A team is two or more people working together to accomplish a common purpose. If two or more people are seeking to work together, successful communication is critical. The CRCA Team Communication Cycle is an effective way to facilitate communication within the team.

Teams are a resource of tremendous potential and tapping the genius, insight and potential in any team is the challenge of team communication. Individuals who make up the team can bring a vast knowledge, understanding, ability, expertise, insight, intuition, access and energy to the team, yet these assets are not immediately obvious or easily accessible. We have an unmined deposit.

While the team contains the untapped resources of great knowledge and energy, it also harbors misperceptions, partial understanding, blind spots, invalid assumptions, irrational responses, prejudice and bias. The key to successful teamwork is to separate the two (untapped resources) (misperceptions) utilizing the former and discarding the latter. Just as the prospector panned for gold and carefully sorted the gold from the mud, a team must select the genius of insight from the mud of misinformation.

The CRCA Team Communication Cycle, a specifically designed communication method, facilitates the team’s gathering of information and the sorting of the valuable from the worthless. It is a very specific method used to facilitate teamwork by managing communication. It utilizes the same probing questions that drive the team process to stimulate each team member to draw on the pool of resources he/she brings to the task in order to utilize the collective resources for the team.

The challenge of an effective team facilitator, like a prospector of old, is to separate what is valuable from what is not. While teams generate a great deal of information, not everything is useful. To collect and sort information, effective teams follow the five sequential steps of the CRCA Team Communication Cycle:

1. Ask a probing question.

2. Provide time to find potential answers.

3. Report all potential answers.

4. Discuss and analyze all potential answers.

5. Agree as a team on the answer.

• Problem solving research and development
• Strategic business planning
• Project planning
• Conflict resolution
• Creative thinking
• Market analysis
• Product application
• Machine utilization
• Communication
• Multi-shift problems
• Think-tank teams
• Partnering
• Morale
• Manufacturing
• Safety
• Motivation
• Product recall
• Customer Service
• Culture
• Supplier/vendor
• System analysis
• Quality

(New applications are reported constantly by those trained in the use of the material.)

Team Facilitation is the key to successful teamwork. Effective teams are facilitated by leaders who know and understand both the art and the science of TEAMS.

1. A Team Facilitator is experienced in participation methods and in team facilitation.

2. A Team Facilitator believes that teams can and will generate synergistic results.

3. A Team Facilitator leads with optimistic expectancy.

4. A Team Facilitator can balance the dynamics of the team.

5. A Team Facilitator uses a team-friendly process.

Creative Root Cause Analysis is a positive and effective team-friendly method that facilitates an environment where synergy can be realized. The process itself does not produce synergy, but aids the team in producing synergistic results. The team-friendly, problem solving and discussion steps utilized by this method create an environment where teams can be highly efficient and effective.

Understanding and utilizing this unique and powerful process requires people to assess their attitudes and assumptions about problem solving. It requires abandoning old problem-solving prejudices and shifting to a new paradigm of team problem solving.

At the conclusion of each step of the process and before progressing to the next step, the team will be asked three YES/NO questions. If the answer to all three questions is YES, the team is ready to proceed to the next step. If the answer to any one of the three questions is NO, the team must remain at that step and complete the work until the answer is YES.

The Phases, Steps and “Go/No Go” signals are organized as follows:

Phase I: Team-Up: Gather and charter a team for a specific purpose.

Step 1. Assemble the Team for a specific purpose.

“Go/No Go” Signals:

✦Identify the Need by specifying what needs to be addressed.

✦Determine Expectations by articulating the desired outcome.

✦Establish Membership by selecting the team participants.

Step 2. Acquaint the Team members with each other and the purpose.

“Go/No Go” Signals:

✦Build Relationships by becoming personally acquainted with each teammate. (See Team Building Posts on Team Personality.)

✦Unify Purpose by reaching a consensus of purpose. (See Post on Unifying Team Purpose.)

✦Contract Operandi by agreeing on rules for working as a team. (See Post on Discovering Team Operandi.)

Phase II: Team-Input: Utilize the resources pooled within the team.
Step 3.  Arouse the Team to action using inquiry to stimulate involvement.

“Go/No Go” Signals:

✦Ask Probing Questions to spark the inquisitive interests of the team Members. (See Post on Probing Questions.)

✦Involve Everyone by encouraging total team participation.

✦Provide Time to Scrutinize; conduct necessary inquiry activities.

Step 4. Affirm the Team by openly accepting all possible answers to the question.

“Go/No Go” Signals:

✦Listen to Everyone by accepting all input from team members.

✦Accept Uniqueness by encouraging a variety of perspectives.

✦Level Communication by receiving all input regardless of status.

Phase III: Team-Work: Process and refine all input gathered.
Step 5. Analyze the Team Input through rational, issue-focused discussion.

“Go/No Go” Signals:

✦Suspend Prejudice by requiring reasonable explanation and responses.

✦Discuss Rationally by keeping all discussion focused on the issue.

✦Analyze Thoroughly by using appropriate tools of critical analysis.

Step 6. Agree on a Team Decision seeking the optimum viable consensus.

“Go/No Go” Signals:

✦Evaluate Options: by subjecting all potential decisions to review.

✦Determine Priorities: by establishing a list of prioritized viable options.

✦Consent to Agree: on the optimum viable decision as a team.

Phase IV: Team-Output: Deploy the decision to fulfill the initial need.
Step 7. Activate the Team Decision by planning its implementation.

“Go/No Go” Signals:

✦Detail Steps by specifying the steps of implementation.

✦Allocate Resources by identifying what resources are needed.

✦Target Timetable by establishing a timeline for implementation.

Step 8. Account for the Results by measurement and feedback.

“Go/No Go” Signals:

✦Implement Decision by executing the plan.

✦Measure Results by assessing impacts and outcomes.

✦Inform Stakeholders by sharing all results with interested parties.

The Driving Team Performance Master Facilitator Guide and all related products are available. Click on the Icon on the left panel of this blog to learn more.

All teams must have a purpose for their existence. “Teamwork starts with a need.” The need might be a problem or conflict, a dysfunction or trouble, information gathered or dispensed, a project/task or issue/concern. A need is so primary or central to the formation and function of a team that it could be said, “If there is no need, no team is needed.”

The top circle of the figure “8″ illustrates the formation of a team around a specific need. The arc sweeps around the need as a tactile illustration on the momentum of a team forming around a need.

The arc progresses to the lower circle. The momentum of the team forming around a need and then sweeping into the second circle illustrates that the “need drives the team.” Here, “The team addresses the need.”

As the figure “8″ sweeps back to the upper circle again, the tactical imagery demonstrates that, “The team fulfills the need.” The process is completed at the top of the figure “8″ with, “The team fulfills the need around which it was originally formed.”

How is the 8-Step Process Organized?

Driving Team Performance has been divided into Four Phases:

Team-Up: Gather and charter a team for a specific purpose.

Team-Input: Utilize the resources pooled within the team.

Team-Work: Process and refine all the input gathered.

Team-Output: Deploy the decision to fulfill the initial need.

The Four Phases are subdivided into two steps each, eight steps total. Each step builds in a dependent fashion on the step that precedes it. These 8-steps are:

Assemble the Team for a specific purpose.

Acquaint the Team members with each other and the purpose.

Arouse the Team to action using inquiry to stimulate involvement.

Affirm the Team by openly accepting all possible answers to the question.

Analyze the Team Input through rational, issue-focused discussion.

Agree on a Team Decision seeking the optimum viable consensus.

Activate the Team Decision by planning its implementation.

Account for the Results
by measurement and feedback.

The Driving Team Performance Master Facilitator Guide and related team products are available. Click on the Driving Team Performance Icon on the left panel of this blog to learn more.

Driving Team Performance exposes the knowledge, insight, expertise, opinion, and intuition of each team member in order to develop greater insight and synergistic results. The process is guided by what is expected (a positive result) and inspires innovation.

Driving Team Performance is based on three assumptions:

(1) Insight/ Intuition – each person has knowledge, intuition, expertise, and ability – essential information;

(2) Team Synergy – teams working together in a rational, collaborative manner can produce better results than the same people working independently; and,

(3) Repeatable Success – best practices and benchmarks of successful teams can be identified.

What do Customers say about Driving Team Performance?

• Inspired commitment to teams and their projects
• Increased understanding and support for teams
• Improved quality, service, and productivity
• A boost to morale and enhanced positive team spirit
• Increased energy and inspiration within teams
• Teams motivated to effective implementation
• Promotion of driving team performance
• Creative, effective results are generated by teams
• Increased team and personal confidence, and self-respect

The Driving Team Performance Master Facilitator Guide and team products are available. Click on the Driving Team Performance Icon on the left panel of this blog to learn more.

This 8-step process is the foundation for the Center for Creative Teamwork (CCT) Advanced Team System. Each of the additional processes, that comprise the system, is built upon this process. For optimum results, it is important that teams be trained in this process method.

How is Driving Team Performance Unique?

Driving Team Performance was designed to make successful team performance a normal and regular occurrence.

Driving Team Performance:

✦ eliminates the erratic, haphazard approach that often surrounds teams and diminishes their effectiveness.

✦ is an understandable, visual, learnable, repeatable, teachable method that teams can employ time and time again and produce winning results.

✦ provides a logical, orderly, and yet, innovative and creative approach to training, facilitating and functioning as a team.

✦ measures and maintains total team quality throughout the process.

✦ is the next step in the task of putting synergy to work in real-life situations.

What are the Benefits of Driving Team Performance?

✦ Motivates teams to greater challenges and accomplishments

✦ Energizes teams toward higher expectations and success

✦ Enhances team spirit

✦ Maintains quality team operation

✦ Sparks creative and innovative ideas from people

✦ Facilitates continuous improvement and accountability

✦ Increases productivity and profit

✦ Forces teams out of their conventional “box”

✦ Levels the team environment

✦ Gets results every time it is used

The Driving Team Performance Master Facilitator Guide and team products are available. Click on the Driving Team Performance Icon on the left panel of this blog to learn more.

1. Practical: What are the practical considerations of this option?
2. Environmental: How will this option impact its environment?
3. Negative Potential: What is this option’s realistic, worst case scenario?
4. Positive Potential: What is this option’s realistic, best case scenario?
5. Ideal: How does this option satisfy the decision objectives?

When decisions fail, or support for decisions break down within the team, most often the root cause is that one or more of these areas was missed, ignored or otherwise not given ample consideration. The “Synergy Star” provides a structure and process to guide the team through an open and candid consideration of all five factors.

Making Team Decisions (MTD) is not a strategic planning or a problem solving process. The Advanced Team System has specific processes for problem solving (Creative Root Cause Analysis) and a strategic planning process (Planning Team Strategy). The “Synergy Star” is a tool to facilitate effective choice and viable decision making for problem solving/or planning.

The Making Team Decisions: Synergy Star 607 Application is opened by clicking on the icon, as any application on your computer. I keep all my Center for Creative Teamwork (CCT) Applications visible and ready to use on my desktop.

Getting Started: Users have the option to: “Start New Session” by giving a “Name” to the decision to be made. This is important because a name can set the scope and parameters of the decision to be made in the minds of the decision makers. The second option is to “Open a Previous Session” by highlighting the name previously designated. There are also four, file management options available to the user. Instructions are posted at the top of the graphic.

Flash Illustration: The old adage of “one foot on the dock and one foot in the boat” is a fun “flash” animation. Click “Start” to proceed.

Decision Guidelines: The team answers and posts the agreed upon answers to three questions. All posted information is saved and available in Pdf or print at the completion of the process. When the three questions have been answered, click “Proceed.”

1. What is to be decided?
2. What is the time line/deadline?
3. What are the objectives of this decision? Be sure that each objective statement answers/meets the following criteria: Specific: Is it precisely stated? Realistic: Is it doable? Worthwhile: Will it satisfy the “stakeholders”? Measurable: How can it be assessed?

Use the Team Communication Cycle to discuss and agree on each area of consideration and corresponding probing question. The topic, time line and objectives, determined at the launch of the process, will be posted. If you click “NEXT” the star will rotate. You can also open points individually in your own order, or reopen a point by clicking on the point. The five star points are labeled as follows:

Practical Considerations include time, people, material and finances.

What are the practical considerations of this option?

Environmental Considerations include systems, culture, sensitivities, customers, timing, personal issues, internal and external. How will this option impact its environment?

Negative Potential Considerations include weaknesses, liabilities, threats, abuses, politics, and impact. What is this option’s realistic, worst-case scenario?

Positive Potential Considerations include strengths, assets, opportunities, impact, and potential. What is this option’s realistic, best-case scenario?

Ideal Considerations require a comparison to the original decision objectives.

How does this option satisfy the decision objectives?

Decision: What is the optimum decision?

The purpose of this step is to guide the team in making a selective choice among viable alternatives. The Discussion of all five questions leads the team to an optimum decision. These five areas will address most concerns related to any discussion and ultimate decision.

The team is to arrive at a team decision by considering all information generated, and agreed upon, when answering the probing questions for each of the five areas.

The Advanced Team System, Volume I, has a detailed discussion of team facilitation details. It is useful in the use of the “Synergy Star” Interactive Application. To learn more, click on the “Products” link on the upper left of this blog.

There are Five (5) popular strategies/methods that are most often used by teams to “reach a consensus.” Using “win/lose” language, these methods can be ranked in a value order from the lowest level of greatest losses to the highest level of most gains. It is useful to a team to agree on the method they will use to “reach consensus.” This is illustrated by the picture and the definitions.

Consensus: Reaching agreement by some form of strategy acceptance (i.e., agree to agree, and/or accept decision).

Synergy: A total effect or outcome that is greater than the sum of any one individual effort. It occurs when team members innovate/create together by being catalysts to one another.

Collaborate: An agreement forged by mutual efforts. It occurs by deliberately, diligently working and massaging thoughts and ideas in such a way that a joint decision emerges. It is a win/win strategy.

Cooperate: An agreement for mutual benefit that occurs by making a joint decision of quid-pro-quo (trade offs) so that the greatest success can be accomplished. It is a lose a little/gain a lot strategy.

Vote: A majority decision that occurs by use of win/lose polling. It is very efficient as a win/lose strategy, but not necessarily effective.

Compromise: An agreement by concession or giving up something. It occurs by making the safest, non-threatening decision and is a lose a lot/gain a little strategy.

The details of consensus are included in Advanced Team System, Volume I and Making Team Decisions.For more information, visit the Products link on the upper left of this blog.

1. Ask Probing Questions
2. Provide time to Scrutinize
3. Affirm the Team
4. Analyze the Team Input
5. Agree on a Team Decision

1. Ask Probing Questions. Arouse the team to action using inquiry to stimulate involvement by asking Probing Questions. A Probing Question is one that cannot be answered with a simple Yes or No, but requires the individual to draw on his/her own knowledge, experience, insight, expertise and intuition in order to formulate a response. The asking of probing questions is an affirmation of each team member. It says, “Tell me what you know, think, understand; share your insight with us.”

2. Provide Time to Scrutinize. Each person is allowed time to formulate and record his/her own thoughts. This has immediate and positive benefits. The emphasis is placed on substance rather than quickness. Everyone has something to contribute. This simple facilitation tool extends the team’s resources beyond simply relying on those few who are verbally quick to respond.

Scrutinizing can include:

Introspect: Look inside yourself for insight, understanding and experience. Ask yourself, “What do I know, understand, think and feel about this topic or issue? What is my intuitive sense?”

Interview: Ask other stakeholders, “What do you know, understand, think and feel about X. What is your intuitive sense? Why?”

Investigate: Look into records, data, policy, procedures, past incidents; ‘Google’ the topic and see what you can learn. Put on a detective’s hat and dig into the topic/issue. Involve all team members in the scrutinizing of the Probing Question.

3. Affirm the Team by accepting the feedback of each member. Each team member has been asked the Probing Question and has been given time to scrutinize. It only follows that we ask team members to share what they find by openly accepting all possible answers to the Probing Question. Each team member reports his/her answers to the Probing Question by reporting one idea or thought per turn in rotating fashion until all potential answers to the Probing Question have been recorded. In reporting, consider using small group communication patterns: Dyads, two people discussing a probing question; Triads, three people discussing a probing question; Quads, four people discussing a probing question. When working with teams of five or more persons, use the Circular Response Technique where each person offers one statement or answer in rotation. No one can speak twice until everyone has spoken once. By offering one idea at a time, each team member contributes to building the list of information.

The affirmation of reporting must include three factors:

Listening to Everyone

Acceptance of Uniqueness

Level Communication

4. Analyze the Team Input through rational, issue-focused discussion. As a team, use open discussion to consider all reported information. Consider similarities and differences. Analyze all data thoroughly as it relates to the topic or issue at hand. Use logical, rational, issue-focused verbal interchange in a civil dialogue to seek team consensus.

The analysis-discussion must include three factors:

Suspending Prejudice

Discussing Rationally

Analyzing Thoroughly

5. Agree on a Team Decision seeking the optimum consensus. Agree, as a team, on an optimum consensus answer to the original Probing Question. Write the team decision answer on a flip chart or project data on a screen with an LCD. Keep the information visible throughout the process. When proceeding to the next step, use the posted information to keep the team focused.

Decision making as a team must include three factors:

Evaluating options

Determining priorities

Consenting to agree