Course Content

The course is in three parts.

• Part One is an introduction to the essential components of team performance and why teamwork is important,
• Part Two covers the essential components of team performance comprehensively and forms the core of the course and
• Part Three is dedicated to guidelines for implementing a team performance system, the most common pitfalls, case studies and team models.

While each module can stand alone, together they form a comprehensive team performance system. Each module contains examples, summaries, checklists, glossaries and quality standards. This course consists of 12 modules divided into three parts.

Part I: Preparation

Consists of three modules.

Introduction - Introduces the course and the authors.

Module One - The Big Picture provides a summary of the essential components of team performance. These are the basic components necessary to improve performance: individual performance, team performance and organisational performance. The aim is to implement these basics so as to build successful, high-performance teams. This module also clarifies the scope of the book.

Module Two - Why Develop Teams? addresses the impetuses driving the implementation of organisational teams, namely, the inability of traditional organisation structures to meet current employee needs, a highly competitive market place and the need for organisations to provide total stakeholder satisfaction to survive and grow. The module discusses how the essential components of team performance can assist with the development of teams.

Part II: The Essential Components of Team Performance

Consists of seven modules.

Modules three to nine address each of the essential components of team performance. These modules form the core of the course.

Module Three - A Unified Sense of Direction means the entire organisation, and all the teams and the individuals which make it up, are pulling in the same direction. The first step in the development of a team-based organisation is clarity, focus and agreement about the values, vision and mission of the organisation. This will focus the team on what is important, where it wants to be, and how it will get there.

Module Four - Role Clarification shows how to identify the customers and stakeholders in order to help define and clarify the roles of the various teams and individuals that make up an organisation. An essential step in achieving success through team performance is defining the team and clarifying both team and individual roles.

Module Five - Outputs, Measures and Targets show how to define the team's roles, now that customers and stakeholders have been clarified. Customer needs and expectations are clarified by developing a set of team outputs, measures and targets.

Module Six - Performance-linked Communication focuses on communication from a performance point of view. It answers the question 'What communication skills, systems and processes are needed to improve performance, to improve the delivery of outputs to customers and stakeholders?' A successful communication system must have entrenched mechanisms for communicating, analysing and discussing performance feedback on the outputs produced for customers and stakeholders so as to continuously improve productivity, quality and teamwork.

Module Seven - Performance-linked Learning shows how to ensure the delivery of the right skills and knowledge, in the right place, at the right time. This is achieved by implementing an ongoing, purposeful performance-linked learning system that is an integral part of the continuous improvement system. The outcome - training focused on identified output and performance requirements.

Module Eight - Team-based Organisation Structures describes current organisational structures, stressing that there is no best structure, rather the best structure will best facilitate the meeting of the following criteria: support the strategy; accommodate the opportunities and threats in the internal and external environment; achieve autonomous outputs, measures and targets; and satisfy the current needs and values of all employees.

Module Nine - Rewarding Performance shows how to establish reward systems that satisfy the motivational needs of all employees, and result in measurable team and organisational performance improvement. The module addresses positive recognition systems and team-based financial reward systems, showing how to implement a system that rewards performance, not mediocrity.

Part III: Implementation

Consists of two modules.

Module Ten - Implementation: Guidelines and Pitfalls provides guidelines for implementation and pitfalls to avoid. This chapter is based on the experience gained and the lessons learned from years of hands-on implementation in the field.

Module Eleven - Case Studies and Team Models concludes the book with a selection of case studies written by Australian organisational teams that have implemented our processes as well as model examples of some of the basic components of team performance selected from live teams. Titles include:

• Creation of self-directed work teams in the wool processing industry
• Cultural change in the electricity industry
• Performance workshops in the mining industry
• The ideal corporate training department
• The ideal haulier (truck) maintenance system
• A Meals-on-Wheels team in local government
• Teamwork promotes a smooth flow
• Teamwork - the holy grail?
• Teamwork must contribute to outcomes.

What our clients say about Success Through Team Performance

Monty is passionate about business improvement using teams. Through his workshops he ensures there is a consistent and unified sense of direction at all a level within the organisation. He also ensures the team goals are aligned both horizontally and vertically. Monty is unique in his ability to work at all levels of the organisation, but some of his best results are at the grass root levels where the actual work gets done and where the biggest productivity gains can often be found. Monty is a change agent and his systemic approach ensures changes are embedded in the organisation and have long lasting and positive effects.

John Hall, Managing Director, Ricoh

Monty has worked with a number of our manufacturing work teams in providing training to our employees that engages them to come to the understanding that they have an important contribution to their own work environment. We now have a more engaged workforce in which ideas for improvement are communicated, more employees feel empowered to Act which improves our own business performance.

Paul Manks, General Manager, Boral

Monty is an exceptional business consultant with high expectations of himself and his range of services to exceed his clients’ needs. We encountered this through the "Self-Managed Teams' workshops in a previous organization ( Michel) that I worked and where the outcomes far exceeded what we were looking for in making 'change' to our operational functions. The outcomes of these workshops made significant improvements to our organisational outputs, measures and objectives. In addition to this, the morale of the workforce improved more than 100% on pre/post workshop surveys. I would have no hesitation in recommending Monty to any other organisation and also, to read his books on various business strategies.

Brian Peel, Training and Development Manager, Michel