The Innovative Team

The Innovative Team™ is a unique workshop of discovery and team skills development. The experience creates the foundational skills necessary for your staff to be contributing members of an energetic and resilient team. The program transforms the way a team communicates, makes decisions, recognizes conflicts and solves problems.

Creates an Atmosphere of Learning
This program turns “knowers” into “learners” through a series of experience-based training activities that transfer the learning into both the mind and the body. With the guidance of a skilled facilitator, participants learn to question habitual ways of addressing issues and to experiment with new approaches. The experience creates a common bond that establishes a foundation of trust and commitment among team members.

Focuses on the Human Element
The Innovative Team™ develops an awareness of what each individual brings to the team and sheds light on how those unique qualities affect the dynamics of the team. The interactive learning field compels participants to quickly embrace lessons that could take years to obtain in the work place.

Learning Objectives

• Create an environment where each team member’s voice and ideas are heard and valued
• Practice with tools that facilitate efficient consensus-based decision-making
• Create a process and sequence for innovative problem solving
• Recognize the behaviors and obstacles that block creativity
• Learn the necessity of and methods for creating shared mental models
• Foster experimentation and risk-taking – recognizing how small failures in the developmental phase ensure large successes in the implementation phase
• Transform “knowers” into “learners” by focusing on the importance of knowledge gained from mistakes and developing the patience to avoid the ‘quick fix’
• Develop the resilience of the team and its members to be able to support everyone through the long haul

Components of the Innovative Team™
Program content for The Innovative Team is adapted to and customized for each team. The following experiential components are drawn from to address each team’s specific goals.

Breakthrough!© develops successful problem-solving skills by increasing a team’s awareness of the dynamics that stop them short of reaching their true potential

The Question© demonstrates the dangers of acting on mistaken assumptions and develops a simple, effective process for inquiry that will end a majority of the mis-assumptions.

The Challenge of Choice© explores the complexity of choice, goal setting, communication and supportive team relationships.

Finding a Voice© teaches individuals how to create space for each person’s voice and helps less vocal individuals find the power of their own voice.

Tools and Rules© builds fast, effective decision-making skills and creates successful group discussion behaviors through a veritable cornucopia of simple team processes.

Vision Challenge© stimulates individuals and teams to look beyond daily distractions and perceived limitations to envision a future that will create itself.

The Process
Through a needs assessment, we ascertain what skills and attitudes are needed and which ones are areas for improvement. In addition, we look at the personalities that make up your team and gear our training to their learning styles, interests and personality types. Then design the program with the elements you need to reach your organizational and individual goals. We use sophisticated experiential methods because we know that people learn best when they experience success using new skills and attitudes. In addition, you we deliver professional high quality manuals and presentations.

Teambuilding, identification of methods that are no longer useful, new skills, concepts and practice sessions for mastery are part of every program. At the end of your training we make sure your people know how they will use what they have learned immediately.

We check in with team members to see if they are working on the goals and commitments made during the course of this program. We offer additional coaching and help where needed. If your team has signed up for our online support services, we will follow your progress, add new information, and support your business objectives online for the term of the contract. We follow up because we want make sure that participants can use what they learned in our program and that these skills and tools made a difference to your bottom line.

(copyright Thomas Leahy, Leahy & Associates)

For additional information on The Innovative Team, contact us at: info@bristleconelearning.com.