How would you like the people in your business, the people you work with or even yourself, to be more productive at no additional cost?

All you need is great teamwork.

With a high performing team, you can achieve something much bigger, more effectively and more enjoyably than a group of the same individuals working on their own. It`s like free extra profit.

Team building skills are therefore critical and valuable to any business and to you, providing that extra edge.

So what exactly is a high performing team and how do you build one?

Many books and much academic time has been devoted to understanding the critical elements of a successful and effective team building but in essence these boil down to three key elements:

• A clear team goal is a must shared and understood by all and supported by strong communication channels across the team and supportive member relationships
• A broad range of skills and personalities exist enabling complementary strengths to be used in support of team goals and to compensate for weaknesses
• Factors inhibiting good team work are identified, such as remote working, personality clashes and the like, and either removed or overcome or their negative effect on team mitigated

But a people thrown together do not automatically make a great team. People need time to get to know each other, to learn to get along, to develop interpersonal trust and build team spirit. There are many tools and games to help build great teams. Here are my top 5 ideas:

• To ensure that team good balance of skills and personalities, undertake a personality profiling or feedback session to help team and its members discover strengths and weaknesses and gaps.
• Ask team to work together to establish team norms and behaviours e.g. how often it is going to meet formally and informally, protocols for 1-1s, rules for meetings, and the like. It can be a good idea to establish a system of fun fines and forfeits for breach of team rules and norms
• Allow team members to build trust and openness by encouraging them to spend time together in an atmosphere that encourages open communication, bonding and the creation of shared team experiences. For example a weekly or monthly lunch when whole team can come together.
• Whenever possible try to involve whole team in decision making or problem solving sessions. This allows each team member to feel as if he or she has contributed and therefore has a stake in and ownership of the final outcome.
• Finally whenever there is the opportunity ensure progress is seen and small successes celebrated. Always make sure the team knows how far they have come not how far they still have to go.

Team building and team working can be a constant challenge, but the pay off from a high performance team is well worth it and undoubtedly a business tool to make and save money.

You can find more team building articles at www.teambuildingusa.com. Team Building USA guarantees clients a 150% return on investment. You may reprint this article by requesting permission from: JTTaylor@teambuildingusa.com or by calling (866) 351-TEAM (8326).

By Liz Tahir

Performance Review Time

It is time for your company review, and you are focusing on one thing: an increase in salary. Not only that, but you have determined how much of an increase you should get. But you soon learn it is not happening as you thought. Do you just leave the meeting, feeling disappointed? Or have you been smart and determined what you can ask for that would be of value to you?

Here are a few possibilities-of-value

Career enhancement training: Ask the company to pay for tuition reimbursement for college courses to help you work toward an undergraduate or advanced degree, or to attend a series of workshops and seminars in your field. Point out that this will not just increase your skills, but gives the company a more knowledgeable employee. Keep in mind that you should be prepared to perform at a higher level, as the company is entitled to see a return on its investment.

Flexible work hours: In today’s world, companies are generally more agreeable to allowing workers to create their own schedule. For example, if you are a night person and prefer to start work later and work later (or the other way around, if you prefer to start work in the wee morning hours), you might be able to convince your boss to let you try this. The important key is that the amount of work and the quality of your work are not diminished.

Work from home: If your job is mostly done electronically, and there is not much interaction between you and other employees, it may not matter where you are actually located. You may negotiate coming to the office only one day a week or so. Again, though, your work load and its quality must not be diminished.

A support person for you: If your work load keeps getting greater, and you’re feeling overwhelmed, show your supervisor how hiring a part-time assistant for you would benefit the company. Most companies are aware of the increased workload of their employees today, and your company just might be agreeable to getting you the help you need (particularly if they fear you might max out!) You may figure out this person does not need to be a new-hire, but a present employee who could be assigned to you several hours a day, or a certain day a week.

Fitness: Ask the company to pay for your fitness center membership. Most companies know the value of a healthy employee. Not only is a healthy employee likely to perform their job better (and be more agreeable while doing it), but they are less likely to be absent because of sickness. Or maybe you might convince the company to pay for a physical therapist or yoga trainer to come to the office several times a week during the lunch hour, so more employees can benefit by this.

Child care: Ask for payment of child care, so you can work with peace of mind. Or better yet, convince the company of the merits of providing on-site child care for you and the other parents.

Prepare to Negotiate

The important part of all this is that you are prepared with these requests before you talk to your boss. It is important to do your homework before you get in to the Big Meeting. Have some idea of the cost of whatever perk you ask for (if a cost is going to be involved), particularly so you can counter any objections thrown at you.

The truth is that most companies really do want to keep their workers happy and satisfied in their job. The other truth is that most companies do not spend much time in figuring out how to do that. You can be the person who can get what you want by pointing out these ways to them.

Liz Tahir honed her negotiating skills through years of making multimillion deals in company boardrooms to bargaining for a brass bauble in a Turkish bazaar. A former corporate executive, she has, for the past 18 years, headed Liz Tahir & Associates as a marketing consultant, conference speaker, and business writer. Liz has delivered seminars and workshops from Japan to Brazil on improving negotiating skills for better success in today’s international marketplace. For more information about her services, go to http://www.liztahir.com or call her at (US) 504-569-1670. You can find more articles like this at http://www.teambuildingusa.com.

J.T. Taylor, M.A.

In Jim Collin’s excellent book Good to Great his research team documents a powerful practice which top performing companies consistently practice – they only hire top talent. The hiring process these companies use results in the best people getting on the bus. Once they are on then they figure out where the bus should go and what roles each person should play. Most companies don’t hire this way – and it shows.

The normal hiring process for most companies is to focus on a candidate’s past work experience and skill set. The job interview might include a 15 – 30 minute initial screening, a follow up 30 – 45 minute interview with a representative from HR as well as the candidate’s would be supervising manager and the obligatory reference check. This hiring process consistently produces a hit and miss track record. Most often the focus of these job interviews is on the skill set required for the current position. That can lead to problems.

For the vast majority of positions the talent is out there. However, the "skill set" criteria used in most job interviews eliminates many would be top performers. Let’s face it, the skills for most jobs can be learned over time. And most people in most positions evidence a decent level of competence in the skill set required for their jobs. Skills can be learned. However the most important competency is much more difficult to amass on the job – character. And over the long haul character has more to do with top performance than skill.

Think about your most difficult employees. How is their attitude? Good? Positive? Probably not. How is their work ethic? Disciplined? Honest? How do they get along with others? Probably not so well. They may be great at what they do (skills) but it is everything else that makes them a poor employee.

Top talent can be driven away by these kinds of employees. So part of the mix to recruiting and retaining top performers is to get the right people on the bus in the first place and get the wrong people off the bus. Focusing on character with your job interview questions will increase your hit to miss ratio and load your company with positive, dedicated, team-oriented workers.

One approach our company has used to help our clients hire top performers is behavioral interviewing. This approach delineates the core competencies for the position and translates those into character measures. The candidate then is asked job interview questions which assess past performance across a wide range of their experiences (not just the jobs which fit with the open position). The candidate is scored in each area and a recommendation with projected strengths and challenges is made to the supervising manager. The supervising manager then takes over and hires the candidate he or she is most comfortable with. This job interview hiring process focuses primarily on character and secondarily on skill and produces measurably better results.

You can find more team building articles at Team Building USA. Team Building USA guarantees our corporate team building clients a 150% return on investment. You may reprint this article by requesting permission from: JTTaylor@teambuildingusa.com or by calling (619) 445-0500.

The Research
The purpose of the study was to examine the effects of an experience-based training and development program on the supervision abilities of participants. The changes were measured using Kirkpatrick’s four levels of evaluation model.

Sixteen participants were interviewed three months after the training to evaluate bottom-line earnings for the company and related changes in participants. The participants were also interviewed as to which elements at the training were beneficial.

The Results
The results of this research revealed significant behavior changes in participants which positively affected their organization’s bottom line. These changes in behaviors provided savings, identified by supervisors, of several hundred thousand dollars. The savings came in the categories of reduced product rejection rate, improved product delivery efficiency, and improved production rate.

The Implications
The majority of the participants identified the experience-based training and development component as the most effective teaching methodology.

Leaders make solid decisions and commit to seeing them through. Losers put off decisions and mess around with them once they are made. A key skill in becoming a successful leader is the skill of decision making. It is surprising how many people don’t like to make decisions. They do all kinds of things to keep the moment of decision at arms length including: gathering more data, talking to more people, not thinking about the decision, fretting over who the decision might offend, worrying about the resources needed to pull the decision off, hoping the problem will go away on its own, etc. Good leaders develop the skill of making the best decision possible with the best information possible in the timeliest manner. They are quick to decide and quick to take responsibility for their decisions – positive or negative.

Successful leaders have learned that action is vital. They know procrastination kills. They live with the reality of consequences and know there will always be uncertainty in decisions. No one can see all possible ramifications; no one can predict every contingency; no one can absolutely prevent failure. Leaders know that failure is not final, it is a learning opportunity. The real danger surrounding decision making is not "will I make the wrong decision" but "did I make the best decision possible given the facts and circumstances". Strong leaders will always recover from poor decisions – they learn and become wiser. But losers will mess around and miss opportunities. And once they finally make a decision, chances are their decision will have no momentum, no passion and no urgency.

In addition to a bias for action, good decision makers approach decision making with some foundational strategies. These strategies can best be summed up with three questions:

1. What is the downside?
If the liability involved is significant, and is even marginally possible, then the decision is "no, go find other options." One of the leader’s most important jobs is to protect the organization. Exposing the organization to undue risk is never wise.

2. What is the cost/benefit ratio?
Every decision is a trade-off between costs (usually company resources) and benefits (usually claims aimed at increasing company resources). Smart leaders use the cost/benefit ratio to leverage growth and profitability. Good decisions are highly leveraged with low cost/high benefit. Poor decisions are high cost/low benefit. When leaders find low cost/high benefit opportunities (with minor liability of course) the decision is, "Yes, let’s do it."

3. Who needs to be involved with this decision?
Good leaders understand that making decisions goes far beyond being in charge and calling the shots. Decision making is also one of the best developmental tools at their disposal. In order to create momentum around decisions the leader must cultivate commitment. Asking for input, especially from key stakeholders, is critical for momentum and effective implementation.

The Five Levels of Decision Making

The following are five levels of involvement leaders use when deciding who should be part of the decision making process:

Level One: Leader makes the decision alone.
This is used especially in emergency situations where immediate action is critical. Input is not helpful, quick action and immediate compliance is what counts.

Level Two: Leader makes the decision with input from key stakeholders.
The leader seeks input, usually to cover blind spots and enhance their depth of understanding around the issue to be decided. Stakeholders hold important information and not consulting them would be foolish.

Level Three: Consensus building – leader gets final say.
Leader solicits input from a variety of sources, builds consensus around a specific direction, allows the group to make a recommendation of which the leader must finally approve. This level takes considerable skill and is where developing leaders often make mistakes. Solid decision makers are well versed in the skill sets of this level.

Level Four: Delegate the decision to someone else.
The authority and responsibility are clearly shifted away from the leader (usually to a direct report). Both the leader and the direct report live with the consequences – good or bad. The leader reviews the decision, but does not change it and uses it as an opportunity for development.

Level Five: True consensus.
Leader fully delegates the decision to a group (usually a committee). If the leader is part of the committee then he/she is just one vote among many. The group processes all the decisions involved, compromises positions until everyone is in agreement.

Strong leaders understand the process decisions must go through to be effective. As leaders move higher in organizations the demand upon their time and influence also increases. The temptation to use the power of position to make things happen is high. Rookie leaders will often get caught in this trap and learn expensive lessons when decisions go bad. Hopefully you can avoid these mistakes and make effective decision by using the three questions.

You can find more team building articles at www.teambuildingusa.com. Team Building USA guarantees clients a 150% return on investment. You may reprint this article by requesting permission from: JTTaylor@teambuildingusa.com or by calling (866) 351-TEAM (8326).

J.T. Taylor, M.A.

Senior management is demanding cost justification for training more than ever

In our current business climate senior management is demanding cost justification more than ever. Human resource directors want to comply, but they are faced with two unpopular choices: invest time and energy into learning how to scientifically analyze training return on investment (a daunting task involving mathematical calculations, gathering significant amounts of data and statistical analysis) or hiring an outside firm to generate ROI reports. However, there is an alternative. If you are willing to live with a decrease in scientific reliability, there is a way to effectively measure "soft skill" training. This article will show you a simple way to link soft skill training to measurable business results.

Translating soft skill training into measurable results

My company does team building – definitely a soft skill. Our training includes many of the classic soft skill modules: communication, conflict resolution, decision making, leadership, etc. Here is how we translate soft skills training into measurable business results.

Setting SMART goals

Each training session ends with a goal setting workshop. I briefly explain how to set S.M.A.R.T. goals (specific, measurable, achievable, recorded and time-bound) and have participants write a goal based on one insight they gained from the training. Next I walk them through a process which translates those goals into bottom line measurements. I call it B.I.T.E. (benefits, impact, tasks, encouragement-support).

Moving goals into action

Benefits
Participants list several personal benefits they will receive once they hit their goal. This provides the key ingredient in goal accomplishment – motivation.

Impact
Impact – Next we calculate the financial impact achieving their goal will have on the organization. Every goal can be translated into hard numbers. Use questions like: how much time will this save?, how much inventory will be reduced?, by streamlining this area what additional projects will there be time to accomplish? and how much more efficient will I be? There are many ways to turn these questions into hard line numbers, but the easiest is employee compensation. Your company has already determined a return on investment value for it’s employees – it is their hourly wage. (For salaried employees divide your annual salary by 2 to get your hourly wage, i.e. $50,000/2 = $25.00 hr). For every hour saved because of hitting that goal (based on the employee’s training session) the employee is that much more productive, thus more valued to the company. Project the savings over a 12 month period to get a grand total.

Tasks
Next, I have participants break goals into specific tasks. This becomes their daily action plan for achieving the goal.

Encouragement-Support
And finally, I encourage them to share the goal with their supervising manager. The manager can then review the projected cost savings or increased productivity estimates for validation as well as offer ways to support the direct report in his/her goal. Incidentally, if the supervising manager agrees the goal will have a concrete bottom line impact of X amount it strengthens the employee’s negotiating stance when review/raise time comes up. This approach also gives supervising managers (i.e. HR Directors) concrete financial projections they can relate to senior management regarding training return on investment.

Note: The industry standard for measuring training effectiveness was formulated by Donald Kirkpatrick. He explains four levels of training effectiveness in his book, Evaluating Training Programs – The Four Levels (1959). The four levels are: reaction (learner satisfaction), learning (retention), behavior (skill translation to job), results (business impact). Jack Phillips has added a fifth level in, Return on Investment in Training and Performance Improvement Programs (1997). He offers a fully integrated, statistically accurate guideline to measuring return on investment. If you want to go deep into measuring ROI scientifically I recommend Phillips approach.

You can find more team building articles at www.teambuildingusa.com. Team Building USA guarantees clients a 150% return on investment. You may reprint this article by requesting permission from: JTTaylor@teambuildingusa.com or by calling (866) 351-TEAM (8326).

By Alan Weiss, Ph.D., CMC

"It is amazing what can be accomplished, when you
don’t care who gets the credit."  — John Wooden

I’m sitting poolside at the Marriott Resort in Lihue, Kauai. There are four waterfalls embracing five Jacuzzis, a bridge connecting to an island in the middle of the pool, and enough palm trees to constitute a coconut plantation, shielding the pool from the Pacific. But I’m focused on a small patch of ground beside my chair where my wife has accidentally dropped a two-inch piece of bread from her lunch. There are eight dove-like birds focused quite determinedly on devouring this manna.

Yet unlike most birds I’ve seen, from pigeons to sea gulls, they are not fighting over the morsel, but cooperating. The birds form a disciplined circle around the bread, reminiscent of a rugby scrum, but without the eye-gouging violence. As the crust is pecked and flipped around, the scrum moves to new locations, always intent on surrounding the bread, now progressively disappearing under the jack-hammer attacks of the syncopated beaks. The eight birds all eat heartily. Other doves, on the perimeter, make no attempt to horn-in. There is no room. Nor is there any apparent animosity. These birds are engaged in a win-win exercise.

Finally, the remnant of bread is tossed inadvertently (I presume) well outside the scrum, where a lone sparrow, biding his time, grabs the gift and flies away as though jet- propelled. The doves seem to shrug it off, gather up the remaining crumbs, and wander off to search under other lounge chairs. They form a well-organized search party, and head toward what appears to be a lone French fry. For a longer time than I like to admit I viewed the world as a zero-sum game. If I were going to "win," then you had to "lose." And if you were "winning," then I must surely be losing. Too often I would deride others to elevate myself, which is not really an elevation but actually a descent. There is a thin line between healthy competition and malice aforethought.

Life is not an athletic event. There should be more than one "winner." Success should encourage benevolence and philanthropy, not victory dances and "high fives." With rare exception, we are neither hunting for scarce food nor protecting remote safe havens. The doves knew that there were plenty of spilled lunches in their territory, and that it was dysfunctional to argue and fight. Cooperation meant moderate shares in numerous meals with no stress and no damage.

We do ourselves too much stress and too much damage when we insist on an "all or nothing" approach to the challenges in our lives and our work. When we intelligently share-information, credit, preferences, earnings, victories, comfort, and other trappings of power-we elevate everyone, including ourselves.

The greatest business leaders I’ve ever seen as a consultant are those who personally accept responsibility for failure but generously share credit for success. Their subordinates, peers, and friends support them without reservation and will follow their lead in any direction.
There is enough bread for us all. Let’s not peck at our colleagues over a crust.

TEAMWORK TIPS

This article (and many more excellent articles) can be found at: www.summitconsulting.com. On that site you will find an excellent newsletter: Balancing Act: Blending Life, Work, and Relationships [TM]. This article has been used with the express permission of Alan Weiss, Ph.D., CMC and is under full copyright protection.

By J.T. Taylor, M.A.

Listening is more important than any amount of technical savvy

What you know about listening to people has more to do with breaking into the highest levels of management than any amount of technical savvy. While working with over 4,000 managers to set workplace oriented, personal development goals, I have found that many of them struggle with one particular issue – they don’t know how to listen effectively. Oh, these managers listen. That is not a problem. But most don’t listen effectively. This article will coach you on how to use a tool you already have in your management toolbox. If you use this tool effectively, you can expect your stock to rise with senior management and your effectiveness to increase with your direct reports.

Your most important tool for listening is your mouth

First, the tool. You’ve heard it before – "God gave you one mouth and two ears for a reason." However, in spite of this clever observation, the best tool for letting others know you are listening is not your ears – it is your mouth – if you use it right. Your mouth? Yes – if you use it right. Think about it. How do you know if someone has really listened to what you’ve just told them? The best clue is the first thing that comes out of their mouth.

Let’s say you’ve been working on an idea for a long time, and you’ve just shared that idea with your boss, and he replies, "That’s fine. However, right now, I need you to work on XYZ." You might wonder if your boss really heard you.

Why most managers aren’t good listeners

One of the main reasons managers don’t listen effectively is they are so busy. Frantic schedules and tight deadlines are simply the reality for most managers. But listening effectively doesn’t need to take lots of extra "warm fuzzy" time. You can push for productivity and listen effectively at the same time. For instance, here is a way that same boss could have handled the same conversation and validated that employee; "That’s great! It sounds like you have put a lot of thought into this idea. How long have you been working on this?" By responding with an (on the topic) follow up question, the manager validates the employee and the employee knows they have been heard. The manager can then get right back on task; "You know, I want to explore your idea further, but right now we’ve got a tight deadline and I need you to do XYZ. Bring this up with me again when we have some more time, OK?" Asking a follow up question assures the person you have been listening. Try it in your next conversation and watch the results. It works!

Reflective listening

Another tip for letting your mouth do the listening is reflective listening. This form of listening summarizes what a person has just shared and asks for a response. This works great in meetings, especially meetings where everyone seems to be saying the same thing over and over again (ever been to that meeting?)

My wife used reflective listening at a volunteer child care meeting recently. She was asked to come in and give input on how to manage the program. As new ideas were shared on how to improve the program the outgoing director would tell the volunteers why their ideas wouldn’t work – she had tried them all. The meeting went nowhere fast. My wife began to listen to the director’s frustration and mirror her emotions back to her in the form of questions. She used questions like these: "It sounds like you’re disappointed that more parents didn’t volunteer. Is that how you feel?" "If I’m hearing you right, you don’t think a new check-in system would work because you tried something similar three years ago. Is that right?" It worked! The outgoing director calmed down and the meeting became productive.

When people repeat themselves it is often because they haven’t felt heard

Many times when people say the same thing again and again, or communicate with aggression or frustration, it is because they haven’t felt heard. Reflective listening ensures a person’s point is recognized, enabling the group to move forward. Reflective listening will keep your emp-ployees communicating and your meetings on target.

Managers who have mastered the art of communication are rare. You will be noticed and your career will move forward much quicker by letting your mouth do the listening.

LISTENING TIPS

You can find more team building articles at www.teambuildingusa.com. Team Building USA guarantees clients a 150% return on investment. You may reprint this article by requesting permission from: JTTaylor@teambuildingusa.com or by calling (866) 351-TEAM (8326).

Buyer Beware! Many team building companies are simply recreation majors who know how to play games, but don’t understand business.

Possibly the best way to evaluate a team building company is to ask their advice on helping you solve an actual problem your team is facing. You might be surprised how many team building companies know how to play games, and they may even know how to debrief those games, but they don’t really know team dynamics in the business world. The vast majority of team building practitioners do NOT come from a business background. They come from a recreational background. Therefore, they probably do not understand your business. By asking them to consult with you for 10 – 15 minutes on an actual team building problem you will see who can deliver the goods and who can’t.

Q. Can you give me some advice on a specific problem I am having with my team?

It seems that “team building” is quickly becoming a buzz word for all kinds of service providers: from clowns to sailors to wine-tasting companies. Effective team building must be delivered by a company with training expertise. Too often, companies which call what they do “team building” are simply wanting to take your money and play games with your people.

Q. How do you help participants make connections from the activities to business applications?

There is a particular skill set involved in leading and facilitating an excellent team building program. The first skill is design and the second is delivery. Frankly, design is the easy part. Almost any team building activity can work for almost any team building issue. It is true that some activities lend themselves to particular outcomes (i.e. communication, trust, problem solving, decision making, cooperation vs. competition, etc.) but in the hands of a skilled, professional facilitator the activity will get debriefed according to the real world issue the team is facing.

The hard part in any team building program is delivery (facilitating). It is surprising how many team building companies simply don’t facilitate (or debrief) the activities. They ask a few questions at the end of the game and move into the next game. Again, DON’T waste your money on companies like these. Instead, ask the company to walk you through their philosophy on how they debrief activities. Ask them to give you a sample of the questions they ask. Good team building companies will have a developed philosophy on how they debrief. Their strategy will make good sense once they share it with you, so don’t hesitate to ask.

Q. What training assessments are you certified in?

The quickest way to determine if a team building company can actually help you build your teams is to ask what training assessment instruments they are certified in. At the very least they should be certified in D.i.S.C. work profile assessment and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. This question will quickly remove the fun-and-games outfits from the serious team building providers.

Q. What is your philosophy on how you debrief activities?

If your people are reluctant to go to a team building program it is probably because they have been subjected to these fun-and-games activities with little or no business applications. The MOST important transaction that can happen during a team building event is for your people to solve real world business problems. That is ultimately what your company is paying for and that is what your company should get.

Ask the team building companies you are interviewing how they help participants make connections from the team building activities to business problems. Good team building companies will be able to give you lots and lots of extremely relevant examples. Drill down and ask for specifics on how the team building events they use have specifically helped past clients. If they can’t give you specifics, backed up with several examples, then they simply don’t know how to link the activity to real world business applications.

Q. Can you give me a list of sample questions you use?

When they answer, you should hear several open ended questions. Rookies ask “yes” or “no” questions, then follow up with “can you explain your answer?”. Professionals aim to get the team into a discussion, with solid give and take, all working toward a solution. Here are a few of the questions we use on the topic of planning:

• What was effective about your planning time?
• What could you have done better?
• If you were an outside consultant watching this team in action, what adjectives would you use to describe the behavior during the planning time?
• What was the plan that emerged?
• Did everyone have a clear understanding of the plan? Why or why not?
• How is this similar to the way planning happens back at work?
• What insights around planning can you take from this exercise and apply back to the workplace?

Q. How long have you been in business?

Of course the really good team building companies have a long track record of success. Many companies post client lists on their web sites. If a company does not have a client list, make sure and ask for one. This will tell you if they are just starting out (and using your company as a learning experience for them) or if they are a serious, established provider.

Q. Who are your past clients?

Always ask for referrals. By contacting the referrals you can get a good read on the type of company you are working with.

Team Building USA has worked with more than two-thirds of the Fortune 500 companies. We are the number one team building company in the nation having worked with more clients than any other team building company around.

By asking these seven questions you will save your company a lot of money and your people a lot of frustration. Team building, when done right, is one of the most powerful ways to achieve significant breakthroughs in employee productivity. And hey, it is really, really fun too.

J.T. Taylor, M.A. is president of Team Building USA, a team building company which guarantees a 150% return on investment for their clients. J.T. gives free ½ hour consultations to help you solve team struggles. Contact him at (619) 972-9100, or via email: jttaylor@teambuildingusa.com.