Table of Contents Introduction   

Section I: Getting Started   

    1. Success Factors   

        To provide the top management team with a simple method to determine if they are ready to undertake self-directed teams

        To provide the top management team with an opportunity to prepare a plan to increase their chances for success

    2. Readiness Rating   

        To assess your organization's readiness to implement self-directed teams

        To develop a plan to increase your organization's ability to successfully implement self-directed teams.

    3. Self-Directed Team (SDT) Stages   

        To list and describe the stage of development of a self-directed team.

        To develop strategies for coping with each stage.

    4. Roadblocks  

        To assess the possible roadblocks to successfully implementing self-directed work teams

    5. Third Wave  

        To have participants examine the idea of self-directed teams and how self-directed teams can enhance their organization's productivity.

        To examine participants' preferences for their future situation

        To have participants develop a plan to implement self-directed teams to realize their preferred futures.

    6. Show and Tell: Getting Ready for Self-Direction   

        To identify and understand the history of the organization in order to b e able to move forward to create a self-directed workplace

        To share team members' ideas, perceptions, and feelings about the organization's past.

        To provide team members with an opportunity discuss their hopes and expectations about the future

    7. Surfacing A team Identity   

        To determine team members' reactions to the proposed self directed teams, and feelings regarding the change strategies their team might need to implement in support of new organizational goals.

    8. The Reality of Self-Direction   

        To assess the level of empowerment that exists in a self-directed team

        To assess an organization's readiness to transition to a team-based organization

    9. Responsibility Charting  

        To list the current work area tasks

        To designate current responsibility for each work are task as supervisory, team or joint responsibility

        To determine who will be responsible for each task in the future as the team moves toward self-direction

Section II: Building and Maintaining the Team   

    10. Valuing Diversity  

        To help team members get to know and understand each other better

        To help team members understand how culture influences behavior on a team

        To help team members see how cultural diversity increases the team's resources.

    11. Dip Your Toe in the Water   

           To learn the role of a sample in the data collection process

        To learn how to identify a biased sample

    12. Self Test for Self-Direction   

        To assess the team's progress toward self-direction

        To develop a plan to transition to increased self-direction

    13. Ready, Set...Go?  

        To help a team assess its readiness to embark on becoming s self-directed team

        To help a team develop a plan to increase its chances of being a successful as a self-directed team.

    14. Collaboration in the Workplace: A Must for Self-Directed Teams   

        To clarify and expand a teams' norms   

        To provide  the group with a framework to understand and live within their chose norms

        To gain an understanding of collaboration and self-direction

    15. Climate Headline  

        To assess the climate of existing self-directed teams so that they may continually renew their commitment to success.

    16. Building a Culture of Self-Direction in the Workplace   

        To help team members become aware of the culture of self-direction and begin to think of ways to modify the current culture to meet both the needs

            of the organization and their personal needs.

        To create a structure representing teams members' perceptions of the current culture

        To create a structure representing team members' perceptions of a self-directed culture

        To develop a plan to move toward a culture of self-direction

    17. A Personal Action Planner for Building Self-Directed Teams   

       To provide a tool for team members and leaders to use to engage in action planning for self development

    18. Self-Directed Structures  

        To provide the team with an opportunity to practice working as a self-directed team

        To improve the team's ability to work independently

    19. Resolving Differences   

        To provide team members with a format for resolving a conflict with another team member

        To reduce interpersonal conflict among team members

    20. Hot Buttons   

        To reduce the amount of unnecessary conflict on the team

        To improve interpersonal communication among team members

    21. Self-Directed Values Exercise   

        To have team members rank the values of the organization and determine how their ranking compares to senior management's ranking

    22. Similarities and Differences   

        To help team members get to know each other better.

        To introduce participants in a team training session

    23. Building Trust Among Self-Directed Team Players   

        To develop problem-solving skills in a team

        To develop interdependence and trust within a team

    24. Shop 'Til You...   

        To practice preparing a process flow chart

    25. Self-Directed Team Culture Survey  

        To allow members of self-directed teams to assess their strengths and areas required for improvement.

        To allow team members to assess their organization's support and commitment to their efforts.

    26. Go With the Flow   

        To learn how to create a work process flow chart

        To create a flow chart for a work process in your organization

    27. The Power of an Agenda   

        To identify the causes of ineffective/nonproductive meetings

        To assess the effectiveness of your teams' meetings

        To demonstrate how a good agenda can overcome many causes of ineffective meetings.

    28. Creativity Break   

        To practice brainstorming

        To increase team member creativity

        To introduce the concept of the creativity break

    29. Quotable Quotes   

        To describe the team's current approach to risk-taking

        To agree on the team's approach to and support for risk-taking in the future

    30. Workplace Trust  

        To examine the role that trust plays in the formation and success of groups

        To identify the barriers and supports for trust in teams

    31. Past-Present-Future: Charting A Self-Directed Team's Path   

        To review and highlight past team accomplishments and achievements in relation to past team goals

        To prioritize overall department goals, reflecting their relationship to individual and team goals.

        To prepare future individual and team goals and tie them to overall department goals.

    32. No Team is an Island  

        To identify a methodology for improving relationships with other key teams and stakeholders

        To improve relationships with external stakeholders

    33. Ivory Pure Quality   

        To help the team understand the impact of errors.

        To define quality from the team's perspective

    34. Team Values  

        To help members of the team asses their personal values  and determine how values impact team productivity

        To help individual team members asses their personal feelings about self-directed work.

    35. Process Analysis  

        To learn how to analyze a work process

        To analyze an existing work process

    36. Guiding Past and Future Team Practices   

        To draw out the experiences of team members to determine past and present practices that represent the guiding philosophy of the self-directed team.

    37. Meetings and Self-Directed Norms  

        To bring to the surface the cultural norms of a self-directed team when those members are in a meeting

        To examine team members' feelings about the norms of a meeting

    38. Meeting Monsters  

        To identify the types of behaviors that disrupt team meetings

        To develop tactics for dealing with problem behaviors in team meetings

    39. The Weather Report: A Culture Report  

        To understand the participant's perception of his/her team as is t9t were a person

        To understand how achievement, affiliation and power affect the ability of a self-directed team to be productive.

    40. How Do I Feel About All This? Assessing My Readiness for Self-Direction  

        To allow individual team members to assess and express their feelings regarding the self-directed team concept.

    41. The Wish List   

        To have participants review their recent past in order to regenerate ideas and initiatives that may have been previously rejected. This collection of old and new ideas will form the basis for planning a future vision by each team

    42. Clarifying Team Values  

        To provide an opportunity for the participants to be creatively open about the values, attitudes, and interests of their organization

        To identify and compare the organization's values, attitudes, and interests with the team's goal of self-direction

        To provide an opportunity to explore the match between the goals of values of the participants and those of the organization

Section III: Special Issues   

    43. The Self-Directed Team Coach  

        To help supervisors understand the new role of the coach in the self-directed team (SDT) environment

        To provide supervisors with an opportunity to assess their strengths and weaknesses as a coach

    44. Leadership Characteristics  

        To gain agreement on the most important characteristics of a team leader

        To teach the team how to reach a consensus

    45. Supervisory Scenarios  

        To teach supervisors how to deal with typical problems that come up in trying to coach a self-directed team.

    46. What Would you Do If...?   

        To help supervisors understand their new role as self-directed team coaches.

        To help supervisors make daily decisions that will support team self-direction

    47. You Know You're Stagnating When...   

        To identify the early warning signs that your team is in trouble.

        To develop a plan to get the team back on track

    48. Animal Grid   

        To provide team leaders with an opportunity to understand their leadership style

        To provide team leaders with an opportunity to adjust their style to the needs of their team

    49. Assessing Your Team Leader Effectiveness  

        To provide the current team leader with an assessment of his/her current leadership practices.

    50. Just for Fun  

        To have fun

The Authors