Creating Collaborative Teams Day 1

Susan Sparks has been a great facilitator thus far for our Creating Collaborative Teams seminar. Today our goals were focus, structure and relationships.
Focus for team meetings, team expectations and team goals.
Structure: Identifying the differences between a group and a team from the start today. Many times in schools we look at teams and groups in the same manner but the semantics are important to realize that a team follows these steps:
1. Focuses on Learning
2. Establish Norms
3. Schedules a time to Collaborate
4. Focuses on Critical Questions
5. Makes Products
6. Pursues Team Goals
7. Have Frequent Access to Relevant Information
We also had the chance to watch a collaborative team in action to see what all collaborative teams should do. There is definitely no better way to learn than seeing a great example!
Relationships: Trust is the most important aspect of every team and without it no team can move forward. To understand trust and true team function one must look at the 5 dysfunctions that teams encounter:
1. Absence of Trust
2. Fear of Conflict
3. Lack of Commitment
4. Avoidance of Accountability
5. Inattention to Results
Building trust and then working towards the other four will help any team become more collaborative. Once trust is present collaboration can be followed with these seven norms.
1. Pausing
2. Paraphrasing
3. Putting Inquiry at the Center
4. Probing for Specificity
5. Placing Ideas on the Table
6. Paying Attention to Self and Others
7. Presuming Positive Intention
There may have been 12 points to remember but putting remembering they are tied to 3 big ideas of Focus, Structure and Relationships make the 12 more doable. A definite framework for collaborative teams has been laid and day 2 looks exiting.