PARTICIPANT’S WORKBOOK
Team Building
For Public Health Professionals
SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
Sustainable Management Development Program
Division of Global Public Health Capacity Development
Coordinating Office for Global Health
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
http://www.cdc.gov/globalhealth/SMDP/
TEAM BUILDING FOR PUBLIC HEALTH PROFESSIONALS 
Team Building
CONTENTS
Introduction
Sustainable Management Development Program
Acknowledgements
v
v
Team Building
About this Course
Target Audience
Learning Objectives
Icon Glossary
vi
vi
vi
vii
Introduction to Team Building
What is a Team?
Qualities of High Performing Teams
1
2
Building and Managing a Successful Team
Methods for Building Effective Teams
Typical Problem Behaviors Within Teams
Remedies for Common Team Problem Behaviors
Alignment
4
5
7
8
Conclusion
Summary
Congratulations!
What’s Next?
Resources
10
10
11
11
Appendices
Appendix A Team Assessment Tool
Appendix B Antidotes to Problem Behaviors
Appendix C Glossary of Terms
Course Evaluation Form
13
14
16
18
CONTENTS | iii
 TEAM BUILDING FOR PUBLIC HEALTH PROFESSIONALS
iv | CONTENTS
TEAM BUILDING FOR PUBLIC HEALTH PROFESSIONALS 
Introduction
SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
The CDC Sustainable Management Development Program is dedicated to
strengthening health systems globally through improved public health
leadership and management in low resource countries. We do this by
building country capacity to achieve a lasting impact, advancing the
science base through applied research and evaluation, and developing
strong partnerships and providing strategic leadership.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Hanna Cooper, MPH, CPCC, ACC.
Julie-Anne Odell
Concepts and ideas have also come from the following:
The Center for Right Relationship,
http://www.centerforrightrelationship.com/
Gottman, John M. The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work:
A Practical Guide from the Country's Foremost Relationship Expert
Three Rivers Press; 1 edition (May 16, 2000).
Sue Walden, ImprovWorks, http://www.improvworks.org/
Team Diagnostic International,
http://www.teamdiagnosticassessment.com
SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM | v
 TEAM BUILDING FOR PUBLIC HEALTH PROFESSIONALS
Team Building
ABOUT THIS COURSE
The goal of this course is to enable you to work more effectively as a
team member or team leader.
TARGET AUDIENCE
This course is designed for supervisors and managers in public health
services, typically at district-level. It is expected that you have
responsibilities for forming, leading, or participating in teams. While the
course may be conducted with an intact work team, the course is
designed as a survey of team building skills for a group without previous
working relationships.
There are no prerequisites to this course.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
When participants complete this workshop they will be able to:

Describe the importance of effectively functioning teams as an
essential element to successful public health programs.

Describe how to create more effective working relationships among
team members.

Create positive and productive team agreements and norms.

Select specific skills and tools when creating alignment within
diverse teams.

Choose effective responses to resolve common problem behaviors
present in teams.
vi | ABOUT THIS COURSE
TEAM BUILDING 
ICON GLOSSARY
The following icons are used in this workbook:
TIP: SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION TO HELP PERFORM A TASK MORE EASILY
EXERCISE
ICON GLOSSARY | vii
 TEAM BUILDING FOR PUBLIC HEALTH PROFESSIONALS
viii | ICON GLOSSARY
TEAM BUILDING FOR PUBLIC HEALTH PROFESSIONALS 
Introduction to Team Building
WHAT IS A TEAM?
Exercise 1: Opportunities and Challenges to Teamwork
Think about the teams-both personal and professional-that you have been
a part of. In your experience, what opportunities, and challenges have
you experienced when working within teams? Write your answers below:
Opportunities
Challenges
More and more frequently, teams are used as a core method of
accomplishing work tasks. A team is defined as two or more people
coming together to accomplish a specific task.
Examples of teams:



Project teams
Coalitions
Management team
WHAT IS A TEAM?| 1
 TEAM BUILDING FOR PUBLIC HEALTH PROFESSIONALS
Leading experts in team dynamics discovered other opportunities and
challenges to working with others. These include:
Opportunities
Challenges
Leveraged diversity
Don’t measure up to potential
Harnessed knowledge/wisdom of
individuals
Increased participation
Problem behaviors
Gained organizational buy-in
More creative
responses/solutions
Greater productivity
Lack of clarity/shared accountability
for goals
Ineffective decision making
Poor implementation and followthrough
Lack of empowerment and
organizational support
QUALITIES OF HIGH PERFORMING TEAMS
An assessment developed by Team Diagnostic International identified
qualities of high performing teams: results strengths (strengths related to
accomplishing the task such as having a purpose/goal, boundaries,
direction, and support) and relationship strengths (strengths related to
managing team relationships such as interpersonal and facilitation skills).
Relationship Strengths
Results Strengths
Camaraderie
Accountability
Communication
Alignment
Constructive Interaction
Decision Making
Optimism
Goals and Strategies
Respect
Proactive
Trust
Resources
Values Diversity
Team Leadership
Source: Adapted from Team Diagnostic International:
http://www.teamdiagnosticassessment.com
2 | QUALITIES OF HIGH PERFORMING TEAMS
TEAM BUILDING FOR PUBLIC HEALTH PROFESSIONALS 
Exercise 2: Behaviors
1. Describe behaviors you expect to observe in each type of team below.
High Relationship
Low Relationship
High Results
Low Results
2. What is the impact of high or low relationships or results within a
team?
Exercise 3: Team Reflection
1. Take a moment to think about your own work team. You may find that
there are both high and low levels of relationships and results. Make a
note of your observations in the grid.
High Relationship
Low Relationship
High Results
Low Results
2. In general, which box do you think best represents your team?
QUALITIES OF HIGH PERFORMING TEAMS| 3
 TEAM BUILDING FOR PUBLIC HEALTH PROFESSIONALS
Building and Managing a Successful Team
METHODS FOR BUILDING EFFECTIVE TEAMS
Similar to good public health program implementation, you’ll be more
successful in achieving your ends if you start with an assessment and
invest in planning up front. This is true whether you are working with an
existing team or creating a new one. Just as in public health program
development, there are many ways to assess and plan the working
relationships within a team, depending on the context, your resources,
and the team itself.
Exercise 4: Team Assessment
1. What areas of a team should be assessed? Write your answers below.
What to Assess?
2. What methods can you use to assess team functioning? Write your
answers below.
Assessment Methods
3. What questions could you ask in your assessment? Write your answers
below.
Potential Questions to Ask
4 | METHODS FOR BUILDING EFFECTIVE TEAMS
TEAM BUILDING FOR PUBLIC HEALTH PROFESSIONALS 
Exercise 5: Creating Team Agreements
1. What types of working agreements should be developed when creating
an effective team? Write your answers below.
Team Agreements
2. How might you want to use assessment and design principles within
teams you are currently working with?
Use Appendix A to conduct a team assessment when you return to your
workplace
TYPICAL PROBLEM BEHAVIORS WITHIN TEAMS
Sometimes teams exhibit habits that might get in the way of being at their
best.
Some reasons include:
1. Teams are made up of people.
2. Working as part of a team is complex.
3. Being on a team takes highly developed interpersonal, meeting and
facilitation skills.
4. The workplace is full of stress:
o Trust is low
o High degrees of cynicism and uncertainty due to economic
realities
o Sense of powerlessness can exist
TYPICAL PROBLEM BEHAVIORS WITHIN TEAMS| 5
 TEAM BUILDING FOR PUBLIC HEALTH PROFESSIONALS
There are four typical problem behaviors that commonly occur in teams.
This work comes from an American researcher, John Gottman, who
researched these behaviors in couples, but they also apply to teams.
Blaming/Criticism
Attacking the other person rather
than the behavior
Contempt
Belittling other through name
calling and hostile humor
Defensiveness
Refusing to recognize your
contribution to the problem
Withholding/Obstructing
Cutting off communication by
being unresponsive or refusing to
engage with others
Source:Adapted from John Gottman The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work: A
Practical Guide from the Country's Foremost Relationship Expert
Exercise 6: Problem Behaviors
1. Which of these behaviors have you used? Which one(s) do you dislike
the most?
2. How do these behaviors affect teams?
6 | TYPICAL PROBLEM BEHAVIORS WITHIN TEAMS
TEAM BUILDING FOR PUBLIC HEALTH PROFESSIONALS 
REMEDIES FOR COMMON TEAM PROBLEM BEHAVIORS






Notice your own patterns. Which problem behaviors do you
regularly use? What is the impact when you use them?
Notice and bring problem behaviors out in the open to help defuse
them.
Look for the request behind the complaint. The problem behavior
may be an unskillful attempt to request change.
Don’t take it personally. Instead of focusing on who is doing what
to whom, focus on what is trying to happen in the system.
Acknowledge and appreciate team strengths: team strengths and
successes when they occur to build up a resevoir of positivity within
the team and prevent problems.
Revisit the groundrules you established with your team
Caution! Use these terms as an opportunity to have a common
language with your team and to name behaviors that are
unhelpful. Do not label people!
What else might you do when you encounter problem behaviors on teams
you are working with? How do these ideas apply in your situation?
How can you use this concept of problem team behaviors in teams that
you are currently a part of? How can you address some of the challenges
of working with teams?
Refer to Appendix B to help overcome problem behaviors in your
workplace.
REMEDIES FOR COMMON TEAM PROBLEM BEHAVIORS| 7
 TEAM BUILDING FOR PUBLIC HEALTH PROFESSIONALS
ALIGNMENT
An important part of working together within a team is the ability to see
the potential in others and in their ideas. This requires taking the time to
acknowledge and find some value in each suggestion.
We are trained to look for what doesn’t work. Identifying problems is a
big part of many of our jobs. However, in the long run this can have the
effect of limiting our perspective to only our ideas and ways of doing
things.
Rather than aiming for 100% agreement within a team, a focus on
alignment promotes increased creativity, team participation, and honors
diversity within the team. Alignment means looking for a common
underlying set of beliefs or purpose. With this type of perspective,
disagreement can actually become a creative act.
Yes, and. . . is a process that requires you to listen and acknowledge the
richness of someone else’s contribution. It can be a method to create
alignment. While it is artificial in normal conversation to use these words
constantly, Yes, and. . . can even be powerful as an attitude as much as a
set of words.
Exercise 7: Yes, And …
1. Find a partner and practice using the Yes, and. . . model in the training
session. How did this attitude affect the outcome of your conversation?
2. How can you apply this idea of Yes and in your teams?
8 | ALIGNMENT
TEAM BUILDING FOR PUBLIC HEALTH PROFESSIONALS 
Exercise 8: Individual Development Plan
Think about the concepts and skills discussed in today’s course. How
could you improve the effectiveness of your own team? Answer these
questions.
1. What challenges am I currently facing in my work teams?
2. How might I use this skills from this workshop in my work setting?
3. .What two strategies have I learned about working with teams?
4. What is one skill from today that I’d like to improve upon?
5. What would assist me in further developing my team building skills?
By ___________, I will ________________________________________
(date)
(action to further develop my skills)
Signed: _______________________________ Today’s Date
ALIGNMENT| 9
 TEAM BUILDING FOR PUBLIC HEALTH PROFESSIONALS
Conclusion
SUMMARY
Successful teams create and maintain strong relationships to produce
results that support the team’s objectives.
By using intentionally assessing and designing your working relationships,
addressing problem behaviors, and looking for ways to build alignment,
you’ll be well on your way to having more effective work teams, and
ultimately greater impact on important public health programs.
CONGRATULATIONS!
You’ve completed this introduction to the importance of team building.
You should be able to:
 Describe the importance of effectively functioning teams as an
essential element to successful public health programs.
 Create more effective working relationships among team members.
 Create positive and productive team agreements and norms.
 Select specific skills and tools when creating alignment within
diverse teams.
 Choose effective responses to resolve common problem behaviors
present in teams.
10 | SUMMARY
TEAM BUILDING FOR PUBLIC HEALTH PROFESSIONALS 
WHAT’S NEXT?

Complete the Individual Development Plan that you began today by
setting realistic target dates for the ideas you want to implement.

Consider conducting a workshop with your work team to introduce
these methods and conduct a team assessment.

Learn more about handling conflict and the dynamics of positive
and productive team relationships by observing successful teams in
your own work setting.
RESOURCES
Beaudoin, Marie-Nathalie, and Walden, Sue. Working with Groups to
Enhance Relationships. Whole Person Associates, Duluth, MN 1998.
Bens, Ingrid. Advanced Team Facilitation. GOAL/QPC, 2000.
Center for Right Relationship Training: Global resources for those working
with teams. http://www.centerforrightrelationship.com/
Gottman, John M. The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work: A
Practical Guide from the Country's Foremost Relationship Expert
Three Rivers Press; 1 edition (May 16, 2000).
Lenccioni, Patrick. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. Jossey-Bass, 2002.
Patterson, Kerry, Grenny, Joseph, McMillan, Ron, Switzler, Al, Covey,
Stephen R. Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are
High. McGraw-Hill, 2002.
Scott, Susan. Fierce Conversations. Berkley Trade, 2004.
Team Diagnostic International Training: Assessment tool for teams.
http://www.teamdiagnosticassessment.com
WHAT’S NEXT? | 11
 TEAM BUILDING FOR PUBLIC HEALTH PROFESSIONALS
Appendices
12 | APPENDICES
TEAM BUILDING FOR PUBLIC HEALTH PROFESSIONALS 
APPENDIX A
TEAM ASSESSMENT TOOL
What to Assess?
Team structure
Team members
Team history
The results strengths of the team (accountability, alignment, decision
making, goals and strategies, ability to be proactive, resources, team
leadership, etc.)
The positivity strengths of the team (camaraderie, communication,
constructive interaction, optimism, respect, trust, values diversity, etc.)
Methods
Interviews
Surveys
Review existing team materials (agenda, minutes, reports, products)
Observation
Questions to Ask
What are the strengths and challenges of the team?
What are the priorities/goals of the team?
What are the roles and responsibilities of each team member?
What ground rules are in place for the team?
What is the decision making process for the team?
How are meetings structured? (minutes, agenda, etc.)
How is leadership responsibilities shared?
What incentives are in place to reward achievement and success?
How does the team function under stressful conditions?
What is the overall vision of the team?
What is the team tolerating/putting up with?
Team Agreements
Define team priorities, goals, and vision
Set team agreements and ground rules
Define roles, responsibilities and leadership
Outline decision making process/accountability
Build in accountability
APPENDIX A TEAM ASSESSMENT TOOL | 13
 TEAM BUILDING FOR PUBLIC HEALTH PROFESSIONALS
APPENDIX B
ANTIDOTES TO PROBLEM BEHAVIORS
You may find yourself engaging in problem behaviors. Try these methods to create a
more constructive work environment.
If you use
BLAME: “It’s THEIR fault.”
Shifting the responsibility for a
problem onto someone else. “If
only they did their job, we
wouldn’t have this problem.”
Try this
Use “I” statements rather than “you” statements.
Instead of blaming say:
I feel
______________________________________________
about this
behavior____________________________________
and I want you
to________________________________________
DEFENSIVENESS: “It’s not my
fault.”
This could be vocal, but subtle
forms of defensiveness include
not acknowledging the feedback
from others and withdrawing.
WITHHOLDING: “Forget about
it”
This could be practiced by silence.
More subtle forms of withholding
are not speaking up about
something, avoiding people, and
not answering messages in a
timely manner.
Practice the 2% rule. If only 2% of what they are
criticizing about you were true, what part of it could you
accept responsibility for?
Be open to influence and learning from others.
CONTEMPT: “You IDIOT!”
Contempt is demeaning the other
person (eye rolling, swearing,
personal attack, sarcasm, hostile
humor, name calling).
It is being disrespectful.
Subtle forms of contempt are
going around the chain of
command, hostile gossiping and
undermining people.
Make a commitment to the other person to stop doing
it.
14 | APPENDIX B
Ask yourself if you are overwhelmed by the conversation
and tell the other person if you are.
Request a brief break and let the other person know
that you will initiate talking at a specific time.
Take a few moments to figure out what you want to say
and return to the issue with them at the agreed upon
time.
Be open to influence and suggestions from others.
Check and see if you are overwhelmed by the
conversation when you do it and ask for a break if you
are.
Resume when you can continue without losing control.
Then address the behaviors you want to see changed
using the “I feel…when you ….and I want,” format
presented above for blaming.
ANTIDOTES TO PROBLEM BEHAVIORS
TEAM BUILDING FOR PUBLIC HEALTH PROFESSIONALS 
Consider the following questions. Write down your responses, and arrange a time to
discuss them with your team.
Where do the 4 problem behaviors show up at work or on your team? What situations
trigger them?
What problem behaviors are you most likely to use? What situations trigger it?
Make a plan for how you will handle it differently in the future. What will you do to
avoid using the problem behaviors? See antidotes listed above.
Think of at least two ways you could strengthen relationships at your job.
APPENDIX B ANTIDOTES TO PROBLEM BEHAVIORS | 15
 TEAM BUILDING FOR PUBLIC HEALTH PROFESSIONALS
APPENDIX C
GLOSSARY OF TERMS
ALIGNMENT
Common underlying set of beliefs or purpose.
ASSESSMENT
The systematic collection, review, and use of information for the purpose of improving
development.
BEHAVIOR
A manner of acting or controlling oneself.
CAMARADERIE
Goodwill and rapport among co-workers.
COALITION
An organization or group of people involved in a common project.
DESIGN
Make or work out a plan for.
TEAM
Two or more people coming together to accomplish a specific task.
RELATIONSHIPS
In the team building context, strengths related to managing team relationships, such as
interpersonal and facilitation skills.
RESULTS
In the team building context, strengths related to accomplishing a task, such as having
a purpose/goal, boundaries, direction, and support.
VISION
Overall, encompassing goal of a team or organization.
16 | APPENDIX C
GLOSSARY OF TERMS
TEAM BUILDING FOR PUBLIC HEALTH PROFESSIONALS 
| 17
 TEAM BUILDING FOR PUBLIC HEALTH PROFESSIONALS
COURSE EVALUATION FORM
Team Building
Evaluation
Please help us improve the workshop by responding candidly to the following statements:
Scale Definition: 1 – Strongly Disagree 2 – Disagree 3 – Neither Agree nor Disagree 4 – Agree 5 – Strongly Agree
1. Course objectives were well communicated
1 2 3 4 5
2. The training was built to match the way I need to do my job
1 2 3 4 5
3. Adequate time was allotted for explanations/practice
1 2 3 4 5
4. The training materials were well written
1 2 3 4 5
5. Job aids are available to support what I learned
1 2 3 4 5
6. I know where to get assistance when I return to my job
1 2 3 4 5
7. Overall the class was satisfactory
1 2 3 4 5
What did you like most about the class?
How can we improve the class?
Do you have any additional questions regarding this topic?
If you wish us to contact you, please provide the following information:
Name
18 | COURSE EVALUATION FORM
Email
Telephone Number
TEAM BUILDING FOR PUBLIC HEALTH PROFESSIONALS 
COURSE EVALUATION FORM | 19