Turning People into Teams

Turning People into Teams

by David Sherwin, Mary Sherwin
Released October 2018
Publisher(s): Berrett-Koehler Publishers
ISBN: 9781523095766

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Book description

"Project and team leaders, do yourself a favor and make this book required reading by each member of your team!" —HR Professionals Magazine

Collaborative strategies work when they're designed by teams—where each person is heard, valued, and held accountable. This book is a practical guide for project team leaders and individual contributors who want their teams to play by a better set of rules.

Today's teams want more alignment among their members, better decision-making processes, and a greater sense of ownership over their work. This can be easy, even fun, if you have the right rituals.

Rituals are group activities during which people go through a series of behaviors in a specific order. They give teams the ability to create a collective point of view and reshape the processes that affect their day-to-day work. In Turning People into Teams, you'll find dozens of practical rituals for finding a common purpose at the beginning of a project, getting unstuck when you hit bottlenecks or brick walls, and wrapping things up at the end and moving on to new teams.

Customizable for any industry, work situation, or organizational philosophy, these rituals have been used internationally by many for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. By implementing just a few of these rituals, a team can capture the strengths of each individual for incredible results, making choices together that matter.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright Page
  4. Dedication
  5. Contents
  6. Preface
  7. Introduction: Shared Rituals and Routines Turn People into Teams
  8. Part 1 Better Beginnings
    1. Start the Team by Talking about the Team
      1. RITUAL What Do We Bring to the Team?
      2. RITUAL What Do We Value as a Team?
      3. RITUAL What Habits Do We Want as a Team?
    2. What Problem Are We Trying to Solve?
      1. RITUAL What Problem Are We Trying to Solve?
      2. RITUAL What Do We Know? What Do We Need to Learn?
    3. What Does Success Look Like?
      1. RITUAL What Does Success Look Like?
      2. RITUAL What If We Don’t Succeed as a Team?
      3. RITUAL What Is Our Team Expected to Do?
      4. RITUAL What Should We Celebrate as a Team?
    4. Plan the Kickoff with Your Team
      1. RITUAL Who Gets Invited?
      2. RITUAL What Activities Should Be in the Kickoff?
  9. Part 2 We’re Stuck, Now What?
    1. Create the Right Kind of Conflict
      1. RITUAL Can I Give You Some Feedback?
      2. RITUAL What Should We Do with This Feedback?
      3. RITUAL How Can We Improve Our Project Work?
    2. This Decision Should Be Easier
      1. RITUAL What Decision Are We Trying to Make?
      2. RITUAL What Criteria Apply to Our Decision?
      3. RITUAL What Are Our Options?
      4. RITUAL What Are the Trade-Offs?
      5. RITUAL Which Option Are We Most Confident About?
    3. Putting Our Ideas to the Test
      1. RITUAL What Do We Think Will Fix This Problem?
      2. RITUAL What’s Our Hypothesis for This Change?
      3. RITUAL What’s the Impact of This Change?
  10. Part 3 Sprinting to The Finish
    1. Reflecting as a Team
      1. RITUAL What Should We Change?
      2. RITUAL What Were the Ups and Downs?
      3. RITUAL What Can We Not Change?
    2. Talking about Accomplishment
      1. RITUAL Who Was Affected by Our Work?
      2. RITUAL What Effect Should Our Communication Have?
    3. Endings Matter
  11. Afterword
  12. Turning People into Teams Toolkit
  13. Bibliography
  14. Acknowledgments
  15. Index
  16. About the Authors

Product information

  • Title: Turning People into Teams
  • Author(s): David Sherwin, Mary Sherwin
  • Release date: October 2018
  • Publisher(s): Berrett-Koehler Publishers
  • ISBN: 9781523095766