Abstract
The following article is a description of the first team-building meeting (between boss and subordinates) ever held in the Department of State and perhaps in any organization of the federal government throughout the United States.
The article describes the serious doubts that were in the mind of the leader at the start of the meeting, how the premeeting interviews were conducted, and how the interview data were handled. The inhibitions felt by boss and subordinates upon leveling in front of one another are revealed, and the methods used by the consultants in enabling the group to confront the data and work them through are fully described.
As the author shares his own fears and experiences, one can see how a team is created by the individual members in working through the data which they themselves have had available all the time.
After a description of the back-home results of these efforts there is the conclusion that it is indeed a worthwhile experience for a workgroup.
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