Team Building: Student Workbook
Exercises and Action Planning Activities
Exercise 1: Assess Your Current Team
Team Name/Purpose: ________________________________________
Team Size: _____ Tenure: _____ Turnover: _____
Rate your team on these characteristics (1-5 scale)
- Clear purpose and goals: ___
- Complementary skills: ___
- Shared accountability: ___
- Psychological safety: ___
- Effective communication: ___
- Healthy conflict: ___
- Strong leadership: ___
- Continuous improvement: ___
Strengths: ________________________________________________________________
Development Areas: ________________________________________________________
Exercise 2: Talent Planning
Current Team Composition
| Member | Role | Strengths | Development |
|---|---|---|---|
Talent Gaps: What expertise or perspectives are missing?
Recruitment Plan: Who should we recruit or develop internally?
Exercise 3: Develop Team Charter
Team Purpose: Why does this team exist?
Team Goals (next 12 months):
Roles and Responsibilities:
- Team Leader: ____________________________________________________________
- Key Members: ____________________________________________________________
Decision-Making: Who decides what?
Communication Norms:
- Meeting frequency and format: __________________________________________
- Email response time: _____________________________________________________
- How we handle disagreement: ____________________________________________
Exercise 4: Building Trust
Trust Assessment: What factors would increase trust in your team?
- More transparency: [ ]
- Better communication: [ ]
- Following through on commitments: [ ]
- Addressing conflicts directly: [ ]
- Other: ___________________________________________________________________
Trust-Building Activities (choose one to implement):
- Team off-site or social event
- Structured sharing about values and working style
- Team retrospective on what's working
- Celebration of team wins
- Other: ___________________________________________________________________
Implementation: When will we do this? Who's responsible?
Exercise 5: Team Communication Plan
Meeting Schedule:
- Weekly team meetings: Purpose?_____________ Duration?____________
- One-on-ones: Frequency?_____________ Focus?________________________
- Monthly all-hands: Purpose?________________ Format?________________
Communication Norms:
- How will we handle urgent issues?
- How will we communicate when we disagree?
- How will we celebrate successes?
Exercise 6: Handling Team Conflict
Potential Conflict Scenarios in your team:
Scenario 1: ________________________________________________________________
Resolution Approach:
Scenario 2: ________________________________________________________________
Resolution Approach:
Creating Safety for Disagreement:
What will you do to encourage healthy debate?
Exercise 7: Accountability Framework
Success Metrics (what does success look like for team?):
Individual Accountability:
How will team members know if they're performing?
Team Accountability:
How will the team collectively be measured?
Recognition Approach:
How will we celebrate successes?
Exercise 8: Recognition and Celebration
Celebrate Recent Wins:
Individual Contributions to Recognize:
Who should be acknowledged? For what?
Team Celebration Plan:
What will we do to recognize progress?
Exercise 9: Team Resilience
Current Stressors:
What pressures is your team experiencing?
Resilience Strategies:
How will you support the team?
Self-Care Reminders:
What do team members need to maintain wellbeing?
Exercise 10: Team Retrospective Process
What's Working Well:
What's Not Working:
What Will We Change:
How Will We Know It's Better:
Team Building Action Plan
Over the next 90 days, I will:
Build trust by: ________________________________________________________
Improve communication by: ______________________________________________
Create accountability by: _________________________________________________
Develop my team by: ____________________________________________________
Celebrate success by: ___________________________________________________
Check-in Date: _________________ Accountability Partner: _________________