenging, compassionate, articulate, strict attention to detail, engaging, humourous and a gifted leader are the qualities that Rob Benson posesses. Because of those qualities, we were successful in accomplishing our goal and I came away a better person.
Clinton Walden, Community Consultant, W.K. Kellogg Mid-South Delta Initiative
Targeted Team Skills
Whatever its goal (for example, to implement a major project, improve operations, reduce waste, solve a problem, plan strategy, etc.), a team exists because the job in question requires the inputs and coordinated efforts of more than one person.
For a team to work efficiently, members must "speak the same language," with each person following the same recognized, understood, systematic processes to accomplish their work. Teams need common approaches for the tasks which they will commonly address.
Targeted Team Skills Training improves individual team member ability to work effectively with other team members and includes proven processes (Reality-Based Technologies) for
- Holding Effective Team Meetings
The Team Meeting is THE key team process. It is the setting for most other team processes, whether problem solving, planning, decision making, or others. If the meeting process itself is flawed, all other team processes are inhibited, resources are wasted, energy for other team work is drained. The Team Meeting workshop prepares your team to structure excellent, value-added meetings. (more)
- Establishing Team Priorities
Before a team members begin doing work, they must clarify the tasks, establish priority, determine their approach and which member should be involved in each job. (more)
- Planning and Managing Team Projects
For teams charged with implementing projects or events, a common approach to project management can mean the difference between coordinated, under budget, error free work and ... (more)
- Resolving Team Conflict
Team Conflict has an undeserved reputation. Conflict and disagreement are a normal, productive part of everyday team life. The BEST ideas often result from the discussions that came from a disagreement about the course of action to be chosen, yet many teams avoid conflict whenever possible or turn it into the classic win/lose power game. When this happens, teams miss opportunities, tensions rise, motivation plummets. The Resolving Team Conflict workshop enables the team to effectively surface conflict and systematically work towards consensus solutions. (more)
- Solving Problems
Teams who use deviation analysis find root cause more quickly and efficiently, while avoiding wasting time and resources on "fixes" that don't solve the problem (more)
- Reaching Consensus
Choice Analysis is the superior decision-making process for teams. It enables and impels your team to clarify the true purpose of the decision, thus minimizing the "hidden agendas" that can drive the outcome of important decisions. It drives your team to openly discuss and negotiate ... (more)
- Coordinating Individual Team Talents
Have you ever worked on a team where people have learned to not just deal with their differences but structure their work to exploit those talents? (more)
Following assessment, each workshop is customized to address your team's area(s) for growth, to build on what your team currently does well, and to ensure that there are no gaps, no overlaps and no conflicts with existing procedures.
Contact FSTD to discuss your team or to schedule a Team Skills workshop
Related Links
Why Teams Need a Common Approach
Case Study: How We Work with You
We recently facilitated team development for the site leadership of a major defense contractor. We had been contracted to focus on building the team culture and were to coordinate our efforts alongside those of an internal facilitator (who was also a member of the Executive Team). We agreed to provide team talents training and challenge course experience, he would facilitate their discussions concerning results from a recent team effectiveness survey and about upcoming initiatives at the site. All told, we were to guide the group for about half of the time.
As a result of the team talents training punctuated by challenge course activity, the team surfaced problematic dynamics around its ability to bring issues to resolution. Later, when the internal facilitator showed the results of the team survey, these results revealed the same issue. But we were now at a stopping point based on time - it was now time to review the upcoming site initiatives. Break was called.
Over the break, we approached the internal facilitator, pointed out that, from a team growth perspective, now was NOT the time to drop this discussion. To do so would only reinforce the team's habit of not bringing issues to resolution. He agreed that this was higher priority than what he had planned to do for the remainder of the time, but he did not have a clear plan about how to guide the discussion forward.
We renegotiated roles with the internal facilitator on the spot. He recognized that he needed to be participating in the discussion rather than leading it. We asked for five additional minutes preparation time, then led the team to validate the survey results, prioritize their issues, and develop new "run rules" for how they would operate, two of which were "we resolve every issue brought to us within 30 days" and "we hold one another accountable."
Following the event, team members said that this event was the best off-site that most of them had ever experienced. Since that time, we have been retained for additional services to this team, and members report that "we're still not perfect, but we're getting a LOT better."