SAFETI Adaptation of Peace Corps Resources

Team Building Workbook

SAFETI Adaptation of Peace Corps Resources:
Team Building Workbook

Table of Contents

Brief Content Review
Thinking About Teams
Understanding Fellow Staff Members' Problems and Challenges
Easy or Difficult?
Coordinating Calendars
Streamlining, Economizing, Time-Saving
What Support or Help I Need
Long-Term Goals for the Office
Putting Long-Term Goals into Practice
Short-term Goals for the Office
Putting Short-Term Goals into Practice
Culture and Team Building
Looking to Our Director
Most Satisfying, One
Most Satisfying, Two
Next Steps for the Office Team

Background

The work of a team can be challenging, rewarding, compelling, important and sometimes difficult. As a member of a team you are always busy. There are reports to finish, students to visit, problems to solve, and there is never enough time. And besides the work, there is the unique nature of the team, where American staff and students work with team members abroad.

Working in a cross-cultural environment is very challenging. The American culture with its goal orientation and focus on the individual is often at odds with the more traditional culture of many countries. Therefore, there may be times when there are misunderstandings and your work is affected. Furthermore, because staff are very busy with their duties and daily routines, it is often difficult to find time to meet together to plan and problem-solve.

It is clear that when staff take the time to discuss roles and responsibilities and share concerns, it is easier for each person to be more empathetic and cooperative. And when hard-working individuals share goals and learn to appreciate the contributions and style of their colleagues, they establish a team spirit that enhances not only each person but also the group as a whole.

Though the general concept of team building is widely understood, there is quite a range of views on its specific implementation. Approaches to team building can be placed in three categories:

Group activities that create a common experience
Obstacle courses, competitions, simulations
Group sharing of personal styles or characteristics
Personality-typing instruments
Group analysis and discussion of workloads, responsibilities and goals
Analysis, coordination, and problem solving

This Approach to Team Building

This training module takes the third approach and includes exercises designed to enable staff members to do the following:

Understand and appreciate the workload, tasks, and challenges facing fellow staff members.
Coordinate the regular activities of the calendar year with the goal of increasing cooperation and reducing inefficiencies.
Work toward developing new approaches to increase efficiency and effectiveness of each team member and or the office in general.
Identify ways for team members to assist one another in their projects and daily work.
Establish long-term and short-term goals for your overseas experience.
Understand how cultural differences affect the work and the interaction of people.
Identify how the staff can be more efficient and effective on the job.
Identify the most satisfying aspects of studying abroad.

Resources

The Big Book of Business Games: Icebreakers, Creativity Exercises and Meeting Energizers. By John Newstrom and Edward Scannell. McGraw Hill, 1996.
Cross-Cultural Dialogues. By Craig Storti. Intercultural Press, 1994.
Effective Teamwork. By Michael Maginn, Irwin Professional Publishing, 1994.
Managing International Teams. By Nicola Phillips. Irwin Professional Publishing, 1994.
The Team Building Tool Kit. Tips, Tactics, and Rules for Effective Workplace Teams. By Deborah Harrington-Mackin. American Management Association, 1994.
Teamwork: What Must Go Right/What Can Go Wrong. By C.E. Larson and F.M.J. LaFasto. Sage, 1989.
Successful Team Building. By T. Quick. Amacom, 1992.

Even though each of us works very hard day in, day out, we can always increase our efficiency and effectiveness if we are more aligned as a team. Whenever there is increased cooperation and coordination among staff, the team spirit created makes the whole greater than its parts. And even though one might assume that team work comes easily, even automatically, to responsible adults working toward a common goal, the fact is that team work requires conscious effort and on-going attention.

Exercise

Write down a time or instance in your life (including childhood) when you experienced the satisfaction of belonging to an effective team.

An Effective Team I Remember: ____________________

Exercise

Explain to your colleagues how and/or why the team you have identified was effective.

Thinking about Teams -- Notes to the Trainer

Exercise

Write down a time or instance in your life (including childhood) when you experienced the satisfaction of belonging to an effective team.

If the participants have difficulty remembering an effective team, you can provide them some suggestions: sports teams, school clubs, musical groups, work teams, student committees, recreation clubs, religious groups, and social organizations. The goal of this exercise is to remind the participants of the advantages and satisfaction that effective teams make possible.

Exercise

Explain to your colleagues how and/or why the team you have identified was effective.

The group may provide such responses as the following:

There was a strong leader.
We were all very focused on what we were trying to accomplish.
Everybody was willing to adjust to one another.
No one tried to dominate.
We were all enjoying ourselves.
Everybody knew exactly what he or she was supposed to do.

You may want to point out to the group that certain conditions, attitudes, and organizational arrangements make it easier for a group to become a team. That is, no one should think that a team is formed magically or accidentally.

Exercise

List what you believe to be the three most significant problems or challenges faced by your fellow staff member. Be as specific as possible. Your partner will complete a list at the same time and then present his or her items to the group. You will compare your list of problems or challenges with the list generated by your partner.

Example

In her position of administrative assistant, she has to deal with a large number of interruptions during the day, such as visitors, vendors, government officials, and students, who spend a lot of time chatting and socializing. As a result, she cannot get her work done.
______________________________
______________________________
______________________________

Cultural Component Question

Is there any local cultural pattern or norm that affects these problems or challenges?

Understanding Fellow Staff Members' Problems and Challenges -- Notes to the Trainer

To begin this exercise, simply choose one person and ask the group to write his or her name in the blanks provided. For example:

Exercise

List what you believe are the three most significant problems or challenges facing your fellow member, His or Her Name. Be as specific as possible. Name will complete a list at the same time and then present his or her items to the group. You will compare your list of problems or challenges with the list generated by Name.

You can, of course, fill in the exercise blanks on numerous copies beforehand and then simply pass them out to the group. If time permits, complete the exercise with each participant. Everyone will appreciate the attention and concern of the other staff.

Ask the member to write his or her three problems or challenges privately so that the other participants are truly guessing her list. To make the exercise more enjoyable, have the participants guess what he or she listed as 1, 2, and 3 and allow her to simply answer "yes" or "no." That is, he/she merely tells them whether they have guessed correctly or not. After a number of the group have guessed, you can write his or her list on a flip chart so that the other participants can determine how close they came to guessing his/her on-the-job problems and challenges. (The other participants may be surprised by how much their list differs from those created by all the staff members under consideration.) He or she should then be given time to explain each of his/her three items.

The other participants can then ask him or her questions or offer suggestions for dealing with the problems or challenges he/she faces. The ideal would be if the other staff members identify some way in which they can personally take action or lend a hand. Even if there is no resolution of problems, this exercise can help participants become more aware and more appreciative of the work life of their fellow staff.

Cultural Component Question

Is there any local cultural pattern or norm that affects these problems or challenges?

It is probably best if the staff member in the spot-light is allowed to address this question first. For example, she may say that from her cultural perspective she is reluctant to refuse to talk with a person who has entered her office even if it is an unscheduled visit. For her, the most important consideration is the feelings of the other person, and she does not want to insult that person or hurt that person's feelings by saying that she is too busy to talk. Unfortunately, the result is that she has difficulty finishing all of her paperwork by the end of the day or week.

After he or she has had a chance to comment on the question, you may encourage other staff members to provide their thoughts. The goal here is to bring to light in a group setting those cultural patterns that cause difficulties, stress or breakdowns in work. The problem-solving that takes place can be of two types: (1) addressing cultural patterns and issues that lead to misunderstandings, hurt feelings, inefficiencies, etc., and (2) resolving common organizational problems.

Exercise

Rate the following duties, tasks, and responsibilities according to how relatively difficult or easy they are. You are merely stating your opinion. Do not be concerned with giving a right answer.

1	2	3	4	5
Easy	Fairly Easy	Fairly Difficult	Difficult	Very Difficult

_____	1.	Locating institutions and placing students.
_____	2.	Responding to inquiries from students' families.
_____	3.	Traveling to institutions for visits.
_____	4.	Handling student problems relating to job performance.
_____	5.	Completing the paperwork required.
_____	6.	Balancing the office work with the field work.
_____	7.	Organizing the training.
_____	8.	Attending training or workshops outside of the country.
_____	9.	Completing project status reports.

Easy or Difficult?-- Notes to the Trainer

Exercise

This exercise can be used in place of the "Understanding Fellow Staff Members' Problems and Challenges" exercise. If there is not sufficient time to allow each staff member to present his or her principal problems and challenges, you can generate similar discussions by using this exercise since it, too, can increase participants' awareness of how other staff members view their various tasks and responsibilities. Since staff will probably not agree on the scoring of at least several items, you can ask individuals to explain why their scores differ from others in the group. For example:

Several people find travel to institutions quite difficult (with scores of 4 and 5). Why do you find the visits to be fairly easy?

It is important that no one feel a need to resolve the differences in views or feelings. The exercise enables staff to realize that others view and react to similar tasks or responsibilities very differently and that we should respect these differences.

Exercise

Complete your yearly calendar, filling in all those activities, responsibilities, functions, etc., that involve deadlines or completion dates. You will then coordinate your calendar with the other team members to identify scheduling conflicts, events needing significant cooperation from others, and periods of peak activity during which certain staff may need assistance.

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Cultural Component Question

How does the local culture view this concept of long-range planning?

______________________________
______________________________
______________________________

Coordinating Calendar -- Notes to the Trainer

Exercise

If the staff can complete their calendars before the team-building session, much time can be saved. The group can then go through the calendar month by month discussing the various projects and deadlines with the goal of increasing understanding and cooperation. Simple but important questions can be asked about office activities. For example, "Jean, will you be back from the Washington conference in time to help us with the report we are to complete in May?"

You can suggest that the group address a series of questions such as the following:

Are there conflicts in the scheduling that need to be resolved?
Who is ultimately responsible for each scheduled event, task, etc.?
Will all the key players be available?
What needs to be done before the date of the activity?
Have we had any problems with the activity, task, etc., in the past?
Are we clear on how to proceed?
Can we accomplish all that we are scheduling?
Does everyone understand the various activities, tasks, etc., on the schedule?

After analyzing and discussing the calendars, the group may want to create a master calendar that includes the significant events, deadlines, etc., of the entire staff. That calendar can be copied and distributed to everyone in the office for reference.

Cultural Component Question

How does the local culture view this concept of long-range planning?

You may want to ask this question before rather than after the group carries out the calendar exercise. Since there are many ways of viewing and approaching the future in cultures around the world, it is important to recognize that this exercise represents a particular view of time and of our control over future events.

Exercise

Working as a group, create a list of those steps we, the team, can take in terms of cooperation/collaboration to reduce our workloads, increase our effectiveness, and reduce problems and breakdowns.

______________________________
______________________________
______________________________
______________________________
______________________________

Cultural Component Question

Is there any local cultural pattern or norm that affects cooperation/collaboration in the office?

______________________________
______________________________
______________________________

Streamlining, Economizing, Time Saving -- Notes to the Trainer

Exercise

This exercise may serve as an extension or a refinement of the previous exercise, "Understanding Fellow Staff Members' Problems and Challenges." The focus in this exercise, however, is on the team. You are asking the group to identify ways to increase efficiency and effectiveness for everyone. The best responses will probably begin with the pronoun "we."

For example, "We can all begin asking one another if we can be of help whenever our own workload is light." Since there may be a large number of ideas or suggestions from the group, you may choose to have the group rank the list based on one or two criteria, such as "most urgent," "easiest to implement," "most impact," or "least costly."

Cultural Component Question

Is there any local cultural pattern or norm that affects cooperation/collaboration in the office?

Encourage the group to identify cultural habits, styles of work, etc. that may be reducing cooperation/collaboration among the staff. For example, staff may state that American staff are so preoccupied with getting the job done right away that others are reluctant to participate for fear of slowing down the process.

Exercise

What support or help would you and/or your department like from other members of the team?

______________________________
______________________________
______________________________

Cultural Component Question

Is there a differing view or approach to providing support or help between the local and American cultures?

______________________________

What Support or Help I Need! -- Notes to the Trainer

Exercise

What support or help would you and/or your department like from other members of the team?

It can be very difficult for some adults to directly express their needs to others on the staff, especially in a group setting. If you, the trainer/moderator, can recall problems, difficulties, bottlenecks, etc., identified by participants earlier in the discussions, you can ask direct questions, which may make it easier for staff members to begin talking. For example, you might ask, "Marta, earlier you mentioned that you are frequently interrupted during the day. Is there anything any of us can do to help reduce those interruptions?"

Exercise

Develop a list of long-term goals. Be as concrete and specific as possible. You will then compare your list with the other team members. As a final step, the team will try to reach consensus and create a final list of goals, which can be published and posted in the office.

Long-Term Goals for the Office --Notes to the Trainer

Exercise

This exercise could be distributed to the staff before the team-building session is held. Staff may appreciate the additional time to think about the goals of the office.

After the group has generated a list of goals from their individual lists, ask them as a group to rank the goal based on one or two criteria, such as "most important to the mission," "most important given recent events or circumstances,'' etc. The group will probably have to limit the number of long-term goals to be established for the office. Obviously, if there are too many, it will be difficult for the office to remained focused on them over time.

The group can then move immediately to the next exercise, which addresses the process of making each goal a reality.

Putting the Long-Term Goals into Practice

Exercise

As a group, address the following questions which relate to implementing the long-term goals you have identified.

Are the goals feasible in terms of office resources?
______________________________
______________________________
What time period will be required to reach each goal?
______________________________
______________________________
How will we monitor progress toward our goals?
______________________________
______________________________

Putting the Long-Term Goals into Practice -- Notes to the Trainer

Exercise

As a group, address the following questions which relate to implementing the long-term goals you have identified.

Are the goals feasible in terms of office resources?
It may be possible for only one or two participants to address this question fully.
But comparing resources available to identified goals is an important basic first step.
What time period will be required to reach each goal?

________________________________________

We are here now We will be here by (date)
How will we monitor progress toward our goals?
So that long-term goals do not become just vague hopes, the team may want to identify milestones or "yardsticks." These can be integrated into the office calendar that the group has developed.

Exercise

Develop your list of short-term goals for the office. Be as concrete and specific as possible. You will then compare your list with the other team members. As a final step, the team will try to reach consensus on a list of goals.

Short-Term Goals for the Office -- Notes to the Trainer

Exercise

It is valuable to describe short-term goals quantitatively whenever possible. For example:

We will interview five new candidates for training by October 20th.

Two project status report planning meetings will be held by November 1Oth Putting the Short-Term Goals into Practice

Exercise

As a group, address the following questions which relate to implementing the short-term goals you have identified.

Are the goals feasible in terms of office resources?
______________________________
______________________________
What time period will be required to reach each goal?
______________________________
______________________________
How will we monitor progress toward our goals?
______________________________
______________________________

Putting the Short-Term Goals into Practice -- Notes to the Trainer

Exercise

As a group, address the following questions which relate to implementing the short-term goals you have identified.

Are the goals feasible in terms of office resources?
Again, it may be possible for only one or two participants to address this question fully. But comparing the identified goals to the resources available is an important basic first step.
What time period will be required to reach each goal?
Although it is not always feasible to fix a specific date or number of weeks for completing short-term goals, the group should consider making estimates so that completion dates are not too open-ended.
How will we monitor progress toward our goals?
Since short-goals are normally completed in a relatively brief period, their completion dates can be incorporated into the office yearly calendar. Marking these goals "completed'' on the calendar can increase job satisfaction for the entire team.

Exercise

List areas or points of difference between the local culture and the American culture as they relate to the workplace.

Work / Value / Pattern

Local Culture	United States
Greet everyone on way to work.	Greet only those you know on way to work.

Culture and Team Building -- Notes to the Trainer

Exercise

List areas or points of difference between the local culture and the American culture as they relate to the workplace.

If the group has difficulty identifying differences, you can provide them some categories to consider, such as the following ideas:

Social interaction with visitors to the office.
Management of time.
Importance of deadlines.
Way of responding to requests and assignments.
Approaches to job delegation and follow-up.
View of family responsibilities as they relate to work responsibilities.

Exercise

List the important actions or steps to be taken by the director in helping you to be efficient and effective in your job during the year. You can, of course, have fewer than five.

______________________________
______________________________
______________________________
______________________________
______________________________

Cultural Component Question

In the local culture, what do subordinates expect from their managers?

______________________________
______________________________
______________________________

Looking to Our Director -- Notes to the Trainer

Exercise

List the important actions or steps to be taken by the director in helping you to be efficient and effective in your job during the year. You can, of course, have fewer than five.

The goal of this exercise is to give each participant an opportunity to express his or her needs to the Program Director. The CD can encourage frankness by asking participants questions relating to planned activities, problems, or needs expressed earlier in the training. For example:

"Tom, is there anything I can do to help you in your effort to identify the four new institutions you discussed earlier?"

Cultural Component Question

In the local culture, what do subordinates expect from their managers?

In many cultures, an employee would not ask a manager directly for assistance. Therefore, the group may appreciate a discussion about the differences between their approach and that of Americans.

Most Satisfying, One

Exercise

List the most satisfying aspects of your job.

______________________________
______________________________
______________________________
______________________________
______________________________
______________________________

Cultural Component Question

Are the expectations for job satisfaction in the local culture relatively high or low when compared to expectations in the USA?

Most Satisfying, Two

Question

Do you spend enough time involved in these aspects of your job? Rate each job aspect you have listed according to the following scale and then explain your ratings.

A Lot of Time				Very Little Time
1	2	3	4	5

Score _____ because ____________________
Score _____ because ____________________
Score _____ because ____________________
Score _____ because ____________________
Score _____ because ____________________

Question

What can other team members do to help you increase the time spent on those aspects of your job that you enjoy but that you have rated low?

______________________________
______________________________
______________________________

Most Satisfying, One and Two -- Notes to the Trainer

There are two primary objectives to these exercises.

1. To encourage staff members to reflect on those aspects of their jobs which are satisfying and rewarding.

It is important not only for the individual staff member but for the group as a whole that each person maintain his or her enthusiasm for the job and for the mission. When we remind ourselves of the positive aspects of our work, we increase our morale and deepen our appreciation of those with whom we work. The result can be a healthier and more cooperative team.

2. To help staff members identify ways to spend more time doing those tasks and activities that are satisfying.

Every person must complete tasks that can be boring, tedious, or unpleasant. The group should not be encouraged to think that anyone expects all duties to be especially satisfying. However, the group may be able to help one another identify ways to eliminate duplication of effort or inefficiencies that eat up valuable time which could be spent on more satisfying work. For example, the group may find ways to reduce paperwork so staff have more time for direct contact with students.

When carrying out this exercise with the group, encourage the participants to explain as concretely as possible what is enjoyable and satisfying about those job aspects rated high. If time permits, encourage every participant to share his or her positives with the group.

The staff will also have an opportunity to offer one another support and assistance. The staff members may enjoy trying to help others find ways to do even more of what they like to do.

Now that we have worked together as a team to analyze our work, our challenges, our goals, etc., we have a much better idea of how to make the office as efficient and effective as possible. To monitor our progress toward this goal, we can use a series of questions to guide us beyond this team-building session. We can address these questions either individually or as a group a month or two after this meeting.

Exercise

During the upcoming months, give some serious thought to the following questions, which relate to a number of the issues, challenges, and goals that were addressed in this team-building session

Have you been able to better notice/appreciate the workloads, challenges, and problems of your fellow staff members?
Can you identify any cultural pattern or norm that affects these workloads, challenges, and problems?
Did the group effort of coordinating calendars help to reduce scheduling conflicts and/or increase the efficiency of the office? If so, how?
In general, have you experienced or observed an increase in cooperation and collaboration among the staff?.
Have you been giving your colleagues more support or help since the team building session? Have you been receiving more support or help from your colleagues since the team building session? If so, how?
Have you seen progress toward the long-term goals identified during the team-building session? If so, can you describe the progress you have seen?
Have you met any of the short-term goals identified during the team-building session? If so, which ones?
Do you feel that you and your colleagues are more aware and sensitive to the cultural differences among the staff. If so, has such awareness and sensitivity helped to improve work relationships and the functioning of the office?
Have you been able to increase the amount of time you spend on those aspects of your job that you find most satisfying? If so, how did you manage to do so?

Next Steps for the Office Team -- Notes to the Trainer

Exercise

During the upcoming months, give some serious thought to the following questions, which relate to a number of the issues, challenges, and goals that were addressed in this team-building session

The staff should keep these questions in mind as they carry out their work in the office in the hopes that they can contribute to increased cooperation and collaboration. They will be more likely to take the team-building session and these questions more seriously if there is a follow-up meeting planned for the office. The staff may, in fact, enjoy the opportunity of reporting back to the group successes and accomplishments that are a result of teamwork.

________________________________________
We are here now	We will be here by (date)