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 18 modules in GO Team, you might not know where to start. Try starting here! 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.

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.