How great groups make great schools Training leaders how to conduct effective meetings is important, but it's not enough to ensure that the professional development process is valuable. This field book shows educators how to develop group culture, enhance facilitators' skills, and optimize the group's most precious resource-its members. The authors describe how to form working committees, task forces, grade-level, and department teams, and faculties that are more effective and better equipped to resolve complex issues around student learning. Specific topics include Understanding eight principles that underlie effective groups Learning the five standards for effective meetings Setting clear goals and roles Practicing new ways of talking for improved collaboration Examining perceptions and mental models Enhancing energy sources Working with conflict Developing basic facilitation skills This practical guide's special features include the newly updated seven norms of collaboration, a sample team assessment survey, instruments for assessing meeting effectiveness, an extensive bibliography, and practical examples embedded throughout the text. Practitioners will find a valuable road map for leading effective, student-focused school improvement efforts.

"Garmston and Zimmerman have written a book that is the perfect blending of theory and research with very practical, user-ready techniques for facilitating meetings AND for dealing with specific challenges. I would LOVE to see this kind of training offered for administrators!" -David Chojnacki, Executive Director Near East South Asia Council of Overseas Schools No more unproductive meetings! The complete guide to getting the most out of every gathering of educators. Do your meetings spiral angrily out of control? Or simply not make the most of the participants' talents? Lemons to Lemonade by Robert J. Garmston and Diane P. Zimmerman is the playbook you need to promote civil, productive discourse, detailing: How to prepare yourself to facilitate the discussion and keep it on task Best practices for squashing conflict without wounding pride Methods for dealing with "frowners," "interrupters," "subject-changers," "humorists," and other time-waster types With this book, you will never waste another opportunity for problems to get solved by the combined powers of capable minds.

Discover how psychological safety, constructive conflict, and actionable learning create a powerful triple helix to transform teams! In this ground-breaking resource, three experts in the field of education and teamwork each present one of three strands that, when woven together, support teamwork and forge collaborative interactions into a transformative way of working. You'll learn approaches, processes and tools to overcome common obstacles to team effectiveness such as feelings of futility, anxiety, and poor morale. Drawing on research and practical experience the authors identify strategies and tools that show how to: Build psychological safety, where teams work towards resilient interpersonal relationships Use constructive conflict as a powerful catalyst for team learning and transformation Inquire into problems of practice to transform capabilities and produce actionable learning Acquire ways to develop mindful, thoughtful, and constructive teams where authentic communication drives group awareness and clear processes and goals. Acquire ways to develop mindful, thoughtful, and constructive teams where authentic communication drives group awareness and clear processes and goals.