The Team Building Workshops are a series of programmes that help organisations to create high performing teams and are useful for:

• Improving and renewing current teams
• Fixing broken teams
• Reducing employee turnover
• Integrating new team members
• Merging two or more workplaces
• Creating new teams
• Putting together temporary or multi-functional project teams

The Team Building Workshop series is all about getting actual and measurable results for the client. Unlike many 'feel-good' short courses, Paradigm Infinitum's Team Building Workshop series measures and quantifies data to demonstrate the effectiveness of the workshops on team dynamics over time. This allows clients to see for themselves the improvements that they as individuals and their teams are making. Paradigm Infinitum uses proven tools such as TMS team profiling (used in over 160 countries around the world) and 360 degree feedback to harness group synergy and improve team communication and awareness. Helping teams understand and appreciate the importance of their role and aligning their own team goals to the wider strategic goals of the organisation is another speciality of Paradigm Infinitum and is often a missing link for many organisations.

A useful way to jump start team building into the organisation is to begin with a one-day team profiling workshop. Once the porifling workshop is complete, other team building components can be adopted to advance and enhance the process. Whilst it is suggested that the team building steps be utilised in chronological order for maximim effectiveness, the process is flexible and driven by the needs and goals of the client organisation and its people.

Step 1 - One-Day Team Profiling Workshop

Understanding the work preferences of team mates helps to foster understanding, communication and strong relationships within the team. The Team Management System is used to build individual profiles that are then pieced together to build the team profile. Profiling helps team members understand their own personal work preferences and those of the people they work with, and how these impact on communication, relationships, decision making processes, and organisational processes. Once a profile of the self is built up and understood, the individual can better reflect on the impact they have on the people around them.

Once the one-day Team Profiling Workshop is complete, team members will have a better understanding of themselves and those they work with, and the tools to make their workplaces more productive, efficient and satisfying.

Step 2 - Linking Skills 360 Degree Feedback Workshops

In order to foster a successful team, members need to be able to link their own roles and responsibilities to those of their colleagues and ultimately to the organisation's goals. Linking skills help bring together the team's people, resources, and tasks together as a cohesive whole. Utilising the Team Management System Linking Skills Profile, 360 degree feedback is collected on each member of the team to examine how well each individual performs this important skill within the team. Feedback is then provided to individuals through one-one-one coaching sessions that reflect on the individual's place within the team, and perceptions of their effectiveness. Personal strengths and weaknesses can be identified and examined for opportunities for improvement and enhancement. Once individuals have a chance to examine their own roles and skills within the team, the team is brought together for an intensive de-briefing session.

The Linking Skills 360 Degree Feedback Workshops are by necessity highly flexible as the collection of 360 Degree Feedback can be confronting for some, and needs to be digested and assimilated over time. The following is a suggested format (administered over several sessions):

1. Introduction of Linking Skills and 360 Degree Feedback Workshop
2. Administration and Completion of Linking Skills Profiles
3. Individual Debriefing Sessions
4. Team Debriefing Workshop
5. Discussion of Follow-Up and Review Sessions

Step 3 - People Linking Skills

The 360 Degree feedback provides a clear indication of strengths and weaknesses of the individual team member in terms of six core People Linking Skills that are essential for effective teams. This workshop involves a collaboration between team members and the trainer to enhance the six core People Linking Skills, and includes a personalised tailor-made workplace-based People Linking Skills Development Plan utilising Paradigm Infinitum programmes for each team member. The six core People Linking Skills are:

1. Active Listening
2. Communication
3. Team Relationships
4. Problem Solving and Counselling
5. Participative Decision Making
6. Interface Management

Step 4 - Task Linking Skills

The 360 Degree feedback provides a clear indication of strengths and weaknesses of the individual team member in terms of five core Task Linking Skills that are essential for effective teams. This workshop involves a collaboration between team members and the trainer to enhance the five core Task Linking Skills, and includes a personalised, tailor-made workplace-based Task Linking Skills Development Plan utilising Paradigm Infinitum programmes for each team member. The five core Task Linking Skills are:

1. Work Allocation
2. Team Development
3. Delegation
4. Objectives Setting
5. Quality Standards

Step 5 - Half Yearly or Yearly Review

Once the team has undergone the Team Building Workshop series, regular review can help cement changes, track results, make further improvements and ensure the team is on the right path.