team-development-session-one

Preparation

Selecting the Team

Identify, contact, and engage a real-life group or team that you can work with in two sessions, to conduct two team development exercises. Select a problem or issue within the group that the team can work on, using the exercise you have chosen. The goal of each session is to bring team perspectives to this problem or issue, rather than to solve the specific identified problem.Ideally, your team should consist of individuals from your workplace, or with whom you have a professional relationship. If this is difficult to arrange, there is flexibility as to both group composition and mode of communication. You can simulate an organizational team with members drawn from a social organization to which you belong; a church, community, or civic group; a private club; or a group of personal friends, acquaintances, neighbors, or even family members. As part of your final assessment, you will make hypothetical recommendations to a specific audience, based on the results of your two sessions. Ideally, this audience would be the larger organization in which the team functions, but it could also be to the session team itself, members of an educational symposium, or another relevant group.If necessary, different team members may attend each meeting. Moreover, team members do not have to reside in the same town. The meetings may be held virtually (for example, by phone, e-mail, or Web conference).The size of your team should (preferably) be about five people, including you. It can be larger, although more than 10 can make facilitating the exercise challenging. It can be smaller, but should not be less than three people, with you included. A very small group can present facilitation challenges, in terms of generating participation and a range of views.

Selecting the Exercise

In each team change management session, you will conduct an exercise based on one of the concepts and tools from Peter Senge’s five disciplines. Choose the disciplines your team will focus on from the following options:

• For your first session, lead your group through a team exercise based on the personal mastery discipline, the mental models discipline, or the shared visions discipline.
• For your second session, lead your group through a team exercise based on the team learning discipline or the systems thinking discipline.

Use your judgment in choosing each exercise, based on the suitability of its goals to the nature of the team.

Recruiting the Team

When recruiting your team for each session, introduce yourself (if necessary). Briefly explain the nature of your task, the time commitment required (two one-hour sessions), and that you will be reporting your results on the experience. Indicate that you will protect all team members’ personal information and their identities. (You may also want to repeat this information at the start of each session.) In your explanation of the task, include a brief overview of both sessions. Schedule each session to last at least an hour.

Directions

Submit your first team exercise plan and post-session summary based on your completed team session.Plan your first team exercise and write a team development plan for your first session. Your exercise for this session should be based on one of the following three disciplines identified by Senge:

• Personal mastery.
• Mental models.
• Shared vision.

Facilitate the first team development session, addressing the following:

• Define change management and the first three disciplines: personal mastery, mental models, and shared vision.
• Explain the learning discipline you have chosen and why it is important.
• Explain how you will use the organizational team development material (the exercise) during the session.
• Briefly introduce the problem or issue the team will work through, using the exercise.
• While conducting the exercise, take copious notes. Record the session, if possible.

Write a post-session summary based on the completed experience. Include the following in your assessment:

1. Define change management and change management principles.
2. Explain the three learning disciplines that you examined for this assessment: personal mastery, mental models, and shared vision.
3. Describe the organization of the team you have selected for your assessment and identify the sector of the organization (non-profit, government, business, or industry). If you will not be working with employees of an organization, please indicate the nature of your group.
4. Team exercise plan:
   • Outline the schedule for your first team development session. Include the job titles or roles of the team members participating in the session. List the scheduled meeting date and time.
   • Describe the problem or issue you chose as the intended purpose for your team development session.
   • Identify the learning discipline that you chose to focus on for your team exercise. Explain the process used to select that learning discipline, the rationale for its selection, and the team development exercise that you used with your team.
5. Post-session summary:
   • Describe your team development experience in a narrative format.
   • Explain the successful and unsuccessful aspects of the team development exercise.
   • Explain the lessons learned for team facilitation, including both planned and unplanned journeys that resulted.
   • Explain the lessons learned for your chosen discipline, and its potential for helping a group examine itself, choose new direction, and commit to that direction.

   Criteria	Non-performance	Basic	Proficient	Distinguished
   Explain a process used to select a learning discipline and the rationale for its selection.	Does not explain the process used to select a learning discipline or the rationale for its selection.	Explains the process used to select a learning discipline or the rationale for its selection, but not both.	Explains the process used to select a learning discipline and the rationale for its selection.	Explains the process used to select a learning discipline and the rationale for its selection, and supports explanation with relevant theory or real-world examples.
   Define change management and change management principles.	Does not define change management or change management principles.	Defines change management or change management principles, but not both.	Defines change management and change management principles.	Defines change management and change management principles and supports definition with relevant theory or real-world examples.
   Describe a team development experience based on a relevant learning discipline.	Does not describe a team development experience.	Describes a team development experience but the connection to a relevant learning discipline is unclear.	Describes a team development experience based on a relevant learning discipline.	Analyzes a team development experience based on a relevant learning discipline, and supports statements with relevant real-world examples.
   Explain the learning disciplines of personal mastery, mental models, and shared vision.	Does not explain the learning disciplines of personal mastery, mental models, or shared vision.	Explains the learning disciplines of personal mastery, mental models, or shared vision, but not all three.	Explains the learning disciplines of personal mastery, mental models, and shared vision.	Explains the learning disciplines of personal mastery, mental models, and shared vision, and supports explanation with relevant theory or real-world examples.
   Explain successful and unsuccessful aspects of team development.	Does not explain successful or unsuccessful aspects of team development.	Explains successful or unsuccessful aspects of team development, but not both.	Explains successful and unsuccessful aspects of team development.	Analyzes successful and unsuccessful aspects of team development, and recommends strategies for improvement.
   Explain lessons learned for planned and unplanned team facilitation journeys.	Does not explain lessons learned for planned or unplanned team facilitation journeys.	Explains lessons learned for planned or unplanned team facilitation journeys, but not both.	Explains lessons learned for planned and unplanned team facilitation journeys.	Explains lessons learned for planned and unplanned team facilitation journeys, and recommends strategies to implement what was learned.
   Explain lessons learned for chosen discipline and group dynamics.	Does not explain lessons learned for chosen discipline or group dynamics.	Explains lessons learned for chosen discipline or group dynamics, but not both.	Explains lessons learned for chosen discipline and group dynamics.	Explains lessons learned for chosen discipline and group dynamics, and recommends strategies to implement what was learned.
   Describe a team development exercise used with a team, based on a relevant learning discipline.	Does not describe a team development exercise used with a team.	Describes a team development exercise used with a team, but the exercise is not based on a relevant learning discipline.	Describes a team development exercise used with a team, based on a relevant learning discipline.	Describes a team development exercise used with a team, based on a relevant learning discipline, and supports description with relevant theory.