Brenowitz Consulting / Services / Team Start-Up

The nation's top companies are assigning an increasing volume of critical work to cross-functional teams. Whether called new product development teams, continuous improvement teams, concurrent engineering teams, or infrastructure teams, these cross-functional teams are the structure of choice for rapid response to the complexities of today's marketplace and technology.

Merely assembling a group of highly competent individuals, however, does not create a high-performing, cross-functional team. A supportive environment, clear task, team agreements, and trusted, dependable team members are essential ingredients for the team's success. QuickStart for Teams (QST) ensures that your organization's cross-functional teams are grounded in these essential elements.

The goals of QST are to ensure that all members of a team share a commitment to a common vision, that the appropriate processes and agreements are in place so that the team can solve problems more effectively and quickly.

The outcomes you can expect from QST are:

a meaningful charter statement
explicit, helpful agreements about how the team will function
clear agreements about how the team will manage its meetings
dynamic roles for the team leader, the team sponsor, and the team members
a blueprint for communication both inside and outside the team (especially with key stakeholders)
a plan for how the team will start the work they've been chartered to perform

Although there is a learning component to this process, QST is not a training class. Each QST process is customized for your unique team.

QST includes:

a two-hour meeting with the team's executive sponsor and the team's leader to clarify their roles, and to modify the process as appropriate for the individual team
A 1.5 day meeting with the entire team to craft a clear charter, a set of operating agreements, and team plans.

eight hours of follow-up that includes:

attending team meetings
coaching of team leader
evaluation and fine-tuning

For more information on this topic, contact Randi Brenowitz at
650-843-1611 or info@brenowitzconsulting.com