The title really caught my attention, "Don't Waste Your Money on Team Building". It is a short article about analyzing your organization to determine if you really need team building. The website has many other interesting articles about team building and other leadership topics.
The last line in the article sums up the feelings many of us have had as we may have been coerced into an afternoon of Team Building. It says, "Camaraderie may be built and lost in an afternoon, but a team atmosphere can last for generations." Amen to that! Let's not confuse camaraderie with team.
This is proof that you can find anything you want on the internet. As I was looking for a resource for week 4 blog I typed in team building schools. This brought up several interesting sites including the one listed above. This program is designed to use outdoor adventure to “encourage an increased understanding of personal and team potential, the need for positive communication and the importance of setting goals and developing strategies. Participants practice their newly developed skills throughout the program and discuss ways to transfer this knowledge into their offices, classrooms, relationships and athletic playing fields.” TLC’s Team Building Programs are based on Seven Functions of Collaboration: •Team Formation •Team Unity •Team Trust & Respect •Team Inventory of Resources •Team Standards •Team Purpose & Outcomes •Team Collaboration
As I chuckled to myself, I realized that these are not bad goals to have. I’m just not sure you need to travel to Wisconsin and go to Adventure School to get them accomplished!
Preston, David. (1998). Time for success: Achieving your goals in 24 hours a day. California: Professional Development Institute Press.
Dr. David Preston’s book successfully tackled the illusive concept of time and created concrete solutions to using time effectively. Chapter Seven specifically identifies “Time and Teambuilding” and the diversity of thought. What and how you think about time will directly affect your productivity as a member of a team. The book explains how personal perception of time influences relations with coworkers, employer, and team success.
http://www.innovativeteambuilding.co.uk/pages/articles/motivation.htm Team Motivation This article describes team motivation as a collabrative input of the teams belief, purpose, and involvement that brings the group together for a common purpose. This article describes the need for a clear purpose, a realistic challenge to move the team into action, camaraderie, responsibility, growth, and leadership are necessary components to motivate a team forward to accomplish its goals for the organization. This article describes how a team loses its effectiveness in that a member of the group doesn't feel like his/her needs are being met by the team. The article believes that these are the necessary components to acheive the best enviroment to motivate teambuilding within an organization.
Hi Diana, Kudo's on refrencing the doc's book--Personally, I could see how time could cause conflict within a team. Some of us like to get things done in a weeks time while others like to get things done in 2 to 3 weeks time.
One resource I'm still continuing to use as both a teacher and fledgling administator is through:
Google Alerts NCLB No Child Left Behind Update
You get daily email about what is going on all over the country in different states and school districts. I have learned alot from it and it was very helpful in terms of getting the big picture idea of what will hopefully soon be reformed. NCLB/educational reforms will be part of a huge political agenda as next year's election approaches, but until then, do not seem to be appearing frequently in print and television media. I have found many uses for it, even in terms of how to educate parents about what NCLB means to their child's education and development. If you have not yet taken Dr. Garvin's EDAU 675 Politics and Organizations course, this will be great for you to find news and research articles in, also for this class, as well.
I just attended the Solution Tree Summit: Learning by Doing: Bringing Professional Learning Communities to Life in Our Schools and District. At this summit, they frequently advertised the above website. This website has article, blogs, research, and tools to help you form teams within your schools.
This site includes many topics covered in our class like S.M.A.R.T. goals, Peter Senge's learning organizations, and effective communication techniques. This site can be a valuable support when starting a P.L.C.
Book: In Pursuit of Excellence Author: Terry Orlick, PhD
I have read this book many times especially when I was playing competitive water polo in college. It helped me out during times of intense competition and I also use it as a resource when I need it. I know some of you have read it and others have not but, I think it is a must to have on your book shelf. There is a section of the book that really touches on team and rapport between players and coaches. Also, read the section on using individual differences to gain advantage on your opponents. Very interesting and enlightening.
What an awesome web site for leadership and team building. A key to successful planning and implementation is the development of teams. This particular article lists the characteristics of a well functioning team which include: purpose, priorities, roles, decision making, conflict, personal traits, norms, effectiveness, success, and training. The article mentioned the three types of models for building leadership teams: executive model, district model, and the community model. The Executive Model consists of small teams of 3-8 people, all district managers and no constituents or stakeholder involvement. The down side to the Executive Model is that it can lead to isolation, but the bright side is this model leads to quick, focused, consensus among leaders. The District Model has 15-20 members that are representatives from each key stakeholder group within the ‘boundaries’ of district staff. The advantage to this model is that the key representatives are involved and there is a sense of ownership. The drawback to this is that a representative can take the narrow view and no community-side ownership. Community Model has 20-30 members that is a mix of district staff and community leaders (50-50 preferred). The advantage is key district leaders are involved building a community-wide ownership. Downside is that it is a slow process and everyone needs to be heard. I am scratching the surface with the many beneficial resourceful links this site has to offer for the class and of course the ‘real world’.
DuFour, Eaker, DuFour (editors). (2005). On Common Ground; The Power of Professional Learning Communities. Indiana: Solution Tree.
If you haven't picked this book up yet, it is well worth it. To quote the back of the slipcover, "On Common Ground brings the ideas and recommendations of many of North America's educational leaders (such as the DuFours, Doug Reeves, Mike Schmoker, etc.) into one resource for educatiors working to help their students achieve at ever-higher levels. Each chapter contribures to a sound conceptual framework and offers specific, practical strategies for developing professional learning communities." It is a fast read written to give sound advice and encouragement to teachers and administrators who are trying to embrace PLCs. I especially appreciated Richard DuFour's comments about teams on pg 36. In his Big Idea #2: A Culture of Collaboration section, he states, "The powerful collaboration that characterizes professional learning communities is a systematic process in which teachers work together to analyze and improve their classroom practice. Teachers work in teams, engaging in an ongoing cycle of questions that promote deep team learning. This process, in turn, leads to higher levels of student achievement." Collaboration is not automatically attainable. It must be nutured just as teachers nuture their students. But with practice, and hard work, collaborating with a team of educators who come together with the common purpose to promote higher levels of student achievement, can be powerful.
Summer, I would love to hear your perspective of the summit in Anaheim last week. My husband, and all the principals in our district attended. They said it was great, and the speakers were pretty dynamic. I'm anxious to hear about, and implement some of the things they brought back with them. I think we'll all be talking about the impacts of the summit, don't you?
Here is a great srticle that caught my attention. "Growing a Team" This article basically breaks down all the elements and components to what most people view as team building in general. It talks about growing from group to a team, enthusiasm, setting clear goals, and solving problems as a team. I found it to be a very resourceful article.
This website is brought to us by HeartMath LLC. It is a health-wellness site that has many different categories of quotes.
A few of my favorite teamwork quotes listed were: "It is amazing how much you can get accomplished when it doesn't matter who gets the credit." Unknown Author
"The nice thing about teamwork is that you always have others on your side." Margaret Carty
"Conflict is inevitable in a team...in fact, to achieve synergistic solutions, a variety of ideas and approaches are needed. These are the ingredients for conflict." Susan Gerke, IBM, Leadership Development
This is an article about the six secrets of change by Michael Fullan. He was a speaker at the PLC conference I went to last week. This lecture-article, focuses on the six secrets that leaders need to know to survive and thrive while managing the complexities of change. Dr. Fullan identified these practical actions during his work on education reform; he tested his information against the public sector and business literature, finding strong insights. The secrets have a practical theory of action for leaders facing any complex change situation. 1. Love your employees 2. Connect peers with purpose 3. Capacity Building Prevails 4. Learning is the Work 5. Transparency Rules 6. Systems Learning.
http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/educatrs/leadrshp/le200.htm ISSUE: Making schools successful takes more than just individual effort - it takes teamwork. Schools are using teams to accomplish many tasks. Teams may work on site-based decisionmaking, curricular reform, implementing new programs, or restructuring. For teamwork to be successful, teams and individual team members need to have clear, shared goals; a sense of commitment; the ability to work together; mutual accountability; access to needed resources and skills; and other elements of effective teams. I goggled http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/educatrs/leadrshp/le200.htm and I am amazed by the money that is tied into it. I understand that money makes the world go round. I just have a problem with that it is at the cost of our students. This was just one of the many sites you could go to give them your money to make it all better. I do believe that there are some real course out there they are all about timing of the group and money of the time.
http://www.mindtools.com/page6.html The idea of a “BHAG” stuck with me all week. I kept thinking of what I would be so bold as to openly state as my goal. I’m not sure that I’m ready to articulate a “BHAG” just yet, but the thought lingers. I began to look for resources pertaining to goal setting. I realize the importance of goal setting and I do set a yearly goal about the time my birthday rolls around. This article outlines some tips for goal setting, like state your goal positively, set priorities, write your goals down and so, on. This is a good website for someone looking to set a personal goal. If you are unsure of where exactly to start this might be a good place to get some guidance.
I too attended the Professional Learning Communities Conference this last week. From Anthony Muhammad’s Break Out Session on “Laying the Foundation for a Powerful PLC” , I found the Nine Core Beliefs. 1. Schools are places built for the education of children, not for adult employment. 2. Schools play a major role in the future success of students and their community. 3. Education is a profession and educators should conduct themselves as professionals. 4. Education is a mission and educators should conduct themselves as missionaries. (Hmm) 5. Schools are a community’s most precious institution, and they have the power to transform a community. 6. Children are at the center of everything we do, and our practice should reflect their best interest. 7. Schools must partner with other parts of the community in order for the educational experience to be optimal. 8. Character is important, and schools can help shape a child’s character. 9. Service to the community is essential in a democratic society.
More information from this and other presentations by A. Muhammad may be found through email: newfrontier21@comcast.net
http://www.sedl.org/change/issues/ issues61/conclusion.html "Professional Learning Communities: What are they and why are they important?"
This article discusses the supportive conditions that must be present in order for learning communities to be successful. Physical conditions, such as time to meet and talk, small school size, physical proximity of the staff to one another, interdependent teaching roles, well-developed communication structures, school autonomy, and teacher empowerment. People capacities: individuals in a productive learning community must have a willingness to accept feedback and to work toward improvement; other qualities, such as respect and trust among colleagues and supportive leadership are also important. This article also discusses the outcomes of professional learning communities for staff and students.
The Positive Workplace True leadership is more about the depth of your commitment and the strength of your character than the position you hold. Leadership is also about connecting to people. Deeply. Genuinely. Passionately. Because business and life are about people. Leaders need to help those around them utilize their gifts and reach their full potential. They can inspirer those surrounding them to reach greatness. The Costco Connection Feb. 2008
Article from North Central Regional Educational Laboratory
This article describes several areas of collaboration and team building strategies. I found it to be very interesting because it addressed many of the same issues that pertain to my school. It describes ways to involve individuals that are resistant to working in teams. One factor for resistance was that the school lacks clear focus on performance and success. The article also addressed interesting facts on why team leadership differs from top-down leadership. “The leader perceives the group not as a set of individuals but as an “interacting and collective team.” Teams seem to function more successfully when members have a shared culture and one that promotes collaboration.
20 comments:
http://www.leadersinstitute.com/teambuilding/articles/badteambuilding.html
The title really caught my attention, "Don't Waste Your Money on Team Building". It is a short article about analyzing your organization to determine if you really need team building. The website has many other interesting articles about team building and other leadership topics.
The last line in the article sums up the feelings many of us have had as we may have been coerced into an afternoon of Team Building. It says, "Camaraderie may be built and lost in an afternoon, but a team atmosphere can last for generations." Amen to that! Let's not confuse camaraderie with team.
http://www.teamleadership.com
This is proof that you can find anything you want on the internet. As I was looking for a resource for week 4 blog I typed in team building schools. This brought up several interesting sites including the one listed above. This program is designed to use outdoor adventure to “encourage an increased understanding of personal and team potential, the need for positive communication and the importance of setting goals and developing strategies. Participants practice their newly developed skills throughout the program and discuss ways to transfer this knowledge into their offices, classrooms, relationships and athletic playing fields.”
TLC’s Team Building Programs are based on Seven Functions of Collaboration:
•Team Formation
•Team Unity
•Team Trust & Respect
•Team Inventory of Resources
•Team Standards
•Team Purpose & Outcomes
•Team Collaboration
As I chuckled to myself, I realized that these are not bad goals to have. I’m just not sure you need to travel to Wisconsin and go to Adventure School to get them accomplished!
Preston, David. (1998). Time for success: Achieving your goals in 24 hours a day. California:
Professional Development Institute Press.
Dr. David Preston’s book successfully tackled the illusive concept of time and created concrete solutions to using time effectively. Chapter Seven specifically identifies “Time and Teambuilding” and the diversity of thought. What and how you think about time will directly affect your productivity as a member of a team. The book explains how personal perception of time influences relations with coworkers, employer, and team success.
ISBN 0-9667184-0-02
http://www.innovativeteambuilding.co.uk/pages/articles/motivation.htm
Team Motivation
This article describes team motivation as a collabrative input of the teams belief, purpose, and involvement that brings the group together for a common purpose. This article describes the need for a clear purpose, a realistic challenge to move the team into action, camaraderie, responsibility, growth, and leadership are necessary components to motivate a team forward to accomplish its goals for the organization.
This article describes how a team loses its effectiveness in that a member of the group doesn't feel like his/her needs are being met by the team. The article believes that these are the necessary components to acheive the best enviroment to motivate teambuilding within an organization.
Hi Diana,
Kudo's on refrencing the doc's book--Personally, I could see how time could cause conflict within a team. Some of us like to get things done in a weeks time while others like to get things done in 2 to 3 weeks time.
One resource I'm still continuing to use as both a teacher and fledgling administator is through:
Google Alerts NCLB No Child Left Behind Update
You get daily email about what is going on all over the country in different states and school districts. I have learned alot from it and it was very helpful in terms of getting the big picture idea of what will hopefully soon be reformed. NCLB/educational reforms will be part of a huge political agenda as next year's election approaches, but until then, do not seem to be appearing frequently in print and television media. I have found many uses for it, even in terms of how to educate parents about what NCLB means to their child's education and development. If you have not yet taken Dr. Garvin's EDAU 675 Politics and Organizations course, this will be great for you to find news and research articles in, also for this class, as well.
http://www.allthingsplc.info/
I just attended the Solution Tree Summit: Learning by Doing: Bringing Professional Learning Communities to Life in Our Schools and District. At this summit, they frequently advertised the above website. This website has article, blogs, research, and tools to help you form teams within your schools.
This site includes many topics covered in our class like S.M.A.R.T. goals, Peter Senge's learning organizations, and effective communication techniques. This site can be a valuable support when starting a P.L.C.
Book: In Pursuit of Excellence
Author: Terry Orlick, PhD
I have read this book many times especially when I was playing competitive water polo in college. It helped me out during times of intense competition and I also use it as a resource when I need it. I know some of you have read it and others have not but, I think it is a must to have on your book shelf. There is a section of the book that really touches on team and rapport between players and coaches. Also, read the section on using individual differences to gain advantage on your opponents. Very interesting and enlightening.
http://nsba.org/sbot/toolkit/LeadTeams.html
What an awesome web site for leadership and team building. A key to successful planning and implementation is the development of teams. This particular article lists the characteristics of a well functioning team which include: purpose, priorities, roles, decision making, conflict, personal traits, norms, effectiveness, success, and training. The article mentioned the three types of models for building leadership teams: executive model, district model, and the community model. The Executive Model consists of small teams of 3-8 people, all district managers and no constituents or stakeholder involvement. The down side to the Executive Model is that it can lead to isolation, but the bright side is this model leads to quick, focused, consensus among leaders. The District Model has 15-20 members that are representatives from each key stakeholder group within the ‘boundaries’ of district staff. The advantage to this model is that the key representatives are involved and there is a sense of ownership. The drawback to this is that a representative can take the narrow view and no community-side ownership. Community Model has 20-30 members that is a mix of district staff and community leaders (50-50 preferred). The advantage is key district leaders are involved building a community-wide ownership. Downside is that it is a slow process and everyone needs to be heard. I am scratching the surface with the many beneficial resourceful links this site has to offer for the class and of course the ‘real world’.
DuFour, Eaker, DuFour (editors).
(2005). On Common Ground; The Power of Professional Learning Communities. Indiana:
Solution Tree.
If you haven't picked this book up yet, it is well worth it. To quote the back of the slipcover, "On Common Ground brings the ideas and recommendations of many of North America's educational leaders (such as the DuFours, Doug Reeves, Mike Schmoker, etc.) into one resource for educatiors working to help their students achieve at ever-higher levels. Each chapter contribures to a sound conceptual framework and offers specific, practical strategies for developing professional learning communities." It is a fast read written to give sound advice and encouragement to teachers and administrators who are trying to embrace PLCs.
I especially appreciated Richard DuFour's comments about teams on pg 36. In his Big Idea #2: A Culture of Collaboration section, he states, "The powerful collaboration that characterizes professional learning communities is a systematic process in which teachers work together to analyze and improve their classroom practice. Teachers work in teams, engaging in an ongoing cycle of questions that promote deep team learning. This process, in turn, leads to higher levels of student achievement."
Collaboration is not automatically attainable. It must be nutured just as teachers nuture their students. But with practice, and hard work, collaborating with a team of educators who come together with the common purpose to promote higher levels of student achievement, can be powerful.
Summer,
I would love to hear your perspective of the summit in Anaheim last week. My husband, and all the principals in our district attended. They said it was great, and the speakers were pretty dynamic. I'm anxious to hear about, and implement some of the things they brought back with them. I think we'll all be talking about the impacts of the summit, don't you?
http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/leadtem.html
Here is a great srticle that caught my attention. "Growing a Team"
This article basically breaks down all the elements and components to what most people view as team building in general. It talks about growing from group to a team, enthusiasm, setting clear goals, and solving problems as a team. I found it to be a very resourceful article.
http://www.heartquotes.net/teamwork-quotes.html
This website is brought to us by HeartMath LLC. It is a health-wellness site that has many different categories of quotes.
A few of my favorite teamwork quotes listed were:
"It is amazing how much you can get accomplished when it doesn't matter who gets the credit."
Unknown Author
"The nice thing about teamwork is that you always have others on your side."
Margaret Carty
"Conflict is inevitable in a team...in fact, to achieve synergistic solutions, a variety of ideas and approaches are needed. These are the ingredients for conflict."
Susan Gerke, IBM, Leadership Development
David
Solution Tree 2008. www.solution-tree.cmo
This is an article about the six secrets of change by Michael Fullan. He was a speaker at the PLC conference I went to last week. This lecture-article, focuses on the six secrets that leaders need to know to survive and thrive while managing the complexities of change. Dr. Fullan identified these practical actions during his work on education reform; he tested his information against the public sector and business literature, finding strong insights. The secrets have a practical theory of action for leaders facing any complex change situation.
1. Love your employees
2. Connect peers with purpose
3. Capacity Building Prevails
4. Learning is the Work
5. Transparency Rules
6. Systems Learning.
http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/educatrs/leadrshp/le200.htm
ISSUE: Making schools successful takes more than just individual effort - it takes teamwork. Schools are using teams to accomplish many tasks. Teams may work on site-based decisionmaking, curricular reform, implementing new programs, or restructuring. For teamwork to be successful, teams and individual team members need to have clear, shared goals; a sense of commitment; the ability to work together; mutual accountability; access to needed resources and skills; and other elements of effective teams. I goggled http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/educatrs/leadrshp/le200.htm and I am amazed by the money that is tied into it. I understand that money makes the world go round. I just have a problem with that it is at the cost of our students. This was just one of the many sites you could go to give them your money to make it all better. I do believe that there are some real course out there they are all about timing of the group and money of the time.
http://www.mindtools.com/page6.html
The idea of a “BHAG” stuck with me all week. I kept thinking of what I would be so bold as to openly state as my goal. I’m not sure that I’m ready to articulate a “BHAG” just yet, but the thought lingers. I began to look for resources pertaining to goal setting. I realize the importance of goal setting and I do set a yearly goal about the time my birthday rolls around. This article outlines some tips for goal setting, like state your goal positively, set priorities, write your goals down and so, on. This is a good website for someone looking to set a personal goal. If you are unsure of where exactly to start this might be a good place to get some guidance.
I too attended the Professional Learning Communities Conference this last week. From Anthony Muhammad’s Break Out Session on “Laying the Foundation for a Powerful PLC” , I found the Nine Core Beliefs.
1. Schools are places built for the education of children, not for adult employment.
2. Schools play a major role in the future success of students and their community.
3. Education is a profession and educators should conduct themselves as professionals.
4. Education is a mission and educators should conduct themselves as missionaries. (Hmm)
5. Schools are a community’s most precious institution, and they have the power to transform a community.
6. Children are at the center of everything we do, and our practice should reflect their best interest.
7. Schools must partner with other parts of the community in order for the educational experience to be optimal.
8. Character is important, and schools can help shape a child’s character.
9. Service to the community is essential in a democratic society.
More information from this and other presentations by A. Muhammad may be found through email: newfrontier21@comcast.net
http://www.sedl.org/change/issues/
issues61/conclusion.html
"Professional Learning Communities: What are they and why are they important?"
This article discusses the supportive conditions that must be present in order for learning communities to be successful. Physical conditions, such as time to meet and talk, small school size, physical proximity of the staff to one another, interdependent teaching roles, well-developed communication structures, school autonomy, and teacher empowerment. People capacities: individuals in a productive learning community must have a willingness to accept feedback and to work toward improvement; other qualities, such as respect and trust among colleagues and supportive leadership are also important. This article also discusses the outcomes of professional learning communities for staff and students.
The Positive Workplace
True leadership is more about the depth of your commitment and the strength of your character than the position you hold. Leadership is also about connecting to people. Deeply. Genuinely. Passionately. Because business and life are about people. Leaders need to help those around them utilize their gifts and reach their full potential. They can inspirer those surrounding them to reach greatness.
The Costco Connection Feb. 2008
Article from North Central Regional Educational Laboratory
This article describes several areas of collaboration and team building strategies. I found it to be very interesting because it addressed many of the same issues that pertain to my school. It describes ways to involve individuals that are resistant to working in teams. One factor for resistance was that the school lacks clear focus on performance and success. The article also addressed interesting facts on why team leadership differs from top-down leadership. “The leader perceives the group not as a set of individuals but as an “interacting and collective team.” Teams seem to function more successfully when members have a shared culture and one that promotes collaboration.
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