SUPERCHARGE
YOUR WORK TEAM
Seven Steps To Create A High Performing Team
By Bart Allen Berry
Smashwords Edition
Copyright 2013 Bart Allen Berry
Discover Other Titles By Bart Allen Berry at:
/>This book or its parts may not be copied or reproduced without the permission of the author.
Table Of Contents
Introduction
Step One: Create A Rationale For Teamwork
Step Two: Establishing The Ideal State Of The Team
Step Three: Establishing The Teamwork Baseline – Where Is The Team Today?
Step Four: Learning By Experience, The Team Practices Better Teamwork Together
Step Five: The High Energy Shared Experience, Tapping Into The Emotional Commitment To
The Team
Step Six: Individual Contribution And Commitment To The Team
Step Seven: Capturing Team Learning, Commitment And Follow Through
Appendix
About The Author
Introduction
All organizations, even the smallest, depend on teamwork for their success. A high performing
team is not only capable of more but serves as an inspiration to others by demonstrating what’s
possible when people work together well.
Creating a high performing team is a structured, proven process through which you can tap more
of a teams’ potential to attain significant improvements in performance and productivity. An
additional benefit is the improvement in job satisfaction for all concerned.
‘Synergy’ might seems like an overused term in management science lingo, but there really is no
better word to describe the dynamic effect produced when:
- Barriers to teamwork are removed
- The work team defines a stronger identity for themselves as a high performing team

Poor teamwork impacts the organization’s bottom line. Dysfunctional, underperforming and
ineffective teams create inefficiency, waste, rework and mistakes. They can be the cause of low
morale, they undermine worker commitment and initiative, and can be a major cause of stress in
the workplace.
If poor teamwork is pervasive, it can rob an organization of its competitive advantage and
threaten its very existence.
Consider some of the ramifications of low levels of teamwork:
Excessive sick leave
Stress-related illnesses
Missed deadlines, quotas, or production goals
Poor quality of products and services
Conflict
Lack of communication within and between departments
Customer dissatisfaction
Lost customers
Lack of creativity
Stifled initiative
Workplace sabotage (disgruntled employees who erase vital computer files, etc.)
Work teams who never reach their potential
Retention problems resulting in the need for costly recruitment and training of replacement
workers
A negative atmosphere that turns away the best talent
Upset workers who file expensive lawsuits
Lack of confidence and support for management
The list goes on.
The costs can escalate exponentially over time if teamwork issues are not identified and
corrected. These issues can jeopardize even a successful business in today’s competitive
marketplace. A comment you often hear about a company on the ropes is “They just can’t get it
together.” Lack of teamwork can almost always be identified as one of the central issues when a
company is floundering, identifying it as a symptom or a cause.

Any organization needs a complete process for team development, not a hit-and-miss strategy.
There are many incomplete approaches to team development today. Consultants are usually
willing to build a program around whatever the company is willing to spend in time and money
regardless of whether it is really what the organization needs or whether it will produce lasting
results. Most training companies would never admit to this, of course, but let the buyer of
training beware! While such trainers are well intended, there are dangers inherent in fragmentary
approaches to team development.
28 years of teamwork consulting and training reminds us that our challenge is always to get the
client to commit to a process that is actually going to achieve their desired outcome of creating
high performance teams.
In today’s downsized business environment, time is as much a factor as cost when making a
commitment to team development programs. In the 1980s, three to five-day team training
programs were the norm, and significant change could be accomplished in that length of time.
The time companies were willing to invest became shorter in the 1990s until today the trend is
toward one and two-day team programs, sometimes shrinking to half day or one to two hour
segments. Such time restraints make it extremely difficult for a teamwork trainer to achieve the
desired results. Shorter programs like these miss the mark and create a bad reputation for the
teamwork consulting industry. Such ineffective team development models set unrealistic
expectations and give the entire concept a bad name with employees as well as training decision
makers.
The Seven-Step Team Transformation Process
There is another way for companies who are willing to abandon this shortsighted approach and
make a deeper commitment. We are not talking here about some huge, multi-level long term
consulting and training initiative, but an efficient methodology for real team transformation-
driven at the departmental level. This process incorporates the aspects necessary for real change,
but in most cases it does not involve a long drawn out process. Designed for efficiency and with
affordability and practicality in mind, the Seven Step Team Transformation Process is your
most direct route to building high-performing teams.
The process outlined in this book is both measurable and actionable. It has a strong “train to
production” orientation. Not a collection of abstract theories or pie-in-the-sky concepts, this book

needed. The additional resources should only be necessary in areas that directly impact the
team’s productivity and effectiveness. These investments in better teamwork should yield a rapid
return, as is their purpose.
SUPERCHARGE YOUR WORK TEAMS Seven Steps to A High Performing Team represents a
much more cost-effective and efficient approach to team improvement than any other method or
strategy in practice today.
Selecting Teams For Transformation
If you are convinced that team transformation is right for your organization or one of the may
functional groups at your company, where do you begin? As stated before, any team can benefit
from this process. As you select the team(s) for improvement, keep these four criteria in mind
when selecting teams who would benefit from the Seven Steps Process:
The team serves a vital function
The team is expected to remain intact over a reasonable amount of time
The team’s success would positively impact the organization
Problems on the team are negatively affecting productivity of themselves and others
Read this entire book and share it with others in your organization to see if they also have
interest in finding an efficient and effective process to improve teamwork. Sometimes it is easier
to get agreement to follow a proven recipe, than to start baking from scratch.
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Step 1. Create A Rationale For Teamwork
When I stand before the functional work group members who have shown up for their first team
building session, I can read their minds. They’re looking at me sideways, thinking, “This is the
latest flavor-of-the-month training program,” or asking themselves, “How much do I have to
fake a sense of cooperation with my co-workers while my boss is in the room? Everybody knows
this team will never get along.” Some are worried about how they are going to avoid interacting
with their co-workers or looking bad or being embarrassed by some ‘touchy-feely’ exercise I
might introduce.
Others might be hoping that this workshop will not result in some new work assignment, or
worse, that they’ll be appointed to some new committee set up with the usual vague goals and

forming a better way of working together. Individuals without functional relationships should not
be placed in team development programs together.
In order to discover and claim their own potential excellence as a team, it is first of all critical for
groups to understand that building a high performing team is a process, not a didactic lecture or
one-time event. This is not necessarily a long process, (our typical high performing team
program takes a weekend), but it will require active involvement and participation of all the
team members to work together on developing themselves.
I cannot walk into a session with any group and tell them how to ‘do teamwork’. Most work
groups will resent being told what to do. What I can do, however is to guide group members
through a process in which they will come up with the answers to their own challenges
themselves. While I have a good idea of what they need to learn, I don’t always know what each
group will value, prioritize or commit to in terms of working together. I am there to represent the
process; the team members themselves represent the content, and the potential depending upon
their level of commitment and involvement.
Supercharging a team, means fundamentally that a team develops a higher level of commitment
to one another and to their work than they ever have before, eliminating the blocks to higher
levels of performance, developing a stronger skill base for better teamwork, and tuning the
teamwork behavior and commitment of each individual team member. These are of course the
goals of the Team Supercharging program, but getting there is a journey the work team must
make together. The easiest place to start with any work group is with basic logic.
Define the Rationale for Teamwork
Teamwork makes good sense for both the organization and the individual.
When “team building” or “teamwork training” is mentioned, many employees envision a picnic-
type corporate event with sack races and Olympics style activities or perhaps some sappy slogans
and posters hung around their work area. These quite understandable attitudes create a barrier to
team building. In order to change this perspective, our high performing team programs start with
a very simple process that effectively articulates the ‘business necessity’ of teamwork in the
organization. Here’s how it works:
Participants are divided into two equal size groups.
1) The first group is directed to make a list of all of the benefits to themselves, their department,

Stress
Job-related illness/sick days
Lack of job security
Higher incidence of employee claims against the company
Lack of clarity/focus
Inefficiency/redundancy
Waste
Missed deliveries
Political infighting
Lack of professional development opportunities
Low morale and poor working climate
Lack of employee involvement
Co-worker conflict
Customer satisfaction shortfalls
Lack of trust/honesty
More dependency on strict policies and procedures
Mistakes and errors
Lack of creativity
Low commitment
Low initiative
Most of these are the common elements we have found in working with all types of
organizations. Rather than a teamwork trainer writing these items on a white board as the basis
for a lecture, the team is much more involved in the ‘process’ of defining these impacts
themselves. With this approach team members are forced to think about the teamwork in their
own unique situation. When they define the benefits of teamwork and the penalties to the
organization when it is absent, their curiosity about how to ‘do teamwork better’ begins to
emerge.
When teamwork issues are self-defined this way, the “carrot” then becomes the first list since it
clearly describes an environment in which most employees and managers would prefer to work.
The second list becomes the “stick”, or the obvious ‘bad list’ of descriptors most teams would

money. What motivates individuals are the elements that foster more employee participation,
involvement, greater personal responsibility, and the opportunity to make a more meaningful
contribution. The chance to establish better relationships with co-workers is also high on the list.
Salary increases are often further down the list of items workers come up with in the exercise.
The point here is that every organization, and every department or functional work group, needs
to spend the time and energy to demonstrate the relationship between better teamwork and
personal worker benefit. If a new team work approach is going to mean extra work, more
meetings, and a more demanding work environment, most would prefer to work alone.
Show workers that teamwork is a way to reduce individual stress, to fulfill individual job
responsibilities more effectively, to improve work processes, and to meet goals and objectives
that will translate into higher personal reward, involvement and recognition, and they will be
more likely to support team-building activities.
Several of the goals of the high performing team process are to insure much higher individual
worker involvement, appreciation for the unique contributions of each of the team members, and
getting everyone on the same page so that individual outcomes are in direct alignment with team
objectives. This needs to be a major stated goal up front – and as logical as it is to understand
that the work team will perform better when each worker gives their best, re-orienting the team
to operate this way will be at the heart of this transformational process.
Return On Investment: Good teamwork is linked to measurable outcomes.
As a final part of the exercise in the first step to create a high performing team, the members are
asked to create a list of measures of workplace performance that they would expect to improve if
the group were able to achieve better teamwork. These measures must be “hard outcome
measures,” in other words things, things that will be noticeably or measurably different—factors
that can be directly attributed to a positive change in teamwork.
This list will be used later in the Team Transformation Process to determine whether any
measurable progress has been made. Typically it will include such items as:
Decreased number of errors/mistakes (what is current rate?)
Faster production times (what is the production time now?)
Lowered costs in specific areas (what are current costs?)
Faster customer response time (how fast do we respond today)

participation and involvement and that it is business worthy of their attention.
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Step 2. Establishing The Ideal State for the Team
By the second step, hopefully, the workgroup is now listening, and you’re talking about their
favorite subject—themselves and personal benefit to them—so what’s next?
In order to commit to any new initiative, people must do more than just agree that it makes sense.
Team members need to believe in the entire premise. After all, what we are trying to do here is to
create a whole new team working environment—one that is much more productive and effective.
That implies effort, and people commit to effort when they like and believe in the initiative; they
buy in.
What’s required next is to give each member of the team a chance to articulate their personal
vision of the ideal team in terms of its mission and function as they see it—or would like to see
it. No one wants to be on a team run with a single person’s agenda, playing a role he doesn’t
agree with, and functioning in a way that makes him feel uncomfortable. Unfortunately, this does
happen all the time in many organizations, and is one of the fastest ways to kill employee
initiative. When workers ‘check out’, their body is present to ‘punch the clock’ but their best
energies are not engaged.
People are frequently added to work groups without much orientation or attention to their
alignment within the structure and function of the team. New team members are left to find their
own way and sort out their working relationships. Seldom are they asked their opinion about the
team or their input about their role within it or how the team gets things done together.
The tasks and objectives of the work group must be accomplished with each team member
having real accountability and responsibility, but how the work gets done is really what we are
talking about here. A purely task-oriented approach to work isolates individuals, deters
collaboration or integration of work processes and creates a cold work environment. Teams who
are “hot stuff” are noticeably more warm and connected in their relationships with one another.
Involving the team in the creation of its own identity and values does not mean re-designing its
work; it means redesigning its teamwork. Team members long for the opportunity to have input
into how they will function together, and the enlightened managers will create the opportunity

see all of the ideas at once.
The individual answers will fall into natural classifications with many similarities, much to the
group’s surprise. Logical categories are then created with one summary word or for each. As the
categories are named and established, the individual sheets are re-ordered on the wall
accordingly. This categorizing clearly demonstrates the similarities in ideas from different
members of the group, integrates everyone’s perspectives, and creates short simple concepts that
team members can hang their hats on.
As they work to find the term that summarizes a category of similar sounding answers, the
individuals have begun to define themselves as a team and to determine what their team stands
for. This is a conversation that most work groups have never had. Individuals are asked to clarify
their meaning to specific postings, stimulating interaction, discussion and clarification of ideals,
values and motivations between team members. Once again, team members are the drivers of
their own process.
For the answers to this first question in the Team Ideal State Process, group members typically
mention that they want their team to be:
Larger
More profitable
Better resourced
Happier
Better at communicating
More successful
Innovative (new products)
Better at reaching/completing goals
Well-respected by customers and co-workers
Coordinated
In new offices or facilities
More committed
More profitable
Etc
This first question forces a group to think about themselves as a team—what progress they have

Easiest to work with
Reliable
Etc.
Teams also like to win. This natural tendency is present in virtually every team I have ever
worked with, domestically and internationally. The point of the exercise is not to have them
come up with the answers that I know they will eventually reach, but rather to participate in a
process by which they reach the consensus that they want to excel together and be seen as the
best. Defining and developing this common motivation is the beginning of creating the leverage
needed for individual and team commitment to change.
As this exercise continues, all of the ideas are left on the wall for everyone to see. With the
addition of the second set of answers, the categorization further reveals the collective
consciousness of the group. Each idea and each individual’s contribution is given full
consideration, sorted out, defined more crisply, and prioritized as the process continues. Themes
that seem to be repeated or endorsed by similar postings of individual contributors continue to
emerge and are affinitized with one another. Each category of answers is then boiled down to a
single summary all-inclusive word. The third question is then presented:
“What is most important to you in terms of how this team works together?
This question, which is often more personal and revealing in terms of individual interactions and
behavioral preferences, is purposely left until last so that the group is well warmed up before
they tackle these deeper issues. Resistant group members will be more likely to participate by the
third question, but might not necessarily respond well if this were the first question in this
process. By this point, individuals are more open because a process has been established that
seems safe and inclusive. They now know that their ideas and opinions will be acknowledged.
Typically this third question will uncover a series of interpersonal issues and shared hopes for a
more positive team dynamic.
Answers will often include a desire for:
Honesty
Mutual Respect and Appreciation
Fair treatment/promotion
Trust

says is revealing here. Upon examination of the things employees say they want in the “ideal
state of the team” exercise, it is easy to see this hierarchy of needs expressed.
Physiological Needs are reflected in desires such as:
Job security
Making sufficient income for food and shelter
Safety and Security Needs are clearly seen when employees ask:
For more information sharing from management
To be kept informed of policies and procedures that affect them
To work in an environment where they are not going to be yelled at or be repeatedly disparaged,
undervalued or otherwise psychologically threatened
Affiliation Needs are pronounced in even the most evolved teams:
The need to be accepted by the group
The need to have input
The need for respect as a professional
The need to be trusted to do one’s work
The need to be listened to
Self Actualization Needs, at the top of the Maslow’s pyramid, are perhaps the most powerful
motivators for any team member. Motivation in this area can be more powerful than financial
incentives.
The need to make a meaningful contribution
The need for personal empowerment and decision-making authority
The desire to take ownership for success
The desire to align natural talents, skills and abilities with one’s work
The opportunity to do their best
Reading between the lines as employees define their ideal team can uncover cries for help. As
the high performing team process proceeds, employees see the process as their opportunity to
create a work environment where they can become more self-actualized. When this happens, it
creates true motivation and commitment- a major key to getting a work team to the supercharged
state. It’s hard to be supercharged when one is operating out of the fear of losing one’s job,
conflict with coworkers, or apprehension about making a contribution.

high performing team is to look at today’s teamwork reality square in the face.

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Step 3. Establishing The Teamwork Baseline—Where Is The Team Today?
How can we develop a team if we don’t know what they need to work on? We’ve already set a
vision for teamwork in the previous chapter. The Team Ideal State Process defines where a team
says they want to go, but from where are they starting? Common sense says that any effort to
improve a team should start with the areas of teamwork that need the most help or that will bring
the group the most immediate benefit, but whose opinion about what needs to be worked on
should we use?
How do we prioritize activities and determine which specific teamwork skills we need to build
with the limited time and energy available to most teams?
One way would be to sit down with the team and have a long discussion—a long, long
discussion! The only problem with this type of slow and tedious issue identification is that some
people will not be comfortable talking or bringing up issues and problems in a group setting or in
front of their manager/supervisor or others they may have had conflicts with. Others may not use
tact as they present their opinions and feelings causing resentment, defensiveness, and even
injury to their colleagues.
It is quite unreasonable to suggest that everyone in any random work group would see a process
like this as productive or beneficial. And yet issues need to be identified and addressed before
the group can move on to a more team-based approach. Some readers are cringing right now,
wondering if there is any real benefit to dredging up past conflicts, insults, and group failures,
and are not too excited about the prospect.
Rest assured, this author is not advocating a group therapy session here, as we all know if might
take weeks to talk about every behavioral nuance in a particular work group’s history. Instead,
an efficient and data driven process it utilized to pay homage to the real issues and blocks to
team performance that are there and that are the cause of jaded attitudes and pessimism that
stand as a roadblock to the development of the team. This approach also defines how the team is
doing overall, as well as the strengths they already have.

The Functional Workgroup Teamwork Survey provides an overall analysis on a 1 –10 scale with
an overall score calculated as the ultimate measure of the extent to which a team believes it is
living up to its own potential for teamwork.
There ten categories measured in the instrument are:
Atmosphere
Commitment
Inclusion
Leadership
Skills
Coordination
Synergy
Excellence
Growth
Maturity
Overall results are tabulated, and each of the ten categories are given a mean score. This
determines which of the ten major areas is significantly above or below the overall mean score (a
measure of the range of scores that made up the mean score- a tighter or smaller range of scores
indicates more stability while a higher or wider range indicates more volatility). A balance range
is included to determine volatility and stability of the team. Finally, each of the individual 50
constructs (questions) is averaged, and the results are broken out to identify the five strongest
and the five weakest specific areas overall.
A rich summary report shows all of the data points in relationship to one another. This
comprehensive analysis can then be used as the basis for discussion of the team’s current state
from an objective and mathematical perspective rather than a loaded collection of hot topics for
unruly discussion, blame and disagreement.
The FWTS provides a quantifiable baseline measurement, ideal for improvement planning and
the tracking of team performance over time. With a real assessment baseline in hand, participants
readily accept the results of their own data. When the information is presented in this non-
judgmental, tactful way with the emphasis being on proactive efforts to improve and develop the
team, members can quickly integrate and synthesize the results into a true understanding of

Team data should be shared with a minimum of persons outside the team, as all team information
is confidential and private and should be treated with appropriate respect. The findings should
be shared no longer than two weeks after completion of the questionnaire. This insures that data
collected will be timely and relevant. Ideally findings should be shared with the team as soon as
possible after completion of the survey to keep it fresh.
Some cultures are uncomfortable with surveys and unfamiliar with the concept of anonymous
self assessment, and instead see this teamwork survey as some kind of test or evaluation of them.
The purpose and method should be clarified for these cultures to avoid them loading the surveys
with all rosy responses out of fear of reprisal for having less than perfect teamwork.
Quantification is a beautiful thing. Numbers have universal meaning for us all, and our brains
understand numbers on an almost subconscious level. The thing about quantifying teamwork
behavior is that everyone understands that the ideal is to score a “10” in each area. Although we
have yet to meet a team that scores themselves anywhere near this high overall, the numbers are
useful as a measurement of whether or not the team believes they are living up to their own
ideals and potential for better teamwork.
Functional Work Group Teamwork Survey
This instrument is used to quantify the strengths and opportunities for improvement of any intact
functional work group. Team members anonymously rate each question on a scale of 1 (lowest)
to 10 (highest) for each question. A score for each category is calculated, as well as an overall
self-assessment score. Individual team member assessment scores are added together for a
combined assessment of the team as a whole.
Name of Specific Work Group _______________________________
Please respond to each statement from 1 (lowest) to 10 (highest).
Team Atmosphere
1. Team is satisfied with themselves
2. Team treats all members with respect
3. Team exhibits humor
4. Team has a positive identity
5. Others find this team easy to work with
Add together all scores for category______

27. The team works well with other departments
28. The team fulfills it’s commitments on schedule
29. The team handles complex projects and initiatives well
30. The team responds well to unforeseen changes or surprises
Add together all scores for category______
Team Synergy
31. Team regularly comes up with good ideas
32. Team enjoys working together
33. Team members are cross-trained with one another
34. Team members trust and rely upon one another
35. Other teams and departments are impressed with this team
Add together all scores for category______
Team Excellence
36. Team meets or exceeds requirements
37. Team produces error free quality
38. Team delivers on time
39. Team is proactive
40. Team takes responsibility when things go wrong
Add together all scores for category______
Team Growth
41. Team’s work is important/vital
42. Team regularly integrates new approaches or technology
43. Individual team members are growing professionally
44. Team participates in regular training and development
45. Team plans for the future
Add together all scores for category______
Team Maturity
46. Team members are trained to perform one another’s duties
47. The team resolves conflicts well
48. The team learns from its mistakes

is working up to it’s potential_______
Top 5 Strengths:
Overall lowest question(s) Top 5 Opportunities for Improvement: