Highly effective teams all have five factors well-defined for themselves: They have common goals to which they are all committed. They have clearly outlined roles and responsibilities. The are capable of effective interpersonal communications. They have explicit processes; and they have strong and fluid leadership. Whenever more than two people are working together, there needs to be someone attending to both the group's results and those five factors.

The addition of a skilled facilitator to a meeting is one of the best actions leaders can take to ensure the success of that meeting. Having a facilitator frees the participants up to engage fully in addressing issues and creating opportunities. Wunderlin Company facilitators are highly skilled and highly experienced in working with senior level groups, complex groups and dysfunctional groups. Facilitation, in fact, is at the core of all the work we do. Opening a productive space in which our clients can do their work is what we strive to achieve with every engagement.

Sometimes opening that space requires team development. We offer a wide range of experiential team-building activities. We also frequently use the Myers Briggs Type Indicator and other assessments to help groups improve communication skills and recognize and appreciate differences.

In facilitating our Board's effort to develop a new vision for our business, Karen's hands-on, results oriented approach insured that our objectives were met. Karen's methodical, organized approach resulted in value-added interaction between our executive staff and the board. We ended our meeting with a real sense of accomplishment and progress.
- Susan Lehman, VP, Louisville Water Company

ACT/Workout
We believe that nobody understands the problems of an organization any better than those who do the work. Our ACT Process (Activating Cross-Functional Teams) builds on GE's Workout process. It is an excellent vehicle for optimizing speed, cost, and quality. It gets the whole system in the room working to solve problems collectively, and remains the most powerful tool we have seen yet for catalyzing change in large systems.

Here are some articles from a previous issue of our newsletter that can help you learn more about the ACT Process and Workout.
Changing the Way We Change
ACT: An Effective Approach to Problem Solving
Using Team Problem Solving to Improve Performance and Profitability
The ACT Process: Benefits Are Abundant
Countdown to Change: The ACT Process in Action

Here are some recommended books.

Large Group Interventions: Engaging the Whole System for Rapid Change by Barbara Benedict Bunker and Billie T. Alban
Productive Workplaces: ORganizing and Managing for Dignity, Meaning, and Community by Marvin R. Weisbord
The GE Way Fieldbook: Jack Welch's Battle Plan for Corporate Revolution by Robert Slater

Team Building

The Power of Play issue of our newsletter of our newsletter featured a number of articles about the power of play and the use of simulations in building teams. Click below to read the articles:

The Power of Play
Simulations: Learning from Behavior
Providing the Perfect Opportunity to Practice
Virtual Gourmet: Building Sandwiches; Building Teams
A Good Debriefing Session Makes a Great Difference
Aha…Get it with K’nections

Facilitation
…and from another issue of our newsletter:

Using Facilitation to Achieve Success

Here are some recommended books.

Facilitating with Ease: A Step-By-Step Guidebook with Customizable Worksheets on CD-ROM by Ingrid Bens

The Skilled Facilitator by Roger Schwarz

The Fifth Discipline by Peter M. Senge

The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook by Peter Senge, Richard Ross, Bryan Smith, Charlotte Roberts, and Art Kleiner

Future Search: An Action Guide To Finding Common Ground in Organizations and Communities by Marvin Weisbord and Sandra Janoff