Introduction

No matter how knowledgeable and competent its individual members may be, a dysfunctional team will undermine organizational goals, sap morale, and waste effort. This seminar focuses on the critical roles of team leader and middle manager in harnessing their team’s potential and introduces and practices techniques for moving the team to peak performance.

Highlights include:

• Understanding the role of the leader in team performance

• Measuring and managing performance

• Creating a shared team vision

• Harnessing the dynamics of the team

• Optimizing team flexibility and commitment

Objectives

• Understanding your role as a leader

• Identifying and leveraging talent within the team

• Engaging and motivating the team with shared vision and values

• Establishing clear objectives and standards of performance for your team

• Measuring and managing team performance

• Managing and using conflict and challenge

Methodology

The seminar uses a range of approaches to learning, including experiential group activities, individual exercises, mini-case studies, role plays, and syndicate discussions. Formal inputs are used to introduce underpinning theory. A key part of the learning process is sharing the differing experiences participants bring, as well as experimenting with a novel – and sometimes challenging – techniques. A psychometric instrument will be used to generate a personality profile, which will contribute to your understanding of your preferences and personal style.

Organizational Impact

Team leaders and managers who have shared and practiced different ways of performing the key leadership functions offer increased self-awareness, flexibility, and confidence. They are better able to stand back from the everyday detail and focus on longer-term organizational and team needs and can devote more time to investing in future capability.

Personal Impact

Participants will be exposed to a range of different approaches to leadership practice, allowing them to select those most suitable for their team’s requirements and the changing situations they together face. The opportunity to share experiences with fellow participants and experiment with new techniques in the safety of the training room will provide a broad spectrum of perspectives.

Target Audience

Experienced team leaders; junior/middle managers new to their role, or with experience but little previous training.

Outlines

DAY 1

Teams and their Leaders

• Teams, leaders, and managers

• Key leadership tasks

• Influence, authority, and power

• Leadership styles and style flexibility

• Self-awareness

• Emotional intelligence and rapport

DAY 2

Vision, Direction & Alignment

• Creating a shared vision

• Aims, objectives and goal alignment

• Developing meaningful objectives and indicators

• Divergent approaches to problem-solving

• Communicating a compelling vision

• Delivering challenging messages

DAY 3

Team Dynamics

• Team development

• The sociology of the team

• Characteristics of high-performing teams

• Balancing team roles

• Non-traditional team structures

• Delegation and empowerment

DAY 4

Developing the Team

• Learning and competence

• Building a coherent team

• Self-managing teams and their challenges

• Coaching, mentoring and self-directed learning

• Feedback and appraisal

• Leveraging team strengths for peak performance

DAY 5

Performance & Conflict Management

• Defining performance

• Approaches to measuring team and individual performance

• Performance through the eyes of the customer

• Performance management: science or art?

• Conflict as a catalyst for team development

• Dealing with challenging interpersonal relations