Leading Effective Teams for New and Aspiring Team Leaders

Leading Effective Teams for New and Aspiring Team Leaders

(Online PD Program)

September 4 - December 3, 2020

World Renowned Communications Expert Jennifer Abrams
will be Co-Facilitating this Course

“A lot of processes that take place were brought to the forefront. This helped me develop an improved understanding of why certain things happen and why people may react in the ways that they do to different situations. The group conversations and the way Michael facilitated them were incredibly useful.”

This is a Certificate Program – 24 Hours of Professional Development will be Awarded

Program Overview

Essential Question - What do we need to know and be able to do to build an effective team that positively impacts teaching and learning?

Over-Arching Goal - By the end of the online program, participants will understand and have confidence to facilitate team meetings, identify team goals, as well as to develop and foster strong relationships with and amongst team members.

The culminating project for this program will require participants to identify an issue of concern or an opportunity related to teaching and learning and prepare a presentation to address it with the relevant stakeholders.

Target Audience - New or Aspiring Early Years, Primary, Secondary and Non-Academic Team Leaders. This includes but is not limited to Year and Subject Team Leaders, Pastoral Team Leaders, Coordinators and Team Leaders for Administrative Departments, such as Admissions, HR, Finance, etc.

Online Program Benefits:

24 hours total time; spread over 16 weeks.
8-hours asynchronous coursework (done on your own time) and 16-hours Synchronous live sessions to connect with peers and take the learning deeper.
This is a certificate program; participants will be recognized for 24-hours of professional learning.
Individual Coaching expertise offered to you and your cohort.
Culminating projects will be peer reviewed with additional feedback given by the facilitator.

Online program Outcomes:

Participants will explore the why, what, and how of Team Leadership
Participants will gain an understanding and appreciation of different leadership expectations
Participants will learn how to build consensus to identify the team purpose and goals.
Participants will practice effective communication skills.
Participants will gain an awareness of self and others and how to manage the disparity.
Participants will learn how to manage effective meetings, ensure equity and foster interdependence.

Online Program Structure:

Based on extensive research, we have developed a model for virtual professional development that will:

Enable participants to learn at their own pace using a mix of content delivery methods to meet the needs of various learning styles and preferences;
Challenge participants to apply knowledge and tools introduced throughout the program to their own working context;
Connect participants to process content collectively and share unique experiences and perspectives; and
Demonstrate understanding of knowledge and tools by having peers review assignments and presentations.

The program is designed to ensure participants can apply the concepts and tools from the course ‘on-the-job’, regardless if they are meeting with their teams face-to-face or virtually. Content is broken up over a series of weeks to ensure there is time to apply learning from each module before new content is introduced. Please refer to the online learning components below:

Online Learning Modules: The online learning modules are for asynchronous, personalized learning throughout the week. Content uploaded at the beginning of each module will include, but not limited to: recorded lectures, articles, case studies, recorded instructions for cohort activities and interviews.

Live Cohort Meetings: Live Virtual Cohort Meetings will be scheduled every Tuesday at 15:30 Hong Kong Standard time. Each Cohort Meeting will be scheduled for 90-minutes.

These meetings are for reviewing lessons, collaborating on the weekly activity, and preparing for the live webinars hosted each week of the program. The cohorts will meet at pre-designated times in Zoom Conference Rooms with clear tasks to help guide their understanding and application of the content. Each cohort will be expected to make a presentation in the live webinar for that week. Cohorts will be between 3-10 people and will be matched based on similar roles. Cohorts will remain fixed throughout the program to leverage personal familiarity with one another to enrich learning.

Live Webinars: Live Webinars will be hosted every Thursday. They will take place at 15:30 Hong Kong Standard Time. Each Webinar will be 2.5 hours long.

These webinars are designed for participants to share, discuss and give and receive feedback in mixed groups around the content that has been introduced. These sessions will include a mix of short case studies, protocol overviews from the facilitator(s) and presentations by pre-assigned cohorts. Different grouping strategies will be used during these webinars to ensure participants maximize their exposure to a range of experience and perspectives. Groups will use ‘breakout rooms’ to answer reflective questions to deepen thinking on how to apply the knowledge and tools introduced.

Online Forum: The online forum is for cohort interaction and file sharing. Through the Microsoft Teams platform, participants will be able to interact asynchronously on their activities and peer review other cohort submissions.

Virtual Office Hours: The facilitator will have a Appointments link available for all participants to book a 30-minute meeting with her/him throughout the course. Some courses may limit the number of meetings a single participant may book.

Online Program Pre-course Work

“I felt I learned a lot about being a middle leader and supporting middle leaders and how to move towards working together as a team. I also felt I understood how to move towards more successful models for teams and for coming up with goals.”

Online Program Pre-course Work:

Upon Registration:	Participants must complete a pre-course survey to help the facilitator understand the participant's familiarity with course content as well as the participant's expectations and goal for the program.
July 24 - September 4:	Participants will be enrolled for an Online Book Study Guide that will include Michael's complete book, Hidden in Plain Sight: Realising the Full Potential of Middle Leaders. Participants must read Chapters 1, 2, 7 and 8. Chapters 1 and 2 will be discussed in the the first Live Cohort Meeting on September 8. Chapters 7 and 8 will be reviewed in the Live Webinar on September 10.
August 28 - September 4:	Upload a video to the Online Forum giving an introduction that includes: 1) Where you were born, 2) Where you work, 3) Your role for the coming year, 4) One strength you bring to a team, either as a team member or leader and 5) It must include a background, virtual or real, which highlights something you are very passionate about.
September 4 - 7:	Read: https://rework.withgoogle.com/print/guides/5721312655835136/
September 9 - 10:	Prepare a one sentence introduction to what you hope your role on your main team will be in the coming year, either as leader or team member. This introduction will be shared in the September 10 Live Webinar.

Timeline for Delivery

The online program is spread over a 16-week period starting on Friday, September 4th and finishing on Thursday, December 3rd. Below is the timeline for how components above will be integrated.

Date, Time and Topic	Activity and Preparation	Overview/Deliverable
Friday, September 4: Defining Your Role as a Leader and Team Development	Module 1 Online Learning: Participants upload their personal introductions to the Online Forum	This module will help you understand how to define your role as a leader, even if you don't have the title. Every team member is capable of influencing teaching and learning. To be an effective influencer, though, you must also appreciate how teams develop and understand how your role will change as the team grows. Video lecturers will be uploaded introducing this modules content and giving instructions for how to facilitate the first Live Cohort Meeting.
Tuesday, September 8: Defining Your Role as a Leader and Team Development	Live Cohort Meeting #1: (15:30 - 17:00) 1 hour for pre-course readings (Chp 1-2) and 15 minutes of video lectures	Group norms are formed in the first meeting, whether you intend them to be or not, and once formed can be incredibly difficult to address in later stages of team development. Cohorts will be expected to develop Group Norms and do a shared reading protocol to review Chapters 1 and 2. Each cohort will present their Group Norms in the Live Webinar as well as make a 3-minute presentation about insights from the readings.
Thursday, September 10: Defining Your Role as a Leader and Team Development	Live Webinar 1: (15:30 - 18:00) 1 hour for pre-course readings (Chp 7-8, Project Aristotle)	Cohorts will present their Group Norms and key insights from the readings, Chapters 1-2. Michael will facilitate a brief session on how to define your role, regardless if you are a team leader or not. Participants will be encouraged to ask questions before moving into Mixed Group breakout rooms where they will identify when and how their role changes throughout the school year relative to Tuckman's Stages.
Friday, September 11: Interpersonal Communication Skills and Meeting Management	Module 2 Online Learning:	To be influential and capable of facilitating effective meetings, team leaders must learn a wide range of communication skills, meeting facilitation skills and how to manage resistance within a group setting. Cohorts will be given readings, videos and self-assessments to review and reflect on in connection to this topic. Take the SCARF Assessment is a part of the homework for this module. https://neuroleadership.com/research/tools/nli-scarf-assessment/ Video lectures will be uploaded introducing this modules content and giving instructions for how to facilitate the second Cohort Meeting.
Tuesday, October 13: Interpersonal Communication Skills and Meeting Management	Live Cohort Meeting #2: (15:30 - 17:00)	Cohorts will share learnings from their SCARF self-assessments readings and video viewings. Cohorts will then look at case studies using a specific protocol to discuss difficult behaviors in meetings and brainstorm solutions for how to mitigate those behaviors.
Thursday, October 15: Interpersonal Communication Skills and Meeting Management	Live Webinar 2: (15:30 - 18:00)	Participants will go back into their influence assessments, SCARF assessments and meeting facilitation skills list and Jennifer will take a deep dive into key strategies for effective meeting facilitation, influential language choices and mitigation of resistance.
Friday, October 16: Defining Your Purpose	Module 3 Online Learning:	Participants will learn how to establish an effective team goal, in the form of an inquiry, that addresses the needs of each team member, the team and the school. This goal will be framed with a transformative outcome and defined by the key results that will demonstrate attainment of that goal. This goal will also be the focus of the participants culminating project and must address a concern or opportunity related to teaching and learning. Video lectures will be uploaded introducing this modules content and giving instructions for how to facilitate the second Live Cohort Meeting.
Tuesday, November 3: Defining Your Purpose	Live Cohort Meeting #3: (15:30 - 17:00) 40-minutes to read Chapters 4 and 9	Cohorts will do a shared reading protocol on this article: https://www.middleleader.com/articles/establishing-purpose as well as reflect on lessons from Chapters 4 and 9 in the book. Cohorts will present these insights in the Live Webinar.
Thursday, November 5: Defining Your Purpose	Live Webinar 3: (15:30 - 18:00) 20-minutes to read Chapter 5	Cohorts will present their insights from the readings and participants will be encouraged to ask clarifying questions at the end of each presentation. Participants will then be randomly paired to receive and give feedback on goals they would like to pursue in the coming school year, who would be in their Sandbox and how would that Sandbox be built. Participants will then be welcomed to share their Sandbox, take questions and receive feedback from Michael. Participants that do not share their Sandbox during this session can schedule a meeting with Michael during his Virtual Office Hours to receive feedback.
Friday, November 6: Navigating Difficult Conversations	Module 4 Online Learning: A personal case study of a difficult conversation or relationship will be used as part of this module.	As administrators, coaches or colleagues, we often come up against situations where difficult topics must be addressed. What do we know about the best strategies for those moments? What questions should we be asking ourselves before we speak? And, how can we be humane and yet growth producing? Based on Jennifer's books, Having Hard Conversations and Hard Conversations Unpacked, and her work with conflict and interpersonal communication, this module will provide participants with action plans and scripting tools for having those necessary hard conversations. The book, Having Hard Conversations, will be used in this module. Video lectures will be uploaded introducing this modules content and giving instructions for how to facilitate the second Cohort Meeting.
Tuesday, December 1: Navigating Difficult Conversations	Live Cohort Meeting #4: (15:30 - 17:00)	In this meeting, the cohort will split into pairs or trios to review Chapters 1-4. Then following a video from Jennifer go into partners to work on outcome mapping for specific case studies.
Thursday, December 3: Navigating Difficult Conversations	Live Webinar 4: (15:30 - 18:00) 20-minutes to read Chapter 6	Participants will complete Chapter 6 - Scripting - head of the session. Jennifer will review the chapter providing key examples not previously seen in the chapter and provide time to write possible scripts and receive feedback from others on words, tone, etc. Jennifer will also address body language, location, the what if they respond negatively and other worries during the session.

Program Facilitators

Formerly a high school English teacher and a new teacher coach, Jennifer Abrams is currently a communications consultant. Her publications include Having Hard Conversations, The Multigenerational Workplace: Communicate, Collaborate & Create Community and Hard Conversations Unpacked - the Whos, Whens and What Ifs. Her latest book is Swimming in the Deep End: Four Foundational Skills for Leading Successful School Initiatives.

Internationally, Jennifer has been invited to present at the EARCOS, NESA, ECIS, AISA, AASSA and Tri-Association conferences, and at schools across Asia and Europe and South America and Africa. More about Jennifer’s work can be found at her website, www.jenniferabrams.com, and on Twitter @jenniferabrams.

Michael Iannini is an affiliated CIS consultant with the following areas of expertise:

Appraisal and professional development
Leadership training
School governance
Strategic planning

His journey in education began 24 years ago as a research assistant at Arizona State University’s Child Development Laboratory, where he honed his talent for developmental education. Following the conclusion of his tenure at ASU, Michael went on to work as a consultant for the Children’s Action Alliance and the Arizona State Government, gaining a greater perspective on how to support children with special learning requirements.

Since moving to Asia, Michael has partnered with a number of Not-for-Profit Organizations, International Schools, and Chinese Bilingual schools to develop curriculum, train teachers, create parent engagement strategies, and consult leadership on staff capacity building strategies. His exhaustive efforts have helped nurture a long and mutually beneficial relationship with ACAMIS’ network of schools.

As a consultant, Michael’s main focus is helping schools help students through the arts of collaboration, consensus building, and successful organizational management. His diverse work experience (which spans the United States, China, India, and Hong Kong) has given him the ability to satisfy the needs of a diverse groups, develop cross-cultural leadership skills, and establish effective communication strategies.