GORDON-CONWELL THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY CL 670: TEAMS AND TEAM BUILDING

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1 PROFESSOR: Sid Buzzell, Ph.D. GORDON-CONWELL THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY CL 670: TEAMS AND TEAM BUILDING COU RSE SYLLABUS COURSE DESCRIPTION AND PURPOSE: St. Paul explained the church s structure by comparing it to a human body. His brilliant metaphor contains essential elements of high-performing teams. Katzenbach and Smith (1994) stated that the work team should be the basic unit of performance for most organizations, regardless of size (p. 15). Both ancient scripture and contemporary research teach us that people combining strengths in a Body or Team is essential to maximizing resources to accomplish desired goals. However, the fact that 80-90% of teams report difficulties achieving their performance goals (Wheelan & Furbur, 2006), suggests that forming, developing and working with teams demands more than mental assent to teams. High performing teams require a commitment to understanding and employing principles and practices that make teams work effectively. This course is designed to help students discover and employ theological and theoretical principles and practices that are essential to forming, building and working with high-performing teams. Emphases include conditions essential for forming and building teams, effective team function, roles of team membership and team leadership, processes of diagnosing team effectiveness and using team conflict. GORDON-CONWELL MISSION CL670 relates to the mission of Gordon-Conwell by equipping the student to develop a biblical theology of Team Building and translate that biblical understanding through the skills learned in the class to develop a culture of serving one another by working with each other in a collaborative process for the building of Christ s kingdom. COURSE RELATION TO THE CURRICULUM The focus of this course in the leadership curriculum is to equip the Christian leader with a biblical philosophy of Team Building as well as the skills to implement such a philosophy into the culture of the local church and/or parachurch ministry. Just as the Trinity is a team and works in concert with one another so this course hopes to teach how ministry is not a solo effort but a team process. Numerous examples from scripture as well as biblical principles couched in practical skills to implement said principles will be taught and demonstrated in class. The hopeful outcome of the class is for the student to develop a ministry that actually equips the saints for the purpose of ministry to and with one another. Course Objectives. By the end of this course students will be able to: 1. Explain Paul s concept of church- as- body. 2. Define Team and High- performing Team and a. Explain the difference between them b. Explain the distinguishing points between a team and other types of groups 3. Integrate elements of Body and Team in a way that each enhances the other. 4. List and define characteristics of high- performing teams 5. Name and define roles and functions essential to team effectiveness. 6. Name and explain the stages of team development. 1

2 a. Name and explain three steps in forming a team. b. Name and explain three steps in building a team. 7. Name and give a clear description of your Preferred Leadership Style and a. List three Strengths and three Weaknesses associated with that style b. List three ways someone with that style can demonstrate Versatility with others 8. Define Versatility Steps and explain their role in effective team function 9. Explain the essential role of conflict in effective teams and how to use it to build team process. Required Texts and Articles: Hartwig, Ryan. Burst. Go to Amazon.com and order this short but powerful book for $2.99. Katzenbach, Jon and Smith, Douglas. The Wisdom of Teams, New York: HarperBusiness ISBN Lencioni, Patrick. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, San Francisco: Jossey- Bass, ISBN Wheelan, S. A. Creating effective teams (2 nd Ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage ISBN Articles. When I have your s, I will send you a list of 10 Harvard Business Review articles. Druskat, Vanessa and Wolff, Steven B. Building the Emotional Intelligence of Groups, HBR, March 2001 Edmonson, A. Teamwork on the Fly HBR April Eisenhart, et. al. How Management Teams Can Have a Good Fight, HBR July/Aug Gratton, Lynda and Erickson, Tamara. Eight Ways to Build Collaborative Teams, HBR Nov Pentland, Alex. The New Science of Building Great Teams, HBR April 2012 Katzenbach, Jon R. and Smith, Douglas K. The Discipline of Teams, HBR July 2005 Not in HBR so use the address posted here. Hackman, Richard. What Makes For A Great Team? American Psychological Association, June Download at Optional Texts (for additional research) Cladis, George. Leading the teambased church, San Francisco: Jossey- Bass Goodwin, Doris. A team of rivals, Simon and Schuster, 2005 LaFasto, F. M. J., & Larson, C. E. (2001). When teams work best. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Larson, C. E., & LaFasto, F. M. J. (1989). TeamWork: What must go right/what can go wrong. Newbury Park, CA: Sage. Osborn, Larry. Sticky teams, Grand Rapid: Zondervan, Schrage, M. (1995). No more teams!: Mastering the dynamics of creative collaboration. New York: CurrencyDoubleday. 2

3 West, M. A. (2004). Effective teamwork: Practical applications from organizational research (2 nd Ed.). London: Blackwell Publishing. Course Schedule and Preparation September 20 Introductions; Theological and Theoretical Foundations for Teams No preparation Assignments Text Books: Wheelan, Chaps 1-5, 7, 10 Katz. & Smith Ch. 1-3 Hartwig October 18 TEAMS: Building High Performing Teams Articles: Hackman Pentland Katz & Smith Edmondson Written: Learning Contract Report on Teams and Team Building See below for description November 15 TEAM MEMBERS: Building High Performance Team Members Team Leadership and Building Team Member Capacity Articles: Gratton Druskat Eisenhart Text Books: Wheelan, Ch. 6, 8, 9 Katz. & Smith Ch. 5-8, 9, 10 Lencioni Written: 1. Learning Contract Report on Team Members: Leadership and/or Team Member Roles 2. Complete the Your Style In Working With Others Questionnaire on pages 5-11 of this syllabus. For sessions two and three you are assigned a Learning Contract on Teams and Team Building (Session 2) and on Team Membership, Leader, Member, Roles, Conflict, etc. (Session 3). Your Learning Contract includes: 1. A clear statement of your learning goal. a. What, specifically, are you attempting to learn more about in this process? b. Why is it important for you to learn this? How do you see this emphasis contributing to your effectiveness as a team leader or participant? 2. Your learning plan A brief rationale for each learning activity. a. Must include a minimum of 250 pages of additional reading beyond the assigned reading. b. Must include at least one interview (explain why this person was chosen). c. MAY include other activities observing a team in action, video, etc. 3. A three-page report on your findings. The report must include a. Data from your interview briefly report on and evaluate input. Sometimes we learn from what people are doing poorly, so don t ignore Bad input. Just evaluate it. b. At least 8 citations from reading 3 of these must be from online resources. 2 of these resources must be from resources other than assigned reading Citations can include resources from assigned readings. c. A list of Learnings. A statement of Things Learned with a brief explanation of each point. d. An annotated bibliography of resources used. 3

4 Your Style In Working With Others Do you believe we can be leaders mainly by being who we are? Research has shown time and again that there is no single set of traits, qualities, or behaviors that define leadership. It has also demonstrated that each of us is wired differently and it is important to gain insight into how we prefer to lead and be led. Complete the questionnaire, explanation and response on pages This instrument shows tendencies of your profile on the four temperaments we will discuss in our next meeting. It s important to remember that each of us is a mixture of the four temperaments measured, but you should be able to identify your dominant pattern or patterns. Obviously, ten questions do not Peg you into a category, but do give some insights into your preferred style. It s important that you reflectively respond to the questions at the end of the exercise so you can interact with the findings from the brief questionnaire. Discovering Your Behavioral Style and Adapting to the Needs of Others DIRECTIONS 1. There are four groups of 10 statements. For each of the 40 statements circle 1 (this describes me); 2 (this describes me some of the time); 3 (this does not describe me). Please do not skip any statement. 2. When you are finished, turn to the scoring sheet. For each of the four answer categories, total the number of times you responded by circling 1. Enter this number as your score. 3. Now rank these four categories from most to least in terms of the number of times you circled 1. The largest category represents your dominant tendency. Other categories for which there are five or more 1 answers are secondary tendencies. Copyright 1996 by Development Associates International, USA. May not be reproduced without written permission. This permission was granted by Jane Overstreet, DAI Director and Sid Buzzell, DAI Board of Directors. 4

5 GROUP 1 I grasp the big picture more quickly than others around me I like to make things happen quickly I am not very good at details I often challenge the status quo When necessary, I will take control to make things happen I sometimes find it hard to be a good team player Some people say that I am not a very good listener I often get bored when my ministry becomes routine I get frustrated when other people resist my ideas I welcome challenge and change the more the better GROUP 2 I am a person who generates enthusiasm in people around me I work best when I am free from the control of others I often put people ahead of programs Management of time is difficult for me People like to be around me I tend to take it personally when people disagree with me I don t do very well with facts and detail work I find it easy to express my thoughts and feelings I do best when I sense that others really like me I am effective in motivating others to work together

6 GROUP 3 People say I demonstrate patience and understanding People say that I am easy to get along with I am a good listener People are just as important to me as the ministry program I do best in situations where people work together in harmony I am most effective when my work situation is stable and secure I do best when people let me know that I am appreciated Too much change threatens me My superiors can count on my loyalty I do everything I can to meet the needs of those who are close to me GROUP 4 I can be counted on to carry out a task I am given One of my greatest strengths is paying attention to detail If a job is worth doing, it is worth doing very well I need to know exactly what is expected of me I don t want to make decisions without having all the facts I have difficulty in expressing my feelings I am a cautious person who hesitates to take risks I function well within known guidelines and policies I am critical when my performance falls short of standards People often wonder just what I am thinking

7 SCORING Group 1 Your score (how many 1?) Group 2 Your score (how many 1?) Group 3 Your score (how many 1?) Group 4 Your score (how many 1?) A brief Description of the four styles. INTERPRETATION 1. Designer/developer motivation to take charge and rise to the challenge of bringing about change to make ministries more effective 2. Motivator/influential ability to motivate and influence others to work together to achieve important outcomes 3. Team player ability to cooperate readily with others and build relationships that implement vision and plans 4. Implementer commitment to excellence in carrying out detailed and challenging tasks. In reality, of course, each person no doubt is a mixture of traits and qualities, 7

8 A brief Explanation of the four styles. Group 1. DESIGNER/DEVELOPER Take charge and rise to the challenge of bringing about change to make ministries more effective Desires Situations Which Allow: freedom, authority, variety, difficult tasks, opportunity for advancement, encourage individuality Responds Best to Others Who: provide direct answers, stick to business, stress logic, provide pressure Group 2. MOTIVATOR/INFLUENTIAL Motivating and influencing others to work together to achieve important outcomes Desires Situations Which Allow: prestige, friendly relationships, freedom from control and detail, opportunity to motivate and help others, free expression of ideas Responds Best to Others Who: are friendly and democratic, provide for recognition and acceptance, seek social involvement Group 3. TEAM PLAYER Cooperate readily with others to carry out vision and plans Desires Situations Which Allow: individual specialization, group identity, established work patterns, security, clear goals and job description Responds Best to Others Who: serve as a friend, allow time to adjust to change, allow freedom to work at your own pace, provide support 8

9 Group 4. IMPLEMENTER Motivated to carry out visions and plans with excellence and attention to detail Desires Situations Which Allow: specialization, precision, planning, security, stability, limited risk of failure Responds Best to Others Who: provide reassurance, maintain supportive atmosphere, specify methods and standards ADAPTING YOUR INTERACTION AND BEHAVIORAL STYLE Group 1. DESIGNER/DEVELOPER Those who are similar may see you as decisive, independent, efficient, practical, determined Those who are different may see you as harsh, pushy, dominating, severe, tough SOME ACTION STEPS * learn to listen, be patient * be less controlling * develop greater concern for people * be more flexible and supportive with people * explain why things are as they are Group 2. MOTIVATOR/INFLUENTIAL Those who are similar may see you as stimulating, enthusiastic, dramatic, outgoing, personable Those who are different may see you as excitable, egotistical, reacting, manipulative, talkative SOME ACTION STEPS * be less impulsive evaluate your ideas * be more results oriented * control actions and emotions * focus more on details/facts * slow down, listen, don t talk as much 9

10 Group 3. TEAM PLAYER Those who are similar may see you as supportive, willing, dependable, reliable, agreeable Those who are different may see you as conforming, awkward, dependent, slow, reticent SOME ACTION STEPS * be less sensitive to what others think * be more direct * be more concerned with the task itself * face confrontation and be more decisive * learn to say no * do more to initiate action Group 4. IMPLEMENTER Those who are similar may see you as thorough, persistent, orderly, serious, industrious Those who are different may see you as critical, stuffy, picky, indecisive, moralistic SOME ACTION STEPS * focus on doing the right things not just on doing things right * respond more quickly * begin to trust your intuition and be less fact oriented * be more willing to take risks * be more open and flexible * don t be afraid to develop relationships 10

11 After you have worked through this questionnaire, on the basis of what you discover as well as your own self-understanding, complete the answers to these brief questions: I would describe myself as a I desire leadership situations which provide I desire a work situation or environment which allows I respond best to others who 11