Go Team! Take Your Team to the Next Level - Hardcover

Ken Blanchard; Alan Randolph; Peter Grazier

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1576752623 ISBN 13: 9781576752623

Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2005

Synopsis

All of us in the today's workforce are called upon more and more to work effectively in teams. But do you know how to build a team that truly takes advantage of the knowledge, experience, and motivation of its members? Most of us don't, and we quickly become frustrated, give up, and opt to go it alone-not a good solution in today's business environment. Fortunately, there is a better way. Here, expert authors Ken Blanchard, Alan Randolph, and Peter Grazier outline a 3-step process that will help you transform any kind of team into a Next-Level Team-one that uses all team members' ideas and motivation more effectively, makes better use of team members' and team leaders' time, and generates benefits for individual team members, the team, and the organization.
Designed as a working guide filled with detailed instructions for people who want to build high performing teams, Go Team! will lead you, step by step, to great results.
Through discussions, case examples, and questions to consider, you and your teammates will learn how to share information to build high levels of trust and responsibility; set clear boundaries to create the freedom for team members to act responsibly; and develop self-managing skills to make good team decisions. With Go Team! as a guide, you'll find that working in a team can be fun, satisfying, and highly productive.

About this title

About the Author

Ken Blanchard is founder and chief spiritual officer of The Ken Blanchard Companies. He is the author or coauthor of numerous bestselling books, including The One Minute Manager, The Secret, Full Steam Ahead!, Whale Done!, and Managing By Values.
Alan Randolph is a consulting partner with the Ken Blanchard Companies and a professor at the University of Baltimore. He is the coauthor (with Ken Blanchard) of Empowerment Takes More Than a Minute and The 3 Keys to Empowerment.
Peter Grazier is the founder of Teambuilding, Inc. He is the author of Before It’s Too Late: Employee Involvement… An Idea Whose Time Has Come.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

INTRODUCTION MOVING TEAMWORK TO THE NEXT LEVEL

People in organizations today are increasingly being called upon to work in teams. This is because the work of organizations has become amazingly complex and changes occur constantly. More and more, companies around the world are using teams to deal with this dynamic world of work.

Unfortunately, too few people really understand how to build a team that puts into action the knowledge, experience, and motivation of its people. We do not have to look very far to see numerous examples of failed team efforts—be they in sports, business, or government. Therefore, it is no surprise that people often give up on the idea of teams and try to go it alone. We do not believe that is an effective solution for today’s workplace. Go Team! is our game plan for building better teams— Next Level Teams.

What are Next Level Teams, and what benefits do they bring to the table? First, the benefits: Next Level Teams

Use all team members’ ideas and motivation
Make better use of the team members’ and team leader’s time 2
Increase productivity and satisfaction for you, your team, and the organization
Second, what are Next Level Teams? They are teams that can

Use information sharing to build high levels of trust and responsibility
Use clear boundaries to create the freedom to act responsibly
Use self-managing skills to make team decisions and get great results
Once the picture of a Next Level Team is clear, you and your team members can assess how you operate now. Then you can begin the process of becoming a Next Level Team that gets great results.

Those of you who are fans of Ken Blanchard books will notice that Go Team! is a departure from Ken’s easy-reading business parables. This book is intended to be a working guide filled with detailed instructions for people who want to build high performing teams.

Go Team! will take you through three steps to great results:

Step 1 Begin learning Next Level skills

Step 2 Accelerate the change

Step 3 Master the skills

Each step is designed to guide your team to the Next Level. As you, your team members, and your leader move through the book together, responsibility will shift naturally from your leader to your team. You will learn how to use your ideas more effectively, make excellent team decisions, and feel the pride of having contributed in new and more meaningful ways. 3

Your leader will also appreciate your team’s move to the Next Level because he or she will have new opportunities to help the team. What leader hasn’t been frustrated by a lack of time to plan work, think ahead, receive training, coach team members, or investigate new equipment that may be needed in the future?

As your group moves to become a Next Level Team, you will enhance creativity, increase satisfaction, develop a sense of group pride, and achieve outstanding results. You will suddenly find your team soaring above the ordinary.

Learn what Next Level Teams are and what they can do. Then use this book as a resource and take three steps with your team to get great results. Enjoy the journey—and get ready to soar!

Edition details

• Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1576752623
• ISBN 13: 9781576752623
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 168