1. Building Highly Effective Teams through the Three Stages of a DN Year
Christopher Pellegrino, City Year, Program Manager 08 – 13
Jessica Sasko, Talent Development, STF

2. Building Trust as a Team’s Foundation
“Unity is strength... when there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved.” Mattie Stepanek
What do you believe teams need in order to be successful?

3. Objectives
Participants will be able to…
Participants will review Patrick Lencioni’s 5 Dysfunction of a Team Pyramid in order to understand the importance of what makes strong teams function.
Participants will build team while learning tools to build, sustain and finish strong as teams in a DN school.
Participants will recognize their roles as leaders in building team throughout the entire school year as teams cross through various stages of development.

4. DO NOW REFLECTION Debrief Questions:
What was the process for selecting the icebreaker/team builder?
What were the roles that came out during the process?
Are folks comfortable with the roles that they took on? If not, did the group come up with strategies for revisiting roles?
Did anyone naturally step up and lead the process?
Did any challenges or conflicts arise during the icebreaker/team builder?
Please name three different teams you could see using an activity like this at your school and/or organization?

5. Building A Functioning Team
FINISHING STRONG
Performing or Storming
RESULTS
ACCOUNTABILITY
PROGRESS MONITORING (Sustaining)
COMMITMENT
Forming and Norming
CONFLICT
OPENING STRONG
TRUST
Talent Development/CIS/CY/School Teams
Lencioni, Patrick M. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, A Leadership Fable. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2002.

6. Examples of Activities to Build Team Through the Pyramid
Trust – Creating Roles and Norms for the team-Facilitator vs. Supervisor
Conflict – One Word to Describe Conflict
Commitment – Web of Commitment
Accountability – Gift Seat
Results – Student Data Activity

7. Team Planning Time
Step 1 Title
Each team will list all the teams that exist in the building and the connections between those teams.
Step 2 Title
After listing out the various school teams, choose and identify team builders that help build trust amongst different groups.
Step 3 Title
After selecting team builders action plan out, using action planning template, on how and when they are going to build team as a DN team first.
Step 4 Title
After action planning out their own plan, begin creating their opening strong plans on the approach they will take to build trust amongst the various teams in their school community.

8. Some Ideas Around Building Trust
Getting to Know Each other as People First
Setting Norms vs. Rules
Setting Roles
Creating Meeting Schedule
Setting Goals around ABC
Commitments to the Group

9. Reflect On Your Current Team: Forming/Norming/Storming/Performing
Questions to Guide Reflection:
How long have you all been working together?
Do you have any new team members?
Do you have a true facilitator or is the leader more of a supervisor?
Do all team members participate and is accountability shared?
Do you have systems to address conflict?
Do you have systems of accountability?
Do you have shared visions and shared goals?
Have you recently experienced a disagreement, frustration or conflict together with no resolve?
Do you know what each of your team members are held accountable for and what each member is working on?
How often do you meet, both formally and informally?
Does the group have an established date for checking in on group process? How well are we working together, what can be improved and what is going well?
Do we share food and celebrate one another?

10. Thank you!
Comments, Questions, and Contact Info:
Christopher Pellegrino at
Jessica Sasko at