Clark Construction - Activation Kit

Your activation guide is designed to help you apply key concepts from your Groops to your daily work life.

G1: Groops Kick Off + Assessment

Group Connection Concept

Welcome to Groops!

Groops helps teams feel and function their best.

We bring together psychology, coaching, and data to strengthen connection, collaboration, and performance. Think of us as your team psychologist -  here to help your group understand itself better, work through dynamics, and grow together.

What to Expect:

  • Team + Individual Psychology-Based Assessment

  • Custom Coaching Program delivered through regular Groops (12/year)

  • Four 1:1 coaching sessions (30 min each)

  • Anonymous surveys + insight reports with guidance from a team psychology expert

Cohesion is a business asset – not just a feeling. 

Teams with strong social cohesion are more resilient, communicate more effectively, and perform better. Here are some characteristics of high and low cohesion / performing teams.

High Cohesion / High Performing

  • Psychological safety is high

  • Feedback is direct and well received

  • Conflict is addressed constructively

  • Clear roles, shared goals, and ownership

  • Trust is visible in day-to-day actions

  • People feel valued and connected

  • Energy is focused and collaborative

  • Team members lift each other up

Low Cohesion / Low Performing

  • People hold back or avoid speaking up

  • Feedback is rare or poorly delivered

  • Conflict is avoided or becomes toxic

  • Ambiguity, finger-pointing, or blame

  • Low trust, siloed behavior

  • People feel isolated or unseen

  • Meetings feel draining or performative

  • Team feels flat, resistant, or passive

Self Reflection

Take a moment to reflect on the following questions:

  • How cohesive is your team (0-10)? What makes you say that?

  • When is your team at its best? What does that feel like?

  • What do you want to get out of this program – personally and as a team?

Take Action

  1. Read over the list of high and low cohesion / performing teams and take note of which characteristics you notice in yourself and your team.

  2. What makes you think this? What have you observed?

  3. List 2 things you can try in the next two weeks that would contribute to a high cohesion / high performing team.

  4. Schedule a private 1-on-1 with your Groop Guide to go over the 2 things you would like to try before your next Groop.

G2: Reviewing How We Work: Team Assessment Results

Group Connection Concept

Team Assessment

Your team took part in a team assessment to see areas of strengths, areas for growth, and how each member contributes to the dynamic of the team. Results are shared in the Groop as well as in your individual Member Profile reports.

Overarching Shared Team Goals:

  • Deepen trust and cohesion within the team.

  • Enhance individual leadership skills and self-awareness.

  • Align team efforts with a clear, shared cultural identity.

  • Improve the ability to support, inspire, and guide others.

Team Strengths

  • Comfort with independent decision-making – Team members feel confident making decisions on their own when necessary.

  • High trust in teammates' intentions – There is a strong baseline of trust within the group.

  • Shared sense of purpose – Team members feel aligned around common goals.

  • Conflict resolution with collaboration in mind – They strive for win-win outcomes when disagreements arise.

  • Critical thinking and accountability – Members push each other to think critically and improve.

Team Areas for Growth

  • Conflict avoidance – Team members tend to avoid necessary conflict, suggesting discomfort with tension or direct disagreement.

  • Preference for fast decisions without full info – Scores suggest discomfort with ambiguity or impulsive decision-making.

  • Lower preference for group collaboration over independent work – Indicates that some team members may favor working alone.

  • Listening in meetings – The team may need to work on balancing airtime and ensuring active listening.

  • Valuing consensus over speed – Scores suggests that the team may not consistently prioritize alignment in decision-making.

Self Reflection

Take a moment to reflect on the following questions:

  • What strengths resonate with you?

  • What areas feel like growth opportunities?

  • What stood out or surprised you?

  • Complete this sentence: The goal of the Groops Program should be: ________________

Take Action

  1. Read over your individual Member Profile report.

  2. What thoughts or feelings come up for you as you are reading it?

  3. What feels right - what doesn’t?

  4. What areas of growth do you want to focus on?

  5. Schedule a private 1-on-1 with your Groop Guide to go over your Member Profile and discuss your thoughts / feelings / areas for growth.

G3: Constructive Conflict + Honest Dialogue

Group Connection Concept

Constructive Conflict

“Conflict is not the problem. Avoiding honest conversation is.”
 -  Patrick Lencioni, author of Five Dysfunctions of a Team

Conflict is natural.

It becomes harmful only when it’s ignored or mismanaged.

Honest disagreement is a sign of a strong team, not a broken one.

Conflict isn’t about being aggressive, it’s about being: clear, curious, and committed to the team.

Healthy Conflict

  • Direct, respectful conversations

  • Focus on issues, not people

  • Disagreement used to spark alignment

  • Openness to feedback and change

Unhealthy Conflict

  • Side conversations or silence

  • Finger-pointing or personal attacks

  • Disagreement avoided to maintain comfort

  • Defensiveness or shutting down

Self Reflection

Take a moment to reflect on the following questions:

  • How does your team typically handle disagreement?

  • What’s your personal style when conflict shows up?

  • How do you want to handle conflict as a team when it arises?

Take Action

1. Try using some of this language as it minimizes defensiveness:

  • “I noticed (observable behaviors) and I feel (the feeling you feel) because (the thought in your mind).”

  • “What are you thinking and feeling? Let’s figure this out together.”

2. How does using this language make you feel? What makes this comfortable or not comfortable for you?

3. How might you tailor this to sound like your leadership style?

4. Set up time for a private 1-on-1 with your Groop Guide to go over your thoughts and feelings about this exercise or just to practice and find language that feels right to you.

G4: Listening to Understand

Group Connection Concept

Understanding, not just listening.

We often listen to reply - not to understand.

Real listening means slowing down, being curious, and holding space for others to share fully. True listening is an act of respect, humility, and connection.

When we listen deeply, collaboration and productivity increase by 25–55% (Forbes, International Listening Association). Here are some tools to become a more effective listener:

Effective Listening:

Focused and present

Open body language

Reflect back what you hear

Ask thoughtful, open-ended questions

Pause before responding

Ineffective Listening:

Interrupting or jumping in

Thinking of your reply instead of listening

Dismissing or minimizing others’ points

Multitasking or distracted listening

Advice giving without asking questions first

Self Reflection

Take a moment to reflect on the following questions:

  • How well do you listen to understand? (0-10)

  • How well do you think the team as a whole listens to understand? (0–10)

  • What makes this difficult? What makes this easy?

  • What helps you feel truly listened to?

  • How can you and your team improve your listening culture?

Take Action

1. This week, practice using OARS during one of your conversations:

O - Open Questions (“What are you wrestling with?”)

A - Affirmations (“You’ve clearly put a lot of thought into this.”)

R - Reflective Listening (“You’re feeling stuck and it is hard to take action.”)

S - Summarizing (“So far I’ve heard you say the organization needs you to do X, and you’re thinking about trying Y to get there.”)

2. How did that feel? What worked? What can be improved?

3. To get more practice, schedule a 1:1 with your Groop Guide and have an expert guide you and provide feedback.

G5: Collaborative Decision-Making

Group Connection Concept

“When people participate in making a decision, they’re more likely to be committed to the outcome.”

- Harvard Business Review 2019

Collaborative decision making is a group process that emphasizes shared input, trust, and collective ownership to arrive at more informed, inclusive, and effective outcomes.

Collaborative Decision Making Means:

  • Inviting diverse perspectives before finalizing decisions

  • Aligning on purpose, even if not everyone agrees

  • Clarifying decision-making roles:

    • Who decides?

    • Who’s consulted?

    • Who needs to know?

  • Respecting both the process and outcome

Collaborative Decision Making (+ DACI).

1. Define the Decision
 What are we deciding and why does it matter?

2. Assign Roles (DACI)
 Who is the Driver, Approver, Contributor, and Informed?

3. Gather Perspectives
 Whose input do we need before deciding?

4. Facilitate Dialogue
 What are insights, concerns, and trade-offs?

5. Align & Commit
 Can we align and commit to action? What’s next?

Self Reflection

Take a moment to review the Decision Spectrum and reflect on the following questions:

Decision Spectrum - There is more than one way to decide:

Command: One person decides

Consult: Input gathered, then leader decides

Consensus: Group aligns together

Vote: Majority rules

  • What do you usually do on your team - command, consult, consensus, vote?

  • What works and what doesn’t work?

Take Action

1. This week, practice Collaborative Decision Making + DACI.

2. How did that feel? What worked? What can be improved?

3. To get more practice, schedule a 1:1 with your Groop Guide and have an expert guide you and provide feedback.

G6: Team Roles & Strengths Mapping

Group Connection Concept

Team Roles & Strengths Mapping is the process of identifying individual team members' natural working styles, contributions, and preferences to enhance collaboration, clarify roles, and optimize collective performance.

Clark Construction Team Profile

Based on patterns of assessment responses, we defined 8 custom personality traits that reflect real tendencies observed in your team:

  • Vision-Oriented Challenger - Pushes bold ideas and questions norms

  • Strategic Harmonizer - Balances planning with team unity

  • Reflective Collaborator - Listens deeply and builds consensus

  • Adaptive Listener - Reads the room and adjusts communication style

  • Independent Implementer - Works efficiently with minimal guidance

  • Energized Executor - Brings high energy and finishes tasks quickly

  • Cautious Consensus-Builder - Prefers group alignment and low conflict

  • Decisive Driver - Acts fast and keeps work moving

Strengths Mapping

  • Clarifying how individuals prefer to contribute

  • Recognizing cognitive diversity across the team

  • Mapping personality styles to phases of team work (planning, execution, review)

  • Identifying role gaps and collaboration bottlenecks

Teams with role clarity outperform others by 30% (Gallup, 2023)

Self Reflection

Take a moment to reflect on the following questions:

  • Which of these styles do you most identify with? Why?

  • What do you see as your strengths on the team?

  • What do you believe your teammates rely on you for?

  • Do you have other strengths you wish you could use more on your team? How might you?

  • How can you make space to notice and acknowledge others’ contributions more often?

Take Action

1. Clarify Your Role – Reflect on which personality trait best fits you and identify how you naturally contribute during planning, execution, or review. Share this with the team so others understand your strengths.

2. Map Your Fit to the Work – Notice which phases of the team’s work feel most energizing for you (planning bold ideas, driving execution, or reviewing for alignment). Consider where you might stretch into less familiar phases.

3. Recognize + Share Strengths – Pay attention to moments when a teammate’s style supported the group. Practice naming what you appreciated out loud, and reflect on what feedback you receive about your own strengths.

4. To reflect more, schedule a 1:1 with your Groop Guide and have an expert guide you and provide feedback.