Conflict Management For Teams: A guide for designing Team Interventions Interagency ADR Working Group Brown Bag Session Tuesday, April 7, 2009 Presented by: Cheryl Caldwell USGS Collaborative Action and Dispute Resolution Office

Objective Utilizing an experiential format, share tools and resources for facilitating team interventions. Upon completion, participants will be able to draft a team intervention framework, tailored to meet their clients needs.

Conflict Management For Teams: Team Intervention Basic Requirements and Suggestions Allow adequate time for preparation and pre-work ( i.e., assessments, interviews, planning meetings with client) If possible, work with a co-facilitator to maximize intervention experience Practice/Create opportunities to try your design Notebook/scrapbook: (Agenda’s, tools, evaluation, tips, techniques)

Conflict Management for Teams: Tools and Skills Facilitation Training (Adult learning styles) Group Dynamics Consult with client and participants Flexibility

Conflict Management for Teams: Team Intervention Steps Pre-work/Preparation Building the framework Gaining team insight Visioning The Meeting: Discussion/ Next steps/Actions Evaluating team success

Pre-work/Preparation Individual interviews: What’s most important/What does success look like? Surveys (e.g. Zoomerang, Survey Monkey) Introduce Assessments Tools (MBTI, DISC etc.) Agenda Planning/Development Coordinate logistics/meeting room set up Most important part in preparing for team intervention: Determine if it’s tem intervention or individual issues between one or two individuals Make sure room is conducive to effective engagement: small cluster set up for larger groups, u-shape for smaller groups. Don’t be afraid to be creative and move folks around during the session Light snacks may help

Building the Framework Establish ground rules/guiding principles Connect to the mission of the team and/or organization Introduce a decision module that encourages collaboration and consensus Review team expectations for the session USGS Guiding Principles/ what are the behaviors demonstrated in the session Silent Brainstorm Consensus agreement: Thumbs/Dialogue/Impasse

Gaining Insight Select an assessment tool that will allow individual and team insights. (Note: Some assessment tools may require certification) Include a “mini” assessment session to foster enhanced understanding. Example: Personal Discernment Inventory Show a few slides from the PDI Most assessment come w/ exercises on how to maximize learning experience

Visioning What are the successes? (Celebration) Envision how team members want to engage each other. What do they want more of ? Use facilitation skills/tools to aid their conversation. Using the high performing team model: Define the elements of a high performing team What do you already have in place If multiple issues, break into smaller discussion groups/ask visioning questions. Take common themes and ask: How do you want this to work/ what do you need more of to successful Capture celebrations/build from strengths

The Meeting: Discussion/Next Steps/Actions Present common themes/prioritize Be prepared to facilitate group discussion Use facilitative tools to foster and enhance dialogue: Gallery walk, Clock/Appointment Exercise, Open forum: Talking stick Facilitate next steps/actions Create a team agreement for signature Transition from a facilitator to more of a coach Do some “gap bridging” Coach U term for asking key questions to help team get from point a to point b Put in the position to have “the conversation” needed to have clear elephant Example of gallery: roles and responsibilities/expectations Clock/ Appointment: Key questions? How do we remove the barriers between us….what conversation do we need to have

Evaluate Team Success Facilitate discussion on how the team wants to evaluate their progress. Make the evaluation process a team commitment to be included in their agreement. When appropriate, provide recommendations of additional resources that support team goals (i.e., team coaching, training, follow up retreat).

References and Resources Teams That Click, Harvard Business School Press,2004 Appreciative Team Building, Whitney, Trosten-Bloom, Cherney and Fry, 2004 Facilitating with Ease, Bens, 2005 Overcoming The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Field Guide, Lencioni, 2005

Contact Information Cheryl W. Caldwell, Program Manager USGS-CADR, Reston, Virginia 703-648-7469 (Office) ccaldwell@usgs.gov Terry L. Scruggs, Collaboration Specialist USGS-CADR, Norcross, Georgia 770-409-7752 tscruggs@usgs.gov Department of Interior Office of Collaborative Action and Dispute Resolution Washington, DC Website: www.doi/cadr