Moving your team from ME ' ' ' 'to WE

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Moving your team from ME . . . .to WE

• Lisa Holden
• Associate Professor
• Penn State University

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Using teams well -- WIIFM

• Where to teams fit?
• Discussion
• What are some benefits?
• How can we overcome some pitfalls?
• Avoid endless meetings, wasted time, low
  productivity ,etc.
• Reap a high return on our team investment
• Examples

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Where do teams fit?
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Team benefits

• More and better ideas
• Productive discussions
• Collaboration for best solutions
• Opportunity for strong communication
• Improved communication cited by 68 of the
  teams surveyed in a dairy advisory team project.

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More team benefits

• More efficient use of time
• Learning and professional development
• Setting priorities
• Achieving success
• Improved decision making cited by 78 of the
  teams surveyed in a dairy advisory team project.

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Team benefits vs. Todays workers

• 2008 Animal Science students
• Unofficial class poll
• Have fun and enjoy the work
• Get along with the people I work with
• Good career opportunity
• What do YOU want in a career?

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Pilot Teams -- 2004

• 7.2 Increase in cow numbers
• 16.7 Increase milk per cow
• 25 Increase total production
• 249/cow economic impact

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Avoiding the ruts in the road

• Shared vision or common purpose
• Use information and data
• Recognize and reward members strengths
• Communicate, evaluate, take action, make
  progress.
• Build commitment.

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• Ten Commitments for Building High Performance
  Teams.
• By Tom Massey

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Ten Commitments . . .

• Put the right people on the team
• Get on the same page
• Create learning environment
• Share profit/losses (rewards/responsibilities)
• Correct poor performance
• Dance with those who brought you loyalty
• Play to win
• Grow through adversity
• Have fun
• Play large

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Great teams mean

• 2 2 5
• Not a group of individuals. (ME)
• A team of achievers. (WE)

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Examples

• Tag team youre it!
• Team of mid managers for a manufacturing group.
• Issue Maintenance
• Scheduling problems
• Breakdowns
• Cost overruns
• Suggestions?

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Examples

• Dont Rock the Boat!
• Your team of five employees who are your direct
  reports.
• Issue Lack of focus on job quality.
• Mostly long term employees.
• Good solid workers but set in their ways.
• Suggestions?

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Take Aways

• Use teams when they fit.
• Follow basic team foundations
• Help clients to understand what these are.
• Today I learned ___________________.

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Questions?

• Lisa Holden
• Penn State Dairy Alliance
• 1-888-373-7232
• lah7_at_psu.edu