Teamwork and Change

1
Teamwork and Change

• Choosing to be
• a Change Agent

2
How Open to Change Are You?

• Measured by Tolerance of Ambiguity.
• What do you think would improve your openness to
  change?
• Strong roots allow more flexibility both
  intellectually and in uncertain environments.
• Tolerance for ambiguity is higher when a person
  has high self-awareness, yet is open to other
  world views.

3
Why Initiate Change?

• Something isnt working well.
• The team (or organization) isnt performing to
  its potential.
• Team members are dissatisfied or disengaged.
• Team is not successful (three criteria).
• You have an idea that you think could improve
  things.
• Team is suffering from learning disability
• Other reasons?

4
Symptoms of Learning Disabilities in an
Organization

• I am my position.
• The enemy is out there.
• The illusion of taking charge
• The fixation on events
• The parable of the boiled frog
• The delusion of learning from experience
• The myth of the management team

5
Lessons from the Beer Game

• Structure influences behavior.
• Systems create problems, and it takes a systems
  perspective to see how the system is the problem.
• Structure in Human Systems is Subtle
• Sometimes hard to see, the basic
  interrelationships are critical.
• Leverage often comes from new ways of thinking.
• Seeing other perspectives can help you to be
  successful in initiating change.

6
Being a Change Agent in the Beer Game

• What can be done to improve the system?
• How does the existing systemic problems relate to
  the learning disabilities discussed earlier?
• How easy or difficult to you anticipate your
  change effort to be?
• How does this relate to change in teams?

7
Process of Change
Endings
Transition
Beginning
Most Emotionally Difficult
Letting go of old, understanding possibility of
new
Newness, feeling of hope
8
Helping Others Cope with Change

• CSE Support system
• Clarify the perceived loss to the individual.
• Share the purpose of the change
• Engage in commitment to the change, involve
  individuals in creating the new.
• To develop these CSE elements
• empathize (feelings)
• give information (cognitive)
• emphasize opportunities (creativity)

9
Team Requirements

• Team Contract
• Contract among team members regarding
• Shared goals.
• Details of work.
• Expectations of each other.
• Plan for project.
• Reward/Punishment system
• Project Deliverable
• Done for the client, to meet the clients needs.
• Includes project, write-up and presentation.
• Expectation is for 2 hours per week to be devoted
  to project.

10
Team Requirements (cont.)

• Team Journal
• Record of team experience (see handout).
• Weekly Activity Report
• Distributed to
• All team members (Monday of following week)
• Instructor (Monday of following week)
• Client (By Friday of following week, after
  instructor and teammate review)
• Peer Evaluations will be conducted per your
  contract.
• Recommendation is at least every other week.

11
Teamwork What to do Today

• Get to know each other
• Fill out team information sheet.
• Appoint someone to be the initial client contact.
• It is VERY IMPORTANT that you initiate contact
  with your client by Monday.
• Set up a social event to continue the initial
  team development process.
• Start thinking about what you want in your team
  contract.