Teams are increasingly the structure of choice for doing some of the most important work in a wide variety of organizations. To do that work, many teams are being given increasing responsibility, authority and autonomy. However, as in sports, it's hard to play the game well without knowing the score. Further, much of the pleasure of working with others can come from the act of "scoring" together. Measurements are a way of "scorekeeping," but many teams strongly resist measures. This resistance may be a result of a long history of using the majority of measurements and assessments for organizational control, rather than operational guidance.

The focus of this interactive workshop is the process of developing guidance measures for teams that will help them understand their current status, find and plan their next growth steps, and manage the processes or operations for which they have responsibility. There is no single set of measures that can apply to every team, but rather there are some ways and approaches to develop meaningful and helpful measures and assessments essential for an effective team environment.

This workshop will explore measurements and assessments in three key quality team areas:

• Team Process - How the team is working together. Elements might include decision styles, stage of team development, participation, etc. The objective here is to find the appropriate "mirrors" for the team.
• Team Functioning - How the team is operating relative to expectations of tasks, milestones and/or accomplishments. Elements might include cost consciousness, customer focus, innovation/improvement, etc. The challenge here is to develop assessment tools that provide both status and next steps.
• Process Functioning - How the process or task for which the team is responsible is working. Elements might include error rates, rework, repair, overtime, turnover, etc. The task here is to develop a process "dashboard" that the team can use while "driving" the process.

Although several model/example measures and assessments will be examined, the primary objective will be on the means and methods to develop your own unique, meaningful and useful sets.